dose of HOPE

'HOPE' Teaches English to Underprivileged Kids

Matt Romer teaches English to a group of underprivileged children at a welfare center in Mia-dong, northern Seoul.

/ Korea Times Photo by Cathy Rose A. Garcia

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporters

It's a Wednesday afternoon in Mia-dong, northern Seoul. A group of boys and girls aged between 10 and 13 noisily chat with each other in Korean as they enter the classroom.

Matt Romer, a 27-year-old Canadian teacher, tries to get the children to quiet down before starting with the English lesson.

``How old are you?,'' Romer asks one boy.

The boy's forehead wrinkles in confusion, before saying, ``one-three.''

``Thirteen,'' Romer corrects the boy gently.

It may seem like an ordinary English class, but it's not, Romer is a volunteer who teaches the children for free at a community center. The children are from low-income families who cannot afford the expensive fees hagwon charge for English classes.

Romer is one of several foreigners who are part of a non-profit organization HOPE, which stands for Helping Others Prosper through English. HOPE is the brainchild of a group of Canadian teachers who were looking to make a positive contribution to Korean society.

For Romer, it's a way for him to give back something to the Korean community. He teaches the one-hour class every Wednesday, his day off from work as an English teacher at a hagwon.

``I wanted to help these underprivileged kids. It doesn't take up much time at all. I wanted to give something back to Korea, and teaching English to these kids is a great way to do that,'' Romer told The Korea Times.

HOPE was formed earlier this year, when a group of Canadian teachers, Maria Salken, Sylvia Soo and Philip Lozano were looking to do some volunteer work during their free time.

As English teachers, they know very well that learning English as a second language is a top priority for Korean families. Parents pay hundreds of thousands of won for classes at language academies for their children. Yet there are many families who cannot afford the high fees, leaving their children at a disadvantage.

So, the group thought of doing what they knew best, teaching English. But this time, teaching English to underprivileged children.

The plan was good, but there were concerns that doing volunteer work might be a violation of the working visa's given to English teachers.

``We always wanted to do volunteer work before, but there were problems with regulations. We heard that it might be a violation of our E-2 visas and stuff. We were frustrated with this. We work with public schools and hagwon, but we know there are many kids who can't afford to get English education,'' Maria Salken, HOPE director of recruiting and public relations, told The Korea Times.

The group tried to get a clear and definite answer from the immigration office on the question of whether foreigners can be allowed to do volunteer work in Korea, without it being a violation of their work visas.

After several attempts, the immigration office finally said that it was okay for foreigners to do volunteer work.

``The immigration office said it was okay as long as the organization remains non-profit, and the host centers were also non-profit,'' Salken said.

After clearing the hurdle, HOPE started mobilizing friends and co-workers to sign up as volunteers. The group also started to find orphanages and community and welfare centers where they could offer their services.

On its Web site (www.alwayshope.or.kr), HOPE states its objective is ``to provide a free, safe and accessible place for underprivileged children to develop their English skills and equip them for a brighter future in further education.''

HOPE is entirely run by volunteers, and has limited resources. The group does not accept monetary donations, but would appreciate donations of textbooks and basic school supplies like pencils, erasers, glue and paper.

``We are relatively new and still somewhat small. But every member of the team has a lot of heart with only the best of intentions. We want to help as many as possible. The demand is certainly out there. We are constantly in need of more volunteers as the number of children from low-income families and orphanages is overwhelming,'' Salken said.

HOPE has received very positive responses from the communities where it has volunteers.

Romer, originally from Toronto, is one of the first volunteers, and signed up to teach a one-hour English class in Mia-dong.

``I've always been interested in volunteering. I recently went to Cambodia to volunteer teaching at a school there. In Korea, I've been busy with school so there was no time to volunteer, until I had this opportunity to volunteer for HOPE," he said.

During his one-hour class, it was obvious Romer enjoyed teaching English to the children through fun games. His students were enthusiastic about learning English, especially when they played word games like Hangman.

``After going to class last week, I was on cloud nine. It's been great to teach the kids. That's why I'm here in Korea teaching kids, because I love kids,'' Romer said.

Romer doesn't mind giving up a few hours of his day-off to go across town and teach the class of underprivileged children. ``It doesn't really take much time. I wanted to give back something to Korea. Teaching kids is a good way to give back to the community,'' he said

Aside from the community center in Mia-dong, there are programs in a center in Changsin-dong, as well as an orphanage in Namsan,

While HOPE is optimistic about the future, the group acknowledges the fact that many of its members and volunteers are only in Korea temporarily. Many foreign teachers tend to stay only a year or two before moving back home, so there's a problem of how to sustain the program in the coming years.

HOPE continues to look for more volunteer teachers and partner host centers that help underprivileged children in Seoul. Volunteer teachers should be a native speaker of English, have a secure visa status and be willing to volunteer for at least one hour a week for at least three months. Interested parties can visit the group's Web site www.alwayshope.or.kr.

``Life in Korea is so transitory and temporary. We're hoping we can get enough volunteers to keep this going for the next few years. We hope it will become self-sustaining,'' Salken said.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr