Current Balance : 172,740 won
Newly deposited : 24,630 won (70,000 won - 45,370 won)
Previous Balance : 148,110 won
First of all, it was Maeve's birthday yesterday and unfortunately, it went unnoticed. Happy Belated Birthday, Maeve!
Secondly, at the NGO office last night, I was told that one of the workers at the old office got attacked by a homeless while he was counseling him last week. As a result, his nose was broken and thus he needs operation. I asked if they needed any financial aid from us. They said that it is going to be all covered by the insurance they are under.
The lesson that we need to learn from this tragedy is that while we interact with homeless at the station, please take a caveat and try not to get into an argument or any unwarranted dispute with the homeless. For instance, it is quite prevalent that when handed over a bag of food, they ask for more. You can say, first, no to them, in a very polite and respectful way. But, should they keep demanding, just give them another. Also, if you do not feel safe around them, please let the NGO official or me know.
This tragedy, however, should not stifle our will and commitment to the cause that we have been carrying on our shoulders for about 5 months. It is very easy for one to say that homeless does not do any good to the society and thus they should not be chaperoned at any cost. They also argue that homeless perpetrate crimes, are lazy, and, some even say, are good for nothing. This, while there may be a grain of truth to it, can not be the reason to abandon them because, like it or not, they are part of this society we live in and we have responsibilities to tend to them or at least have a minimum amount of attention to them.
At Starbucks last night, we talked about how boundless some Koreans are. On top of some kids brushing your hair with no permission or crawling under your desk without you knowing it, on the subway, some would shove you and edge out the crowd to secure a seat. When it transpired, how many times did you hear them say "Excuse me (잠깐만요)" or "I am sorry (죄송합니다, 미안합니다)".
On the other hand, whenever we arrive at the NGO office at 6:30 pm on every Sunday, approximately 40 homeless, shivering in this dreadful winter and queuing up to enter the office, yield us to go into the office first with a nice smile and warm hand gestures on top of short greetings such as "Hello" or "Thank you" that we rarely hear from the locals in return of courteous deeds. I would say that they are also boundless because, well, they, at least, do not have a sense of boundary, something that walls themselves off of us (foreigners and some Koreans)
Now, this begs a question; which "boundless" do you prefer?
