|
 Part
of the reason that I am getting paid the big bucks to teach here
in Korea is so that parents can give their children the best
possible chance to get into the best possible university.
The best possible university in Korea is Seoul National
University (SNU).
Here are some random stats for SNU:
- The top 0.1% of students form 95% of
SNU admissions.
- 40% of high ranking government
officials are SNU graduates.
- Two-thirds of the judges in Korea are
SNU graduates.
- Four-out-seven of the 2002
presidential candidates were SNU graduates.
SNU is that good and that
competitive.
So when my good friend
Angela Lytle - who is a lecturer at SNU
- offered me the chance to talk to about 35 of her
students
about my misadventures in Ghana,
Uganda and the
Philippines, I couldn't resist.
I mean these guys are - quite literally -
the future leaders of Korea. Some of the students I talked
to could become the policy makers of tomorrow. This was a
great chance to warp their fragile little minds...
So what did I talk about? I talked
about my friend
Margaret
in Northern Uganda and her tale of horror. I talked about
how her son Jeffery had himself inflicted similar horror on
other people. I talked about how Jeffery is
himself a victim.
I talked about how there are no "bad guys" in Northern Uganda
and that those inflicting the horrors are themselves victims -
the rebel army is made up of brain-washed child soldiers.
I talked about
Bernadette
and her probable future as a child prostitute. I talked
about the child prostitutes - both boys and girls - are among
the most desperate people in the world. I talked about why
I did want to help them. I talked about the brave souls
who are trying to help them - at great personal risk to
themselves as many activists are shot by government thugs.
I talked about the former activists who were being
exhumed from a former military camp.
The point of all this babbling was that
there is no easy answer for the people of Northern Uganda and
the Philippines. Victims attack victims in Northern Uganda
and the people helping the most desperate in the Philippines are
killed. I hope I got the students thinking.
The class then broke up into
small groups
to discuss the issues and come up with good solutions.
Most of the ideas were good ones that are have either been tried
or are being tried. I pointed out the problems I saw with
the ideas. Hopefully it made them think some more.
I then talked about what my ideas were
help alleviate at least some of the problems. My ideas are
all summed up in and by Meaningful Volunteer. So if you
wanna know what I plan, then go check the
site out.
The real superstar in all of this is
Angela - who will surely lead the UN one day. She talks to
these students all the time about similar issues. She was
the one who gave me this opportunity.
I just lurv talking to people
about things that I am passionate about. And for a free
lunch, I'd be happy to talk to your group.
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