Seoul YWCA News in July & August

Y-Teen in Northern Area, Membership Gathering

June 9

Youth program department carried out a campaign for school violence eradication at the Sangam World Cup park. More than 90 youth from Seoul, Suwon, Seongnam, Ansan, Anyang, Uijeongbu, Chuncheon participated in the campaign for the eradication of school violence by walking campaign and creating UCC. Even it was hot weather, they spent a rewarding time.

 

 

The 3rd Regional Harmony Festival in Bongcheon

June 9

Bongcheon social welfare center held '3rd Regional Harmony Festival' for encouraging communication between local residents. This festival is prepared by 23 local reconciliation committees and Bongcheon social welfare center, 3,000 residents participated. Beginning with the harmony of Folk percussion of Bongwon middle school, the event made people have time to get together. Local organizations seld foods and second hand goods, Some revenue from that was donated to help needy neighbor.

 

 

Seongdong Experience Program for Growing Patriotism

June 2

Seongdong Youth Center conducted patriotism experience program of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. It's called 'wurusa', it means 'the modern history that we go around and see again'. Participants listened to an overall flow of modern history from EBS instructor, choe-taeseong, with Q&A session, had a time to reconsider about the importance of patriotism.

 

 

Women Resources Development Department's Family Therapy Counseling Training

June 8 to 29

Women Resources Development Department conducted a Family Therapy Counseling Training 'Long and short trip to find a family', mainly with psychodrama. 31 people attended and practiced various family therapy like empty chair technique, making family fragmentation, understanding malfunctioned family characteristics, role play, anger management and so on. Participants learned about others and themselves in psychodrama and had the opportunity to reach out to the true nature of themselves.

 

 

Open the Multicultural Instructor Training Course in Youngdeongpo

June 13

Youngdeongpo Women Resources Development Center opened multicultural instructor training course as a part of the ongoing business of supporting employment. This course is projected for providing social participation opportunities to marriage immigrant women, encouraging social combination of multicultural family and marrige immigrant women's empowerment. Participants receive total 45 hours of multicultural education by 16th July, after completion of that, they will serve as a multicultural instructor in their local child center and so on.

 

Youngdeongpo Participated in Job Fair

June 13

Youngdeongpo Women Resources Development Center participated in the 2012 Job Fair and run a booth for 'women-friendly jobs'. They counselled women about employment and education. Subordinately, image making class, 'My color', was held and participants could get information about making appropriate impression on job interview.

 

 

Consumer and Environment Department's Exterior Price Labeling Pilot Project

June 13 to 20

Consumer and Environment Department installed outdoor price labeling signs at Song-pa district as a pilot project of exterior price labeling project from January, 2013. Seoul YWCA visited one by one of 7 kinds of business industries like restaurants, laundries, public baths, accommodations, sports facilities and obtained the consent of owners of items and price. In that process, a total of 223 businesses decided to participate in this pilot project.

 

 

Well-educated Career Break Women's Job Training 

June 14

Nowon Women Resources Development Center conducted a job briefing of 'Course to be a professional in producing 2D digital animation' for well-educated career break women. Kim-Mihee from Animation workshop 'Annie House Sun' and Jung-Hyemin from 'JM Animation' introduced the employment prospects of 2D animation and demonstrated drawing by tablet PC. It could be a good opportunity for re-employment after approximately three months education.

 

Eco-friendly Festival with Family 

June 1

Garak social welfare Center held an eco-friendly backyard festival for local residents. They run various booths as facepainting, making a sandwich, making ​​EM soap, planting trees in the recycle bottle, etc. The festival was a good chance to look back on the importance of nature.

 

Salt Pond Experience As a Rural Activities

June 16

Gangnam Youth Center visited Daebu Island with 35 elementary school students. It was for experiencing salt pond. The children had a great time and learned benefit of salt while making ​​a colored-salt pillar, collecting salt from salt pond.

 

Out of School, Communicate With World!

Seongdong Youth Center, Alternative School For Youth, "Tong(通.桶)"

In Seongdong-gu, what's the number of youth who quit school? Every year in this area, 179 middle and high school students leave school. Where these young people would go after dropping out of school? For them, Tong, an alternative school for youth was first opened in Seongdong Youth Center.

 

We introduce 'Tong' school

Seoul YWCA youth alternative school is called Tong. The word Tong has two meanings. One is understanding(通) and the other is holding(桶). Thus, Tong means that they will hold world while communicating with it. The school is an alternative one providing emotional and learning support for youth, aged between 16 to 23. The students at Tong want to find their way without giving up study, even if they quitted school. Tong school began in May, and the first class is scheduled by 31th December. The school consists of 6 students, 1 teacher, and 5 volunteer teachers. The number of teens interested in attending the school and wanting to consult their career, is steadily increasing

There is a special thing at Tong school

Tong school offers classes from Monday through Friday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm as other ordinary schools do. But, it focus more on discovering individual student's talent rather than providing regular classes. In addition to classes for GED preparation, the school provides a wide range of support from emotional cultivation to career development such as crafts class, working-out project, career counseling, and volunteer work. Rather than imprison student in the framework set by adult generation, the school are asking students to develop decision-making abilities and to be more responsible through the student council meeting. Sun Young Park, the school's social worker says, "Students felt a sense of accomplishment and confidence as they produce something with patience during craft classes. Recently they felt the enjoyment of direct experience, making wall-clock and food. In the future, the school will add band and drama activities for healthy stress management and career exploration.

Making the color of our own

One of the goals that the school want to achieve is to get rid of the bias that teens have against friends who graduated school. Most students in Tong school have been hurt in relationship with peers and have not received attention from family members at a proper time. However, they have their true colors as the one student is bright and lively, the second quiet, the third positive, the fourth athletic, and the fifth is good at painting. One day, during break time, they went out for a while and came back holding a cat that have roamed around. Some students were very surprised and stepped on a chair to yell, the others played with a cat while taking pictures. These reactions were not different from those of middle or high school students about the same age. Maybe Tong school would be the good model of school community where teens really want to attend as it accepted the warm heart of teens to feed and get along with the cat which they met by accident on the street. The dreams of all students in Tong school are the followings; getting to know themselves and searching the thing that they really do well and truly want to do. In the future, please give a lot of attention and love to the Tong school in which we will make harmony with many friends in the whole range of personality.

 

Please contact Seongdong Youth Center to get a detailed consultation about Tong(an alternative school) and to make application

You can join to support the students attending Tong by donating money.

Bank account for donation Woori Bank 1005-001-193922 Seongdong Youth Center

Contact 2236- 2678~9 l www.sungdongyc.or.kr

 

 

Be the Happy Couple and Make a Happy Fruits!

2012 Life & Love School for Newly-Weds 

 

Newlyweds wearing white t-shirts gathered at auditorium of Seoul YWCA in the Saturday morning. They gathered around according to their group named after flower as daisy, peppermint, lavender...

 

With a big greeting of host, the auditorium is filled with passion of young couples. Seoul YWCA conducted newlyweds' school twice on 23th, 30th of June cooperating with Yuhan Kimberley, Ltd. Totally 106 couples participated. This school is projected to make a healthy family-oriented home even procrastinating marriage and childbirth is spreading in society.

 

One couple who gave a long story by facebook came up to stage. The wife said "I registered this school for my husband. I wanted him to feel the preciousness of life since he seems like he doesn't want to have a baby." This confession made many couples nod their heads. Maybe all of them have their own story inside.

 

As any ordinary school, there are school bell ringing, black board and big watch... It was enough to remind them their old school time. Family&couple counselor Kim-sooki director at Naumi family culture research gave a lecture about 'understanding couple'. She said "We need to think about who I am first to embrace others. All people have their own wound in their process of grown, but the problem starts when they try to be compensated that wound first after getting marriage." And she emphasized we need to get to know about my wound and embrace spouse's one, too.

 

In the afternoon, Kim-younghan, the expert of Sociodrama, director at constellation psychology research conducted a group roll play 'sociodrama'. This helps the couple to understand each other more. It was a great time that they laugh and cry together.

 

One important feature is a participation of social enterprise. One of social enterprise in Seoul, Moonye concert, made a song from book for couples.

 

From three years ago, around 420 couples have experienced Seoul Y newlywed school. By this project, we expect to make healthy family and healthy&happy society.

 

 

Fun Leader Will Be Sure To Succeed

Seoul YWCA Working Women Leadership Training Open Lecture

 

Seoul YWCA's women leadership training with the sponsorship of IBK(the Industrial Bank of Korea) was on progress every Tuesday beginning at 7:00 pm from May 15 to July 10. Due to the nature of our society, working women have the burden of combining work and family responsibilities. They are in difficulty to be leaders in the workplace. Thus, Seoul YWCA prepared the program to provide a foothold for career women. The program will bring up female leaders who work smart.

June 12(Tues), special open lecture by mentors, in which anyone interested in could attend, was held on the topic of 'Fun leader will be sure to succeed‘. Mare than 100 office workers gathered in one place. Their wish and passion to be leaders of being sensible and communicative was well felt. "Ha! ha! ha! Hello ~!" The hall was full of smiles with pleasant laughing of Mr. Kim Jin Bae, Director of Humor Center, who hosted the lecture. By Just looking at him who were all smiles and dressed in yellow top and bottoms, we could get a pleasant mind.

 

Mr Kim asked the question. "Why do you need a sense of humor?" Answers are different. "I want to be happy." "Because it make me healthy." Mr Kim said, "Humor gives relaxed feeling to people and helps to smooth human relationship. Humor comes from the breadth of mind while admitting the variety of human beings. Once you recognize the difference, you can see other people with positive views." He added, "To win the other party's heart, you need humor and conversation skills." Unconditionally saying, 'Yes' or 'Yeah' as the first word of dialogue, the participants practiced being responsive and sympathetic as there was a need for praise and sympathy. In addition, Mr Kim said, "We need power to govern emotions. Healthy emotion makes composure that is the power to make humor." as he gave a lecture on effective communication skills to deal with anger.

 

In the middle of lecture, the participants were paired to do a role playing. The things that we have forgotten are the scenes of bursting into laugh like little children, laughing aloud clapping one's hands, and shaking one's side? A career woman working in Myeongdong said, "Today's lecture was so fun. Come to think of it, when my coworkers made a mistakes, the leader who handled the mistake with humor rather than gave a little embarrassing looked more composed and sophisticated. I want to build up such sensibility." A female, who was quickening her pace to go home where her child was waiting for, was saying, "In this lecture, I've learned how to manage my own emotions. When my negative emotion were released smoothly, I could respect the other party not only in the workplace but at home.

 

 

In this age of sensibility, we hope that career women will grow as competitive leaders who combine both humor and composure, not as superwomen who are always harassed.