TRAINING PROGRAM FOR THE VOLUNTEERS

On July 4 - 5, 2008 the Volunteers of the May 18 Memorial Foundation had a field trip and training program to Busan. There were around 40 volunteers, 6 staff, and 2 international interns. This program is conducted every year, but the program is always different each year. The training program is always conducted during summer vacation (middle of year).

The May 18 Memorial Foundation have 3 groups of volunteers, namely :

1. Research and Education Volunteer

2. Culture and Solidarity Volunteer

3. Media Team Volunteer

Each group has different work. They must help and provide assistance to the following teams: Research and Education Team and Culture and Solidarity Team. In the case of media team volunteer, they provide help to both teams.

The aims of the training program were:

1. Each group of volunteers made a presentation about their program and activity for the year. The presentation served them and the Foundation to compare program and activity for a year.

2. Volunteers should know and learn from each others program and activities.

3. Share and exchange the program and activity with the volunteers from Busan Democracy Park.

4. The volunteer from the May 18 Memorial Foundation already past their work for a year, so this program is a refresher for them.

We left the office at 9 AM by bus, and arrived in Busan around 12.30 PM. The first place we visited was the Busan Democracy Park. After, we had lunch together at their canteen.

At 2 PM we gathered in the hall and meet with the Volunteers from the Busan Democracy Park. The first agenda was introduction. After that, the program was announced.

The Volunteers were divided into 4 groups. The way of introduction was interesting. Each person must know not only the name but also age, favorite food, and the reason why they joined the program. One group included volunteers of the May 18 Memorial Foundation and Busan Democracy Park.


The next agenda was a tour around Busan Democracy Park’s area. The volunteers from Busan Democracy Park were guiding us around the Office. We went to some places, which are:

1. The roof of the Foundation.
We could see the city of Busan. The guide explained about the 4.16 bridge. It is the first bridge to connect the city to the port.

2. The exhibition hall.

Inside, we saw some pictures that includes the information about the history of Busan. There are 2 jail rooms in there.

3. Lobby of the Office.

There is a painting depicting the uprising movement in South Korea including the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising.

4. The altar for prayers.

5. The Monument (outside of the Foundation).

The Monument was built to commemorate the victims of the 4.16. There is a place to pray and shows victims memorial.

Ms. Jeong Lynn from the May 18 Memorial Foundation and Ms. Yun Hye-sun from Busan Democracy Park were responsible in coordinating the activities.

We had games in the beach near the hotel at around 5 PM. The games were sports, quiz, etc. The volunteers prepared the games, they already planned it before.

Everyone enjoyed the beach. At around 6 PM we had dinner in the Sea Food Restaurant across the beach. The volunteers continued to play in the beach.

At 8 PM we started the next agenda, volunteers from each Foundation made presentation about their program and activity the year. For the May 18 Memorial Foundation’s Volunteer, they also made a video. The story was about a dream.

The presentation finished around 10 PM, and after we separated in some groups. It was a time for solidarity with other volunteer.

In the morning, after breakfast in a restaurant near the hotel, at around 10 AM we gathered together in the big room at 6th floor. We separated into groups and everyone must write their opinion about their friends. After we took some pictures together in front of the hotel.

We also visited the Busan Modern History Museum. The museum is close to the city. In the museum we watched the documentary video and tour around the museum with a guide.

We went to the street and a book store when at the 4.16 there was a book writer wrote about the democracy and sold the book in the store. After that, we walk to one place which have stairs called 40 steps. We also went to the 40Gyedan Culture Center. The tour finished around 2 PM, and after we had lunch.

At 3 PM we left from the restaurant and went back to Gwangju by bus. In the bus almost everyone were sleeping, they were very tired because the schedule was very tight. We arrived at Gwangju at around 6 PM.

The training program was successful, but the time was very short. Should the time have been longer, the volunteers and the staff from each Foundation could have enjoy more sharing with each other.

links:

http://www.518.org/

http://www.518interns.blogspot.com/

The 2nd Presentation at Gwangju Natural Science High School

Gwangju Natural Science High School

Gwangju Natural Science High School is a vocational school in Gwangju, South Korea. I had my 2^nd presentation on July 9, 2008 at 10.55 – 11.35 AM. The topic is about Indonesia. For the second opportunity, I made presentation for students of cooking class. It is in a class of around 30 students.

Before the presentation, I meet with the teacher, Mrs. Kim Jeong-hee on July 3, 2008 at 4 PM in the school. I went with Mr. Pete. On the meeting, she suggested focus for our presentation.

One day before I had presentation, I gave my file presentation to Mrs. Kim as a teacher by email and Mr. Jintae Cho the secretary general.

On July 9, 2008 I left the office at 9.30 AM. I went with Ms. Suyeon (Research and Education Team) and Kim Yoan (Volunteer). Ms. Suyeon was observed the presentation, and Kim Yoan also had his presentation about Malaysia. Kim Yoan was the former Intern Volunteer (2007) at EMPOWER in Malaysia for 10 months. His presentation was from 11.45 AM – 12.15 PM.

We arrived at the school at 10 AM. We had meeting first with Mrs. Kim. I started the presentation at 10.55 AM. I introduced my self and general things about Indonesia. For the main topic, I choose the theme about the Moeslem culture and Wayang (the traditional theatre from Java). I brought some materials to enhance my presentation, like: Indonesian flag, Indonesian currency (Rupiah), Wayang, etc.



In the middle of my presentation, I introduced a traditional game called Do Mi Ka Do with the students. The game helped me catch the attention of the students.

At the end of my presentation, some students ask questions like: personal question, my internship program, the relation of Indonesia and India, etc. I finished my presentation at 11.30 AM. We had break around 10 minutes, and after Kim Yoan started his presentation.

We had lunch together with the teachers and students at 12.30 PM and after we had some discussion with the teacher. We went back to the office at around 1.30 PM and continue our work.

For the next presentation, I need to prepare better power point. It was more simple, because during the first presentation I am confused about the materials, so I ended up sharing too much information to the students. Compared with the first presentation, the students were more quiet. I hope with my presentations, I could share information about Indonesia and it could be more useful for them.

The May 18 Memorial Exhibition

The May 18 Memorial Foundation is a non-profit organization established on August 30th, 1994 by the surviving victims of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, the victims families, and the citizens of Gwangju. The foundation aims to commemorate as well as continue the spirit of struggle and solidarity of the May 18 Uprising; to contribute to the peaceful reunification of Korea; and to work towards peace and human rights throughout the world. Since its establishment, the foundation has carried out numerous projects in various fields, including organizing memorial events, establishing scholarships, fostering research, disseminating information to the public, publishing relevant materials, dispensing charity and welfare benefits, building international solidarity, and awarding the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights.

One of the memorial events is organizing the May 18 Memorial Exhibition around the cities in South Korea. Every year the place and the time are different. In the case of the month of May, the exhibition is always conducted in Gwangju (the 518 gallery). For this year, the Culture and Solidarity Team of the May 18 Memorial Foundation organized the May 18 Memorial Exhibition in 3 places which are:
1. Gwangju, from May 15 – 25, 2008
2. Jeonju, from June 5 – 18, 2008
3. Busan, from September 5 – 25, 2008

There are 2 types of support which the foundation provides in organizing these exhibitions, namely:
1. The foundation funds all of the expenses of the exhibition.
2. The foundation is funding half of the expenses of the exhibition.

For this year’s exhibition, the foundation is funding all the expenses of the exhibition (type 1).

On June 5, 2008 at 5 PM the opening ceremony was held for the exhibition in Jeonju. The exhibition was held at the 2nd floor of Sori 21 Art Gallery. On the 1st floor there is another exhibition with the same related theme. Every year the exhibition are different kind of creations but the theme is always the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising. Everyone look and appraises the Uprising in different aspects. Also, the foundation organized the exhibition with different creation so the people can enjoy and feel it in many ways.

On 2007, there were 2 themes which were:
1. Look at the new of the May 18 Uprising. It was discovery of the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising.
2. The Cartoons. The foundation gave opportunity for young artists to create using the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising as a theme.

This year the theme of the exhibition is a little bit different. The Foundation made used of the archive of pictures. The exhibition was the pictures of the victims before the Uprising. On the pictures, the people look happy. Some of the photos were takes with their families or friends.

The exhibition is talking about the human, they have their own life, friends, and families. When the Uprising happened, they could not take pictures because the situation was very dangerous. The memory left for the victims’ families were the last pictures that they took before the Uprising.

The foundation collected the pictures from the victims’ families. The pictures left were not so many, the families mostly burned them because they want to throw the sad memory. The pictures, reminds them of their loved ones who died in the Uprising that makes them feel sad.

During the opening ceremony, there was a performance. There was 1 artist. He performed his creation in front of the visitors. His performances took around 30 minutes. The theme of the performance was the rice. As we know that rice is an important for symbol Asian countries. He used different kinds of rice (look at the follow pictures). After the performances, there were some reception words.

After the opening ceremony, the visitors looked around the exhibition. The organizers also prepared snack and drink. The opening ceremony finished at around 7 PM.

Some of the citizens in Gwangju and South Korea look The May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising just as a history. With the exhibition, the foundation aims for the people who lives after the Uprising to look, hear, and feel the history. History not just history per se, but history that now was great influence in their lives.

links:

http://www.518.org/

http://www.518interns.blogspot.com/