by Maaike van Nus
Shoes
Speech contest
Cleaning up
Transcription time
Interview
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Shoes
The entrance to the NGO’s office, filled with the shoes of volunteers. It is a small but cosy office with three rooms and hallway/kitchen. In Korea (and many other countries) it is customary to take off ones shoes before entering a house, and this also applies to some offices. When there are meetings the little place for shoes can get a little crowded! This photo was taking during an orientation session, where new volunteers got an introduction to the NGO. -
Speech contest
The NGO organises a bi-annual speech contest. For this contest North Korean refugees are coached by a few volunteers in order to hold a speech in English for an audience of a hundred people. A big event for the NGO, the volunteers, and of course the refugees. In the foreground two of the judges can be seen, and in the background several volunteers and journalists are taking pictures of the winner of the contest. -
Cleaning up
Volunteers cleaning up the room after the speech contest. A bit of hard work, but entirely worth it. Afterwards we all went out for a nice dinner to celebrate the successful contest. -
Transcription time
Of course I also had to transcribe my interviews. Thankfully Seoul is filled to the brim with nice coffeeshops (not the Dutch kind, the ones that actually sell coffee), and quiet study cafés. Perfect places for some transcription time! -
Interview
Me (on the right) interviewing a new volunteer at the office. I was lucky to live very close to the office, so whenever there was an opportunity I could quickly run in order to attend an event, do an interview like this one, or just to help out.
For my master in Social and Cultural Anthropology I did three months of fieldwork in Seoul, South Korea. My research revolves around the moral worlds of volunteers working with North Korean refugees. The large majority of my time was spent at an NGO which provides free English classes for North Korean refugees. Not only are the tutors volunteers at this NGO, the staff and directors are all volunteers too! This photo essay will give an impression of how I conducted my research.
Maaike van Nus studied Social and Cultural Anthropology at the VU. She wrote a thesis on the moral worlds of volunteers working with North Korean refugees.
In 2016/17, students in the Master of Social and Cultural Anthropology participated in workshops on ‘Visual and Digital Research Methods’ by Sanderien Verstappen and Lipika Bansal. The workshops aimed at facilitating students and their interlocutors in the field to apply visual methods of research and publication in their research projects. At Standplaats Wereld you can see the end results.
I have read your article about refugees’ in South Korea and I would like to contact you to tell you about the other side of refugees’ life in South Korea.
I would tell you about another sad story about another Asylum seeker in South Korea who is ME, I was one of the revolutionaries in Egyptian revolution as I had so much political activities against the ex regime in Egypt until I was protesting against the ex judges club chief AHMED AL-ZEND who became the minister of justice after the military coup in Egypt 2013 and as you know and as you can find through all the international reports about human rights status in Egypt, EGYPT now is sinking down in a big chaos and I have been judged with a 5 years in the prison for a fake accusation and I could successfully escape out of the country after few days before my name be mentioned in travel ban list and after long trip I came to south korea because I thought that there a real Asylum seeker program which can protect me and I have applied my case on 2016 April 6 but I have been shocked by the truth which is that South Korea doesn’t welcome any refugees and they treat us as if we are dirty dogs and not welcomed in this country!!!
If you are interested about this story, you can contact me back anytime and I will be so glad to meet you and tell you all my story and another storys of another refugees also.