Great work in the community this Christmas.

Plenty of expats in North and South Jeolla provinces are helping out their communities this Christmas with fundraising and gift drives organized in Mokpo, Gwangju, Suncheon, and Jeonju. This isn't the only time teachers are giving back to their neighbors, but this season is a good a time as any to highlight the great work they do, and to show how you can help.

I'll mention Gwangju first simply because they've got an event coming up this weekend. On December 12th from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at the Gwangju International Center, there will be the annual Sungbin Bake Sale, with all profits going to the Sungbin Educational Endowment Fund, a collection "that assists students in attending university or voacational training" according to the Facebook group page. Specifically, time and money is spent helping Sungbin Home for Girls in Gwangju.

This is the third year for the Christmas bake sale, but expats are active throughout the year volunteering to help. In a Facebook conversation with Michael Simning, currently with 98.7 GFN FM and active in organizing local volunteer activities in the past, he told me a little about what goes on throughout the year:

Over the past few years we have had a fairly active charity drive for the girls. We have had various events involving the Gwangju Inter FC, The Underground Grocers and Speakeasy. We would hold soccer tournaments open to both Korean and foreign teams. Donations would be collected in addition to food sales at the events. Due to difficulties involving marriages and children we haven't done that for almost a year.

Ther was a Love Auction held at Speakeasy which was an event that sold some of Gwangju's most eligible/infamous singles. We had a proffesional caterer from home put together a meal and made it a pretty upscale event. There was a huge amount of volunteers at this event.

Volunteers also visit the home on Saturdays to teach. "Now that some of the girls that I began working with are leaving high school and getting ready to make their own way in the world," Simning wrote, "we are trying to help them prepare to get some type of practical vocational education."

Sara Fladmo, a local teacher, is in charge of a lot of the volunteer efforts in Gwangju. Simning says: "She has led the organization of western food stalls at GIC events plus masterminded the last two bake sales. She is invaluable and should be mentioned by name."

There is more information about the bake sale on Facebook. In addition to cookies, brownies, cakes, and other food baked by and donated people in the area---take a look at the list---there are also donated books for sale. It starts at one. The Gwangju International Center (광주국제교류센테) is located on the 5th floor of the Jeonil Building (제일빌딩)---the white one with the KEB---and is nearest exit 1 of Culture Complex subway station.

Looking now at Mokpo, as a member of the Mokpo Facebook group I get regular updates about what's going there. This month there's an Orphan Christmas Gift Drive through the 13th.

The Mokpo orphans are generally well taken care of, but it is an extremely special event for them to receive something just for them, not given as a "group home" item.

This year we have 73 participants from age 4/5 to university students, who are all deserving of something to bring a smile to their faces and lift their spirits.

If you are interested in donating, I will set you up with a orphan profile that will include some background info about their age and interests, as well as their 3 item gift wish list. It is up to you which items you buy, but we request that you provide at least one of the items listed.

I exchanged messages with Shanna Marie Howse on Facebook, and she told me a little more about what's going on in Mokpo. First, a little about last year's party:

At last year’s party we really had a special time. The Sisters invited all of the teachers to join them for a meal before the party, to show their gratitude for all we do. We had a volunteer dress as Santa to hand out the gifts, which of course the students were thrilled to receive. Watching the joy on their faces as they open the gifts was really memorable for everyone present. The kids then put on a talent show; many of them are learning to play instruments, or are just interested in singing and dancing. I’m not sure of the exact numbers but I believe we had around 40 individual gifts and then another 5 to 10 “house” gifts, for the kids who don’t attend the English classes, plus monetary gifts for the university students. The gifts were mostly donated by teachers from Mokpo and surrounding areas, and the rest were bought with the money we raised earlier in the year through fundraising.

Christmas isn't the only time they do things, though. She continues:

Some other fundraising events that we run are the annual Halloween Monster Mash party, our biggest and most successful of the year, occasional sporting events such as an ultimate Frisbee tournament, the pub quiz happens usually once a month, this year there will be a Christmas party with perhaps a bit of fundraising going on, and in the spring we host a BBQ party for the kids. At the Halloween party we decorate one of our local bars who are kind enough to lend us the space for free and donate 1,000 from ever drink sale to our cause, we have a 50/50 draw and a bake sale, this year we added jello shooters and pizza slices, there is a costume contest with prizes and also a pumpkin carving contest. Last year’s party also had the “dungeon” activity (it’s a mystery) and this year briefly we had tarot readings. The Pub Quiz is being held about once a month at Moe’s, the new foreigner-run bar in Hadang. The entrance is 5,000 won which is donated to the orphan fund each time, and they usually run a 50/50 draw. The next one is Quizmas on Dec. 17th. And finally the BBQ party, was a first last year but it was successful and much enjoyed by the kids, so we hope to continue this event annually. We had a huge BBQ picnic at their main building in Mokpo, with hot dogs, chips, cola, cookies, (all big treats for them) and fruit. All of the food was donated by teachers in Mokpo. We then played some games such as tug of war, water balloon fight and three-legged race.

She was kind enough to tell me a little more about the Mokpo Orphan English Program which she coordinates:

Our program has 15 wonderful teachers who volunteer once a week for an hour to teach English, very casually, to the students. In total there are around 73 students that the Sisters take care of and currently around 45 of them are in the English classes. We have two locations, one is the Mokpo main building and the other is outside of town in a small village called Illo. We run our program from March to July and then September to December. We have to supply all of our own materials for these classes; there is no funding from the government or from the Sisters for it.

If you're in the area and are interested in participating in the Orphan Christmas Quiz Drive, see the Facebook group for more info, though it might be a little late to be matched up with a child.

Across the province, McCarthy's Bar in Suncheon, the Suncheon International Football Club, and the Jeonnam Rugby Football Club are holding a donation drive to raise funds for the SOS Orphanage in Suncheon (순천SOS어린이마을), funds that will go toward buying things like school supplies for children there. Exchanging Facebook messages with Harold Lear, owner of McCarthy's, he tells me the goal is "to raise awareness and money for the children of the SOS Children's Village (orphanage) and to give them a little Christmas cheer," and he says the SIFC has been involved with the orphanage for three years. Last Christmas the football club raised 1,200,000 won themselves and through donations from friends. That's not including the money and presents collected in a separate drive at the Suncheon Christmas party. Those interested in giving this year can visit McCarthy's in Jorye-dong



or can transfer funds to their Industrial Bank of Korea (기업은행) account:

McCarthy's
322-033220-01-011

Finally, though it was my intention to just focus on Jeollanam-do, I came across a post on The Jeonju Hub out of North Jeolla province worth sharing. An excerpt:

Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa Claus is coming to town. This is a time when the word 'charity' often comes up in Jeonju's English speaking community, when are hearts warm up in the season, and we think about giving. It is a great balm for homesickness, to give to someone who has less than you.

Here's an updated post:

It looks as though things will be taking shape this way: We will try to make 200 gift bags. Each one containing a toothbrush, some candy, pad and colored pencils, sheet of stickers, those little hand-warmer things, etc. You can give cash or donate material (pls check first with material to avoid too much duplication). Deepin, DeepInto, RadioStar can receive donations. Or call/write me personally. Here are the needs that are clear so far:

•200 brown bags (or better colors)

•200 toothbrushes

•200 candies

•200 vitamin C candies

•200 sheets of stickers (Power Rangers, Hello Kitty are hot)

•Box(es) of wet-tissues

•200 toys, rubecubes, tops, pogs...)

•more suggestions

•money (you will be told where each won went)

KEB 620-161824-953 also send email to i.d. donation.

I wish we could get rich sponsors and give a cool toy to each kid. Please mention it to anyone you may know. I will order 200 ramien, which was a HUGE hit last year (these kids are not rich hagwan kids, they don't get much pocket money to go to the store.) Teachers, please... remember, did you ask Santa for a notepad and eraser set when you were a kid? I have candy-canes and chocolate coins covered. Thanks and Merry Christmas.

Expats doing good work in Jeollanam-do is nothing new. In fact the first foreign residents of the area were missionaries who set up schools, hospitals, and tuberculosis clinics (a history still visible today), and their legacy continues in cites like Suncheon and Gwangju, Seoul and Pyeongyang. But it's not all about trying to fit into some larger picture. Today there are scores perhaps hundreds of foreigners helping out their communities not because they want to challenge stereotypes of teachers and expats, but because they think it's the right thing to do. The people named here, and the hundreds of volunteers who weren't, are doing an excellent job making their cities a little bit nicer for those less fortunate than us.