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Showing posts from January, 2014

2014-01-26 Mulmangcho "Year of the Horse" day at Grace Stables

  Do you remember as a kid when you had to be forcibly removed from your bed because it was a school day? In contrast, how you would spring from your bed because you would be headed to an amusement park or some other fun field trip that day? I know it wasn't just me... Yesterday the kids at the Mulmangcho School (for adolescent North Korean refugees) were scheduled to arrive at 10:30 a.m. in Anyang to go horseback riding. The crew arrived at 9:15 a.m. I imagine that the kids were up at the crack of dawn, reminding the staff that they had to be on time. The kids absolutely loved horseback riding. They were all so well-behaved, there was very little crying, except by one of the youngest ones who didn't want to wear the helmet--on her fifth ride. Apparently she already thought she was an accomplished rider by that point. * * * And none of the volunteers cried, even though they had to wait for the kids to get tired of riding. The kids may lose their focus when they are studying, bu

2014-01-21 Swiss, free market and NK issues overlap

  Yesterday was another one of those funny interesting days in my life. I was so busy with the usual Monday morning catching up before rushing to a noon meeting with Johanna Poole. She is another dynamite unsung heroine for the cause of NK human rights. * * * * Then my next appointment showed up--Henrique Schneider, chief economist of the Swiss Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises. We were scheduled to talk about the economy in Switzerland to get ready for a discussion I would be moderating a bit later. He has been to North Korea to deliver lectures on economics, but before yesterday, he had only focused on economic issues when it came to North Korea. Well! Johanna and I fixed that! I got him to commit to raise at least $2,500 to help rescue at least one refugee from North Korea or to support the adjustment of a North Korean refugee here. [As I have previously written, I am not interested in going to North Korea, I'd prefer to spend time and resources on helping people escape