HORACE
Dec 2, 2013
Undergraduate / IMMIGRANTS; DISCUSS ISSUES - Local, national, international (MACAULAY HONORS COLLEGE) [3]
Discuss some issue of local, national, or international concern and its importance to you. What are the challenges it raises, problems to be addressed, and hopeful outcomes?
At the recommendation of my school volunteer advisor, I started to teach the Korean language to a Vietnamese woman named Leu Ti-en who was raising a 4-year old girl. She was living with her family in a slum area of Seoul. On the day of our first meeting, I asked her the reason why she needs a Korean language certification. Her answer was concise but thought-provoking. "I am a cleaning woman. No one knows when I will be fired. The scope of job opportunities that I have now is very limited. I believe that certification will make my life less insecure." I was dismayed by the truth that immigrant workers were facing unemployment or insecurity of their jobs because of their origins and lack of linguistic ability. I felt the need to help solve this critical problem since these immigrants were becoming members of our community, sharing and living together with me.
As the rate of immigration has been increased internationally, human rights of immigrants are severely infringed in society. In case of Korea, immigrant workers, especially Southeast Asians receive low pay under poor working conditions. There is not only lack of legal protections but also the movement against such exploitation is small. Hence, it is almost impossible for them to be out of poverty no matter how diligent or talented they are. Other than atrocious working environments, female immigrants also suffer from alienation and despise. While a large amount of inter-cultural couples have a happy marriage, some women experience disrespect or physical, verbal abuse from their husbands and the neighborhood. Their ignorant manners hurt women's self-esteem and negatively affect their children's mental health. Sean, a boy I taught in a Sunday-school had a mother who was from Philippine and he was suffering psychological conflict due to family trouble. He had difficulties getting along with friends which led him to be a diffident person.
To rectify the situation, legal improvement, educational support and national wide engagement are needed. The government should ensure immigrants' safety in their jobs as well as their homes. They need enough language education and their talents should be encouraged so those skills can be used in the society. Most importantly, the public should become more aware and focus on multi-cultural issues. Accepting immigrants can be hard for people who thought of their nation as a single-race. However, without the reconstruction of our perceptions, the racial and cultural barrier will never be knocked down, causing animosity between races and cultures.
Leu finally passed the test and now she works at a support center for multi-cultural families with the help of our acquaintanceship. She is a rare case in this society but I sincerely believe that a commitment to understand and embrace different races and cultures will bring a hopeful future for people like Leu.
Discuss some issue of local, national, or international concern and its importance to you. What are the challenges it raises, problems to be addressed, and hopeful outcomes?
At the recommendation of my school volunteer advisor, I started to teach the Korean language to a Vietnamese woman named Leu Ti-en who was raising a 4-year old girl. She was living with her family in a slum area of Seoul. On the day of our first meeting, I asked her the reason why she needs a Korean language certification. Her answer was concise but thought-provoking. "I am a cleaning woman. No one knows when I will be fired. The scope of job opportunities that I have now is very limited. I believe that certification will make my life less insecure." I was dismayed by the truth that immigrant workers were facing unemployment or insecurity of their jobs because of their origins and lack of linguistic ability. I felt the need to help solve this critical problem since these immigrants were becoming members of our community, sharing and living together with me.
As the rate of immigration has been increased internationally, human rights of immigrants are severely infringed in society. In case of Korea, immigrant workers, especially Southeast Asians receive low pay under poor working conditions. There is not only lack of legal protections but also the movement against such exploitation is small. Hence, it is almost impossible for them to be out of poverty no matter how diligent or talented they are. Other than atrocious working environments, female immigrants also suffer from alienation and despise. While a large amount of inter-cultural couples have a happy marriage, some women experience disrespect or physical, verbal abuse from their husbands and the neighborhood. Their ignorant manners hurt women's self-esteem and negatively affect their children's mental health. Sean, a boy I taught in a Sunday-school had a mother who was from Philippine and he was suffering psychological conflict due to family trouble. He had difficulties getting along with friends which led him to be a diffident person.
To rectify the situation, legal improvement, educational support and national wide engagement are needed. The government should ensure immigrants' safety in their jobs as well as their homes. They need enough language education and their talents should be encouraged so those skills can be used in the society. Most importantly, the public should become more aware and focus on multi-cultural issues. Accepting immigrants can be hard for people who thought of their nation as a single-race. However, without the reconstruction of our perceptions, the racial and cultural barrier will never be knocked down, causing animosity between races and cultures.
Leu finally passed the test and now she works at a support center for multi-cultural families with the help of our acquaintanceship. She is a rare case in this society but I sincerely believe that a commitment to understand and embrace different races and cultures will bring a hopeful future for people like Leu.