austraLasia 1337
North Korea: interpreter gains firsthand knowledge of youth situation
KHARTOUM: 24th November 2005 -- 'Khartoum' you ask? Have we got our geography wrong? No. The facts are that a Salesian Brother stationed in Khartoum has been an important go-between in relations with Pyong Yang. In fact, over a ten year period Bro. James Comini sdb, who worked previously in South Korea, has completed six visits to the Democratic Peoples Republic of North Korea, the most recent just at the end of October. His chief role has been that of interpreter for Misereor.
The recent effort was a three-week long visit involving four schools, three training centres and a hospital, with two Misereor staff. They were assessing needs in three places: Pyong Yang, Mun Snag, Sari Won. This gave Bro James ample opportunity to see young people in an educational setting - and he noted that even by Sudanese standards, equipment was poor; they need educational materials, textbooks especially, but he also noted students' keenness to learn. Week two brought him to another fourteen schools, all helped over the past decade by Misereor, especially with technical equipment. This time he noted the excellent maintenance of the materials provided by Misereor. It was a chance, too, for personal contact with principals, teachers, even representatives from the Ministry of Education.
Week three saw the arrival of the president of Misereor and the Archbishop of Frankfurt, president of the German bishops' conference. Here they were accompanied closely by Ministry of Education officials, did their duty in offering flowers to the Great Leader's statue (he died in 1994). Permission was given on Sunday for the archbishop to celebrate Eucharist in Pyong Yang's only Catholic church, built in 1988 by the Government. Some 80 or so Catholics were in attendance. Brother James translated the homily into Korean for them.
Amongst issues of mutual concern discussed during this week was a project for Misereor to build a new vocational training centre in North Korea. Misereor has expressed the view that such would be possible - if a reliable agency were available, like the Salesians of Don Bosco, to provide a smooth administration and educational services.
The visit appears to have been one of mutual understanding. Needless to say, some medals of MHC have been planted along the way!
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AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml. If you subscribe, email this information and your name will come off the regular email list. RSS eliminates problems such as multiple mailings, viruses, email bloat. Think about it!
North Korea: interpreter gains firsthand knowledge of youth situation
KHARTOUM: 24th November 2005 -- 'Khartoum' you ask? Have we got our geography wrong? No. The facts are that a Salesian Brother stationed in Khartoum has been an important go-between in relations with Pyong Yang. In fact, over a ten year period Bro. James Comini sdb, who worked previously in South Korea, has completed six visits to the Democratic Peoples Republic of North Korea, the most recent just at the end of October. His chief role has been that of interpreter for Misereor.
The recent effort was a three-week long visit involving four schools, three training centres and a hospital, with two Misereor staff. They were assessing needs in three places: Pyong Yang, Mun Snag, Sari Won. This gave Bro James ample opportunity to see young people in an educational setting - and he noted that even by Sudanese standards, equipment was poor; they need educational materials, textbooks especially, but he also noted students' keenness to learn. Week two brought him to another fourteen schools, all helped over the past decade by Misereor, especially with technical equipment. This time he noted the excellent maintenance of the materials provided by Misereor. It was a chance, too, for personal contact with principals, teachers, even representatives from the Ministry of Education.
Week three saw the arrival of the president of Misereor and the Archbishop of Frankfurt, president of the German bishops' conference. Here they were accompanied closely by Ministry of Education officials, did their duty in offering flowers to the Great Leader's statue (he died in 1994). Permission was given on Sunday for the archbishop to celebrate Eucharist in Pyong Yang's only Catholic church, built in 1988 by the Government. Some 80 or so Catholics were in attendance. Brother James translated the homily into Korean for them.
Amongst issues of mutual concern discussed during this week was a project for Misereor to build a new vocational training centre in North Korea. Misereor has expressed the view that such would be possible - if a reliable agency were available, like the Salesians of Don Bosco, to provide a smooth administration and educational services.
The visit appears to have been one of mutual understanding. Needless to say, some medals of MHC have been planted along the way!
___________________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml. If you subscribe, email this information and your name will come off the regular email list. RSS eliminates problems such as multiple mailings, viruses, email bloat. Think about it!
