Our Affiliated Project: The Hee Rak Children’s Home in Busan, South Korea

 

facts about the Hee Rak Children’s Home:

  • Ages served: While children of all ages receive care at the home, those enrolled in our sponsorship program typically range in age from 5 to 19 years old.
  • Facility description: Situated on a pleasant hillside and surrounded by beautiful gardens and flowering trees, the home comprises a complex of well-maintained facilities, which include a community building and dormitories.
  • Education: School-aged children attend local public schools in the area where they receive instruction in core academic subjects and basic English.
  • Academic schedule: 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: Children participate in daily assigned chores. For recreation, they play popular sports such as volleyball, basketball and baseball — or, during the summer months, visit the nearby sandy beach.
  • Nutrition: Children receive three nutritious meals each day (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, the Hee Rak Children’s Home traces its origin to efforts to address this postwar crisis. Located in the major seaport of Busan, the Hee Rak Children’s Home continues its mission of providing orphaned and underprivileged children in this region of South Korea with a safe and nurturing home environment, nutritious food and medical care.

Many of the children who come to the Hee Rak 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.