At camp, students learn to care for ‘we’ over ‘I’
An education program aimed at building students’ character kicked off on July 11. The program is designed to teach young people the principles of responsibility, interaction and cooperation. By Oh Jong-taek
The campaign is a joint effort of government, civil society and private organizations, including the JoongAng Ilbo and telecommunications company KT to nurture younger people into moral, responsible citizens.
At the school, students hang out in the woods for three days and learn principles of interaction, cooperation and consideration and respect for others.
A closed school donated by Jangseong County, South Jeolla, was remodeled into the venue for humanity education. DreamTogether, a society contribution network, which consists of about 20 corporations, is in charge of overall management.
A group of 42 middle school girls who attended the education program recently walked up a steep road toward “the Forest of Healing” at Chukryong Mountain at the Jangseong town.
For the kids, the trip through the winding streets on the mountain was something they’ve never experienced.
“I don’t think I can do this,” said Lim Hye-rim, 14, as she fell down on the ground.
But soon two girls who were following her, Na Gyeong-min, 13, and Park Ah-hyun, 14, held their hands out.
“Let’s go up together. We can climb higher if we go together,” they said. They helped Lim up and the three of them continued their journey together.
When sweat started to fall from their faces, a 2.8-square-kilometer (691.89-acre) wide forest full of 2.5 million trees appeared in their sight. It was “the Forest of Healing.”
“Open your two arms and feel the winds. Listen to what they are whispering,” said Choi Hyo-jung, a 31-year-old female therapist.
In response, the students closed their eyes.
“Everyday we were used to the sounds of cars and air-conditioners and now it feels like trees are saying hello to us,” said Choi Go-un, 14, a student from Seoul, as she sat on the pile of leaves.
Students traveled through the woods and listened to birds and streams. For the first time in their lives, they encountered a blackbird family settled on a tree branch.
For two hours completely free of academic stress, the students enjoyed a peaceful time of healing.
Also, the meaning of “us together” rather than “me alone” was taught to them as they helped each other go through the forest.
The 42 kids, each from a different school and region, had met each other for the first time at Humart Humanity School.
The short period of three days gave them enough time to play around freely and learn important qualities about humanity.
On the first day, a field day event was organized in which the students were divided into six groups and learned qualities of cooperation and consideration for others.
During a three-legged race, two girls, Jang Hyo-jung and Chae Ji-won, tried to get ahead of each other and eventually fell on the ground. When they got up, they held their hands together and stepped forward carefully.
“We could go faster when we truly got considerate of each other,” the two students said.
The importance of teamwork started to sink into the students’ minds as they played games like delivering water balloons and tuho, the Korean traditional arrow-throwing game.
The kids also learned how to socialize. A 14-year-old student named Yu Han-mi is the daughter of a Korean dad and Filipino mom. When Yu first came to the school, she had headphones on the entire time and did not talk to anyone.
But she slowly opened up throughout the day of activities. She became the star in the limbo game, a game in which people bend their backs and pass below a horizontal stick. She made an unmatched record of passing below a stick put at a height of 85 centimeters (33 inches).
When Yu and another girl were rolling a big ball together as partners in a game, Yu’s partner fell and Yu helped her up.
The value of cooperation was emphasized in a mock survival-on-an-uninhabited-island activity. The students gathered the tools they each owned and helped each other to evacuate from the island.
Deep in the night, they had a candlelight ceremony and shared their thoughts and dreams with each other.
Students also got to experience nature. On the second day, after walking around Chukryong Mountain, they visited a farm, milked cows and fed calves.
“I don’t think I can waste a drop of milk from now on,” said Lee Chae-won, 14, who saw a calf for the first time.
On the train ride back the last day, the students chatted joyfully.
“I realized that we can go farther and faster if we go together,” Lim Hye-rim said after recalling the memory of walking up Chukryong Mountain together with friends.
“At first, the students cared mainly about themselves but as time passed by, they started to truly cooperate with others and care for each other,” Lee Jong-il from DreamTogether, the field director of Humart Humanity School, said.
A similar comment came from Kim Jin-sil, a teacher from Yonsil Middle School who led the students.
“It was a very valuable time for the kids to care for ‘we’ over ‘I,’?” Kim said.
BY YOON SEOK-MAN [enational@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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