[KKOOM] International Education for Korean Orphans

Since our last update to you, we discovered that many of the preschool-aged children at orphanages in Korea are being delayed for entry into preschool and kindergarten because of new budget restrictions set by the local government offices. KKOOM's focus has been on providing access to education for kids at orphanages in Korea, and we believe that education must start with the youngest of the children. Therefore, we are happy to let you know that Donghyuk, age 3, is now attending preschool on a daily basis thanks to your donations. There, he is learning the ABCs and other basics that will help ensure that his educational career gets off to a solid start at such a young age. In January, KKOOM will also provide financial support for Gaeun, now age 2, to also attend preschool. Gaeun is exceptionally bright for her age and already knows about half of the English alphabet, thanks to the efforts of KKOOM volunteers who play with and teach her English through songs and other media on a regular basis. We are grateful for your ongoing support and invite you to visit our website for more information about KKOOM. Thank you!

Links:

• KKOOM website

During the week of August 7 - August 13, KKOOM hosted the first Emmanuel Stay Program for international volunteers at Emmanuel Children's Home in Gimcheon, South Korea. Emmanuel is an orphanage home to about 120 children, ranging in age from infants through university. During the week long program, the volunteers helped the children learn English while living with them on-site at Emmanuel.

The volunteers shared their own insights throughout the week by posting to a blog, which is still accessible here: http://kkoom.org/category/blog/ There are a number of pictures posted on the Emmanuel Children's Home Facebook Page, which can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/EmmanuelGimcheon 

Finally, if you have time, we encourage you to check out the article the Korea Herald (Korea's largest English newspaper) ran a few weeks ago about KKOOM and the Emmanuel Stay Program (see link below).

As always, we thank you for your support of KKOOM's efforts to make International Education a top priority for Korean children in the many orphanages here.

~From Gumi, South Korea in Samsungwon orphanage.

Links:

• Emmanuel Stay Program in Korea Herald

Thanks to the wonderful support we've had from our GlobalGiving friends along the way, the KKOOM International Education Program for orphans in Korea is well underway. In the last several weeks, we've launched and are piloting the online tutoring module (with the kids pictured here), which puts Korean orphans face-to-face with native English speaking tutors using Skype video conferencing. You can read more about the program in our most recent newsletter (www.kkoom.org/sp11news.pdf). All of this has been possible because of your support, so thank you once again!

Also, because this project is almost fully funded (YAY!), we wanted to take this opportunity to direct you to KKOOM's latest initiative to support orphans after they grow up and leave the orphanages. It's project #8013 here on GlobalGiving, and we invite you to check it out: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/kkoom-support-for-young-adult-korean-orphans/ If you feel so inspired, you can also help us out on a long-term continued basis by becoming a recurring donor here on GlobalGiving. You can sign up by electing that option when you donate on the project page linked above.

As always, we're grateful for your support and look forward to hearing from you. Drop us a line any time.

Regards,

Aimee

P.O. Box 973, Portage, MI, USA 49081 | (o) + 1-269-340-0430

Links:

• Spring KKOOM Quarterly
• Like us on Facebook