Newsletter (2021 Ones)5/15/2021 <Itaewon Rabokki> is a small social business run by immigrant women from Baraka Small Library. Please search up <Itaewon Rabokki> on Naver!
5/15/2021 A small music festival for immigrant children (August 6 2020)
5/15/2021 Kids doing online class During COVID-19 the children worked hard in online classes...
5/15/2021 Polytechnic College Jeongsu Campus Volunteering Students from <Korea Polytechnic University Jeongsu Campus> in Itaewon sent a volunteer group to Baraka for two months.
<Polytechnic college students installing a stair’s safety rail and quarantine measures>
<Ending ceremony of the volunteer group after two months of service>
5/15/2021 Yongsan Education Welfare Center advisory meeting (May 2021) Yongsan-gu is a multicultural area in Seoul. More than one third of students at Bogwang Elementary School are immigrant students. An advisory meeting was held at the Yongsan Education Welfare Center. There were in-depth discussions with community multicultural experts on the effective integration of children into the community. Also felt that it was desperately necessary to share our way of living together. We had conversations with representatives from the Healthy Family Support Center, Youth Support Foundation for Migrant Backgrounds, The Space Friends, Bogwang Elementary School, Education and Welfare Center, and Baraka Small Library representatives.
6/4/2021 June 4th, 2021 Kim Ki-hak of Baraka Small Library attended the <12th SIT (Social Innovators Table) Conference> run by the SK Happiness Sharing Foundation. He spent time networking with multicultural experts. This year's theme was "A healthy multicultural society created through the growth of immigrant youth" and there were presentations by Gyeongjin Lee, representative of 'Haemil School', a multicultural school, and Suyoung Kim, CEO of Global Youth Center. If you are interested, please refer to the SIT website. http://sit.skhappiness.org/conference/17/overview http://sit.skhappiness.org/
6/5/2021 Do you know the [Rabokki Bank]? •Itaewon Tteokbokki operates <Tteokbokki Bank> as a social venture company for job creation and independence of immigrant/refugee women. •[Baraka Small Library] Provides snacks to immigrant/refugee children. •Snacks provided to North Korean defector youth at [Yeomyeong School], which teaches how to dream of the unification era. •Delicious tteokbokki that immigrant women carefully make and immigrant/refugee children and North Korean defector youth use.
10/16/2021 Itaewon Rabokki Meal Kit is a social venture that helps immigrant women find jobs and become independent. Naver Store Link to order Rabokki https://smartstore.naver.com/rabboggikit/products/4588283085 Reactions of foreign teachers who tried Korean Rabokki for the first time https://youtube.com/watch?v=_M6FSkTHBSA&feature=share
12/3/2021 Song and play <Days I Want to Hide in a Mouse Hole> with the Les Miserables Volunteer Group (2021-7-10) In July 2021, the children at Baraka Library spent eight weeks sharing stories while playing games every Saturday with teachers from the Les Miserables volunteer group. We collected those times and put on songs and plays.
Children have more peace of mind in a foreign land. Due to COVID-19, only parents were invited, but the big smiles and strong applause from mom and dad who were happy was enough to make us happy. COVID-19 summer in July became an unforgettable gift to the Baraka children.
12/3/2021 Korea Polytechnic University Technology Volunteer Group completes Baraka Small Library for the second semester of 2021! Every semester, the technical volunteer group of Korea Polytechnic University in Itaewon provides technical volunteer work for the Baraka Small Library. This year, we took family photos of migrant families on campus and played squid game, and further improved the migrant families' integration into the local community. It was a valuable gift for children and their families living as strangers in a foreign land, and to help them live as members of society. We would like to thank the dean, professors, and volunteers of Korea Polytechnic University for their hard work.
12/7/2021 ‘Squid Game’ also worked for Baraka kids! The children of Baraka Library, who had been having difficulty engaging in outdoor activities due to COVID-19, played 'Squid Game' with the youth of the Big Forest Small Community. The 'Squid Game' was the perfect day to become one with children and Korean friends. Even if COVID-19 is rampant, how good would it be if it were just like today? [Today was the day when the Baraka children let go of all their stress! It was a day when everyone became one!]
12/30/2021 IMM Hope Foundation Scholarship awarding The IMM Hope Foundation awarded scholarships to Baraka children. To encourage migrant children from Baraka Small Library, scholarships were provided to students. We look forward to a future in which students with immigrant backgrounds grow well as members of Korean society, become great workers in Korean society, and play a role as a bridge between Korea and their home countries.
12/30/2021 Winning the award at the 2021 Global Citizenship Forum Students from Baraka Small Library won awards in the 2021 World Citizen Forum writing contest and drawing contest, and received an excellence award in the participation program. We hope that this will serve as a stepping stone for the Baraka children to grow into healthy members of Korean society.
12/30/2021 A happy 2021 Christmas together! COVID-19 brought things down in 2021. Still we had a happy Christmas with the teachers. “Thank you, teachers, for your hard work this year! Thank you even more for being with us with dedication and love!”
2/9/2022 An always happy Monday art class! “On Monday’s art time children are happy waiting for the art teacher”
3/23/2022 Global Citizenship Forum Baraka student winning drawings exhibition the at National Assembly Hall (2022-2-22~25)
Name: We are kids that came here Duration: 2022-2-21(Monday) ~ 2-25(Friday) Opening Ceremony: 2022-2-21 Location: National Assembly Building, Assembly Hall Lobby 1 Host: National Assembly member Do Jonghwan (ormer Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism), with the Global Citizenship Forum, UNESCO Asia-Pacific Center of Education for International Understanding
4/3/2022 Thinking about Baraka children (Video)
4/3/2022 Beginning night school for Baraka middle and high schoolers “Teacher, please teach me!” One day a student in the 7th grade demanded this. During elementary school he was focusing on learning the Korean language and must have realized that he was behind other students in middle school. So at Baraka Library we gathered 8 middle and high schools and started learning 7-8:30 on the weekdays. They tried their best to study. Immigrant students who enter school in the middle of the year miss out on their learning time. Their parents feel sorry that they cannot help them. Still we hope that we can help the students adjust even a little. We’re glad that they are asking us to teach them.
5/2/2022 Osanjung Village Innovation Governance Cooperation Organization (5-2-2022)
6/4/2022 Baraka Middle and High schoolers visit to Busan and Gyeongju 7/2/2022 Picnic Day (Children’s Great Park 7-2-2022)
7/5/2022 Kyung Hee University Humanitas College/Global Citizenship Forum Mentor-Mentee Program Completion Ceremony (6-25-2022) Baraka middle and high school students had a mentor-mentee program competition ceremony. The Humanitas college dean, the Global Citizenship Forum representative, and mentors also participated. We had a meaningful time during those weeks. Baraka students built up trust with the mentors and helped one another. People from completely different environments and cultures like Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan met, experienced and understood each other's cultures, and had the opportunity to learn together what global citizenship is in a multicultural society. When each person presented their thoughts at the conclusion of the graduation ceremony on June 25, 2022, it was an opportunity to see them grow even more and to feel even more interest and responsibility for living together.
11/4/2022 Eco-education with Play 31 PLAY31 designs toys and inclusive play that protect our one and only planet. Play31 creates eco-friendly toys and eduplay content that protect our planet. Focusing on green play content for the earth, we present stories about diversity and inclusion through play equipment and present it to children's hands. In addition, we are disseminating eco-friendly play and carbon-neutral education tailored to children's perspectives by developing hands-on kits and microlearning content that recycle waste resources. Play31 believes in the ‘power of play’ that changes the future.
12/10/2022 Global Citizenship Forum/Humanitas College Chopsticks Program reporting meeting (12-7-2022) College students studying global citizenship at Kyung Hee University served as mentors for middle and high school students at Baraka. Baraka immigrant students had a fun time with their mentors, learning about Korean culture, receiving advice from their older peers on how to spend their time, and sharing their thoughts with university student mentors. They also spent time learning about global citizenship and how to adapt to Korean society. We would like to thank Bae Kidong, CEO of the World Citizen Forum, and professors at Kyung Hee University's Humanitas College for providing this great opportunity.
12/14/2022 Baraka Library <Gachon Cultural Foundation Multicultural Helper Award> Grand Prize Winner (12-14-2022) Newsletter (2023 Ones)1/2/2023 IMM Hope Sharing Festival (2022-12-17) On December 17th at the IMM Hope Sharing Foundation (Representative Son Donghan) the Hope Sharing Festival and scholarship awards started for Baraka migrant students to help their future. This time, we were in the festival with the <Orphan Rights Alliance (http://orphan.or.kr/)>. Volunteers from Crimson Education and IMM Hope Foundation gave hope to migrant students and orphans, for their dreams of the future.
1/2/2023 Baraka middle and high schoolers <Park Nohae picture exhibition> (2022-12-21) We went to the <Park Nohae picture exhibition> in ‘Ra Cafe’ at Tongui Dong with our students. We saw the pictures by <Park Nohae who met the children of earth> and read the descriptions, and thought about them with the children. Two high school students, a boy and a girl, who are soon returning to Iraq, admire the things they see, and express their sad feelings. The female student, who must return to Iraq soon due to personal reasons, pledges to come back to Korea and live, hope and study hard to contribute even a little to Iraq's future.
1/28/2023 Baraka children in the winter (sledding) On January 28, a Saturday, we went to a sledding range. With the excitement we forgot about the cold and had a good day.
3/23/2023 ‘Rainbow stepping stone mentoring’ with <Jump> 2023 8th start ceremony (2023-2-25) Rainbow stepping stone mentoring is a mentoring and cultural experience organized by Coong group and Jump for migrants. 7 Jump mentors are paired with 7 Baraka children and started. During the orientation they had a fun first meeting with their college student mentors. Also from migrant backgrounds, they understood them and approached them with their hearts. We thank Jump and Coong for this experience.
5/11/2023 5/1 ‘Baraka Childrens’ Rural Experience Day’ On the first day of May we went to Pocheon to experience the farms. These children have not experienced the rural areas of Korea yet so we decided to go there. As soon as we arrived they asked if we could see a cow. They were running around the fields and roads and wanted to see a cow. Thinking about it, these kids have lived in the city and have not seen wheat or chicken or cattle growing so this was a good experience for them. I wondered if the community would accept these migrant families happily, as we plowed fields for potatoes and planted crops.
5/11/2023 5/10 Picnic with CAR 123 With a company named CAR 123’s backing, we went to Cheolwon for a picnic. Migrant mothers and children cannot go on vacations very often due to various reasons. Especially families with young children, and not having a car means going far is out of the question. Thankfully a company named CAR123 provided us with 2 vans and we went to far Cheolwon’s Hantan river. These families who have only been in Itaewon rode in a comfortable car for a picnic. For these families going on a vacation is hard, but a rental car company named CAR123 provided us with a ride and lunch, and drove us. We thank the employees for their help! It was a happy day. We are wondering where we will go next.
6/4/2023 6/3 Day with Polytechnic College We spent a day with Polytechnic College (Jeongsu Campus) in Itaewon. We had a good day with our 3 year volunteers ‘The Space Friends’ from the college. The experience was good for the community, with children playing with older volunteers and snacks for everyone. I hope we can make a good community, and coexist.
7/9/2023 Lego Day Our partner Cha Dongywon from Hands On Technology saw our migrant children and decided to teach them coding legos. Our children learned coding with legos and had a good time. We thank all the teachers from <Lego Education> Hands On Technology.
8/10/2023 8/1-3 Baraka Library 3 day summer camp We had our summer camp at Muuido island Hanagae beach. 40 mothers and children had a relaxing time at the beach. The children were pleased with all the activities. This year was easier with the CAR123 company’s cars. Also the donors who gave fruits and snacks for the summer camp made our Baraka camp even better. We couldn’t go outside because of COVID-19 for a long time but this will be a good experience for them in Korea.
8/11/2023 2nd Play Leader Team summer camp (2023-8-7) Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states, ‘Children have the right to sufficient rest and play.’ (https://www.mohw.go.kr/kids/content/sub020201.jsp) At Yongsan Dodamdodam Indoor Playground the Play Leader Team camp was hosted for kids including ones from Baraka. <Yongsan Dodamdodam Indoor Playground (Center Director Seol Hyunsoon)>, is Seoul City's first children's experience that develops and develops good play culture, and listens to children's opinions. This is <Seoul Public Playground>. In an age where children who are addicted to cell phones and games are accustomed to playing alone, becoming individualistic and losing opportunities to play and grow together, they are reminded of community through playing together, learn how to live together through a healthy play culture, and have the opportunity to be trained as leaders. “Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Korea has joined and ratified, states that ‘children have the right to sufficient rest and play.’ The ‘right to play’ refers to the child’s right to enjoy a happy life through play, referring to all of the child’s rights to play. For children, ‘play’ is as instinctive as eating, sleeping, and going to the bathroom. The right to play is a natural right that children should enjoy, but in our society, children's right to play is not sufficiently guaranteed. (Source: Gyeongbuk Ilbo - Good Day Good News http://www.kyongbuk.co.kr)" This time Baraka children will play freely and develop, and develop a good play culture with the right to play. For this we make the 2nd Play Leader Team and operate it for one year.
8/13/2023 Yeongdong-gun youth cultural exchange (7/25-26, Yeongdong-gun) Yeongdong-gun is a sister city of Yongsan-gu. Baraka children were invited by Yeongdong for a cultural experience for 2 days. We also visited and experienced the surrounding regions. It is a region famous for its grapes so we had a field trip on the winemaking process, and a few other experiences including fruit chocolate making.
9/2/2023 Participating in the firefighting sciences camp (10 Baraka students) Baraka children who participated in the Family Safety Fire Science Camp hosted by Yongsan Fire Station had a camp to study risks related to various fires and experimented on them. It was a time to learn how important safety is, along with the fact that fire is useful, but can cause great disaster if used incorrectly. We learned scientifically well about safety education from firefighters who always work hard to ensure the safety of citizens. 9/11/2023 Visit to Goyang Children’s Museum With the invitation of Lee Yeonsu from <Art and Com> Baraka children visited Goyang Children’s Museum. It kindled their imagination and they had an amazing time. We did many activities including arts, computers, and science. We hope for a healthy, hopeful multicultural future.
10/5/2023 Ban Ki Moon Foundation multicultural students visit (2023-12-20) On December 20 with an invitation from Ban Ki Moon Foundation, Baraka Library and 3 other international student schools were inspired for a global community. The 10 students from Baraka were greatly encouraged. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in particular, emphasized the importance of education as a driving force for economic development, saying that Korea, which was a UN beneficiary country after the Korean war, grew into the only country that helps third world countries, and encouraged people to receive good education in Korean society. In addition, in the face of the climate crisis, he encouraged each individual to become a responsible person in reducing disposable products as a global citizen rather than as a Korean citizen or a citizen of each country.
10/5/2023 Mural Drawing “World Children Drawing Board” (2023-9-23) We created a mural across the road from Baraka Library with the Polytechnic College volunteers. They colored, drew whatever they wanted, and wrote their names. Immigrant children are like a blank sheet of paper. It is drawn the way adults draw it... It is our job to draw the best picture for children who are like blank sheets of paper.
12/14/2023 Multicultural families invitation from the Leeum Museum of Art Hosted by the Yongsan Family Center and the Leeum Museum of Art, they invited multicultural families to spend time with them at the Leeum Museum of Art in Itaewon. Families with immigrant backgrounds had a time to become one through art. The event became a meaningful opportunity for immigrant families to achieve healthy integration into the community.
12/14/2023 Yongsan Migrant Children Support Group network progress sharing meeting In order to ensure a healthy and happy life for children of immigrant background living in Yongsan, we took time to share the details of three years of joint activities of about 20 organizations that support children, youth, and families of immigrant background. WIth 2.5 million immigrants, it was a time to confirm the power of working together to help the local community become a healthy multicultural society in the future. It was a time when I realized the importance of the saying that the whole village must work together to ensure the well-being of a child.
12/14/2023 Participation in the Seoul Kids Cafe opening ceremony (2023-11-9) Baraka Children attended the opening ceremony of Dodam Dodam Indoor Playground. Children are invited to the Dodam Dodam Indoor Playground every Thursday to enjoy a happy play time. When children are happy, adults are happy. If children from immigrant backgrounds grow up happily, we will have a healthy multicultural society.
12/14/2023 Attending a music concert at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts For the end of the year, Baraka children and their families attended the Messiah Performance Concert held at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. We met in advance, had dinner together, looked around the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, and attended the concert. Children and parents attended a concert for the first time... By experiencing art and culture, they alleviate some of the loneliness in a foreign country and create emotional exchanges by broadening cultural harmony.
12/20/2023 Multicultural student group visit from an invitation from Ban Ki-moon Foundation (12-20-2023) On December 20 with an invitation from Ban Ki Moon Foundation, Baraka Library and 3 other international student schools were inspired for a global community. The 10 students from Baraka were greatly encouraged. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in particular, emphasized the importance of education as a driving force for economic development, saying that Korea, which was a UN beneficiary country after the Korean war, grew into the only country that helps third world countries, and encouraged people to receive good education in Korean society. In addition, in the face of the climate crisis, he encouraged each individual to become a responsible person in reducing disposable products as a global citizen rather than as a Korean citizen or a citizen of each country, and we should have a big dream for a better world together.
12/31/2023 Ending the year with the ‘Monthly Play’ (12-29-2023) As a project to remember Bogwang-dong, a space that will disappear due to Itaewon redevelopment, Baraka Children ended the year of 2023 by performing a play 'Which planet are you from?' This is a story about learning what it is like to meet different people by traveling to different places and meeting people on planets with different greeting methods and thoughts. It was a time to learn how important it is to objectify oneself and accept others, believing that different things are just different and not wrong. It was a time to learn about differences through the Baraka children from various countries and what it means to live in a multicultural society without prejudice.
Newsletter (2024 Ones)6/4/2024 Yongsan Dodam Dodam Playground Play Leader Camp (2024-2-20) The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Korea is a member of, is an international human rights treaty unanimously adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989. http://incrc.org/uncrc/(International Center for Children’s Rights) All children should be able to enjoy the same rights, and the rights that children should enjoy are explained in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In particular, Article 31 states, “All children have the right to enjoy appropriate rest and leisure, and to participate in cultural and artistic activities.” For the first time in Seoul, welfare worker Seol Hyeonsook <Dodam Dodam Playground http://www.ysdodam2.co.kr/ > was established and is being carried out as one of the main projects of Seoul City. One day every week, children go there and have fun as we guarantee children’s “right to play” as stipulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. For this purpose, <Play Leaders> were identified among the Baraka children and trained with leader camps. Through Play Leader, physical, emotional, and social relationship training is provided, and leadership is also developed.
6/4/2024 Fun Children’s Day at ‘Seoul Land’ (2024-5-4) To celebrate Children's Day, <Downtown Light Youth> invited the Baraka children to Seoul Land and played. Because they are children from migrant backgrounds, their parents are not able to take care of them on Children's Day well, but the older youth give them Children's Day gifts, buy them delicious food, hold hands, and have fun with them. It is Children's Day, and it is just fun.
6/4/2024 IMM Hope Foundation scholarship awarding ceremony An event was held at the Banpo JW Marriott Hotel to award scholarships to elementary, middle, high school, and college students, including Baraka Children, from the IMM Hope Foundation. The goal is to help and encourage the nurturing of their potential to change the world through challenges under difficult circumstances. I am grateful to the IMM Hope Foundation for helping in an era with 2.5 million immigrants. The award ceremony included a scholarship award ceremony, cultural events, and a dinner party, which provided great strength and encouragement to the children who were attending for the first time.
7/2/2024 Visit to Seoul Office of Education Da Plus On Center (2024-5-20)
We visited Da+on Center run by the Yongsan-gu Migration Background Support Organization Council, a Seoul multicultural education support center operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. According to recent statistics, the number of foreigners residing in Korea will exceed 3 million in 2021, and Korea is expected to enter a full-fledged multicultural society. It is expected that the proportion of foreigners compared to the population will be 5.82% in 2021, exceeding the OECD average of 5.7% (Statistics Korea estimate). And the proportion of multicultural students increased by a total of 8,280 students per year (average of 1,183 per year), accounting for 2.17% (18,301 students) of the total students in 2020. We learned many lessons from the center that supports healthy school life for multicultural students.
8/1/2024 Mom + Jump Project Harmony Choir Performance Sharing Meeting (2024-7-26) With support from the Seoul Central Office of Education, a harmony choir practice was held in collaboration with five organizations. With support from Yongsan-gu, a choral recital was held at the SK Happiness Sharing Foundation in November.
8/29/2024 Baraka Mini Sports Festival with mothers (2024-2-3) Staying in a cold room all winter is difficult for both mother and child. So they ran around and played games together in the gym. As the child runs and plays team games, the child relaxes both body and mind and feels one with his mother. We left with fun and happy memories on this winter day, sharing delicious snacks and playing.
8/29/2024 Seoul Office of Education Reading Campaign Book Wave Picture Book Relay We had the experience of reading picture books with children and getting closer to books through BookWave, a reading campaign conducted by the Seoul Office of Education. Read the book aloud, share it, understand it, and write down your impressions through drawings or writing.