Our Affiliated Project:

The Grace Children’s Home in Busan, South Korea

 

facts about Grace Children’s Home:

  • Ages served:  While children of all ages receive care at the home, those enrolled in CI’s sponsorship program typically range in age from 5 to 19 years old.
  • Facility description: A well-maintained complex of cement block and stucco buildings comprising community buildings, a dining hall and a dormitory.
  • Education: School-aged children attend local public schools. Primary education (first six grade levels) is free, but yearly tuition is charged for students who attend middle and high school.
  • Academic year:  In South Korea, the school year typically begins in early March and ends in mid-February, with a long summer break.  Children are also excused from classes on national holidays, such as the Moon Festival, which is similar to America’s Thanksgiving.
  • Extracurricular activities: Include daily chores and such recreational activities as volleyball, basketball, baseball and (in the summer) visiting the nearby sandy beach.
  • Nutrition: Children receive three nutritious meals each day, with kimchi (the peppery cabbage-based staple of the Korean diet) occupying a prominent place on the table.

Comprising the lower half of a mountainous peninsula in East Asia, South Korea is truly a nation of contrasts. Although it emerged as an autonomous country in the aftermath of World War II, its rich culture and heritage reach back thousands of years.

Today, this populous nation (with a population density ten times higher than the global average) is renowned for its advancements in technology. However, more than half a century after the Korean War armistice, South Korea is still haunted by the ghosts of its turbulent past. The Korean War (1950-1953) devastated South Korea, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives — both military and civilian — and leaving thousands of children orphaned.

Like many South Korean orphanages, Grace Children’s Home traces its origin to efforts to address this postwar crisis. Located in the major seaport of Busan, Grace Children’s Home continues its mission of providing orphaned and underprivileged children in this region of South Korea with a safe, nurturing home environment, nutritious food and medical care.

Many of the children who come to Grace Children’s Home learn for the first time in their lives what it means to be loved and looked after. Here, each child receives respect, encouragement and the opportunity to rise above the difficult socioeconomic circumstances from which s/he has come.