After spending nearly a month visiting all seventeen of our affiliated projects in South Korea, our Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, visited the Yung Shil Ae Yuk Children’s Home and the Yong Jin Children’s Home as his last stops before returning to the United States.
As he prepared to return home, Luis thought about how genuinely essential the support of the Children Incorporated sponsorship program has been for young people in South Korea.
The Yung Shil Ae Yuk Children’s Home
Located in Okcheon, the Yung Shil Ae Yuk Children’s Home serves 34 underprivileged and orphaned children. The home itself is made up of three spacious buildings. Our sponsorship program provides support for thirteen children at the home. The local government pays for the salaries of the eighteen staff members.
Differing from many of the other homes we partner with in South Korea, the Yung Shil Ae Yuk Children’s Home focuses on helping children who have physical or mental health conditions. The dedicated staff of the home is professionally educated and trained to provide the children with the special care they need.
“The children at the Yung Shil Ae Yuk Children’s Home require much more attention than children at the other homes we support,” explained Luis.
“I was pleased to see the staff is well-equipped to provide special care for the children.”
The Yong Jin Children’s Home
The Yong Jin Children’s Home serves children ages five to nineteen years old in the city of Gwangju.
Luis was pleased with all of our projects in South Korea in how well they were supporting children in our program.
Situated on the slope of a mountain overlooking rice paddies below, the cluster of brick and stucco buildings that make up the home houses dormitories, an auditorium, a dining room, kitchen and offices. The grounds include a vegetable garden and apple orchard.
According to Luis, the home also has a small museum in which bones and artifacts are on display for the children to see at any time.
“The Director of the Yong Jin Children’s Home is the son of the founder of the home, Mr. Min. Mr. Min had a love for archeology, so he started collecting dinosaur bones and other fossils from various countries around the world,” said Luis.
“Soon after his son graduated as a social welfare worker, Mr. Min sent him to archeology school, and between them they have a great collection of bones and fossils. Local school children often visit the home for educational tours.”
“This is a very well run home. The children get to enjoy a lot of field trips outdoors, camping and searching for fossils and bones,” explained Luis.
Thanks to our amazing sponsors, hundreds of children in Korea are being cared for and looked after every day while also receiving much-needed support as they grow up.
Getting to meet our sponsored kids
During his final two visits, Luis was pleased to get to meet with the children at both homes after their school days were over.
“It was great to interact with them. The children were truly approachable and not shy at all. They even tried to practice their English with me since I do not speak Korean!” exclaimed Luis. “It was fun to communicate with them.”
As he prepared to return home, Luis thought about how genuinely essential the support of the Children Incorporated sponsorship program has been for young people in South Korea. Thanks to our amazing sponsors, hundreds of children are being cared for and looked after every day while also receiving much-needed support as they grow up.
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How do I sponsor a child in South Korea?
You can sponsor a child in South Korea in one of three ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members; email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org; or go online to our sponsorship portal, create an account, and search for a child in South Korea that is available for sponsorship.