Immigrants, PTPI activists and supporters enjoy an event celebrating the 30th anniversary of PTPI Cheonan chapter at a Cheonan high school, Saturday. / Korea Times photos by Park Si-soo |
By Park Si-soo
Staff reporter
CHEONAN, South Chungcheong Province ― Solange Kim-Baijor, a naturalized Korean from Belgium, has lived here with her Korean husband since 1991, raising five children and teaching French to college students. But her attachment to the local community was born just last year.
The 56-year-old says the dramatic change was attributable to People to People International (PTPI)’s chapter in this city, 80 kilometers south of Seoul.
“I felt like I was a stranger with feeble knowledge and connections with my neighborhood before I joined PTPI last year,” Solange recounted in English. “My year-long residence here as a professor and housewife was not enough for me to get sufficient opportunities to talk in depth with the neighborhood and share information about my community.”
PTPI is a non-profit multinational NGO established in 1956 by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to enhance international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities.
Solange is not the only victim of the country’s predominant social atmosphere that is reluctant to actively embrace people with different looks, language or culture. The dominance ― backed by a deep-rooted belief that the country is ethnically homogeneous ― is waning, thanks largely to consistent efforts by the government and civic groups. But it’s still robust, immigrant experts say, putting a great number of permanent immigrants like her with similar ordeals.
PTPI’s Cheonan chapter, which has stayed on the frontline of the fight against such discrimination in the city, marked its 30th anniversary this year.
A grand event to celebrate the anniversary was held at a Cheonan high school on Saturday, with more than 500 immigrants, PTPI activists and supporters participating.
“With the foreign population exceeding 1 million, thorough preparations to embrace a multicultural society is necessary,” Kim Seung-nam, PTPI national chairman, said in his opening speech. “We should discard the idea that the society is ethnically homogeneous, in order to take the rapid demographic change as an opportunity to boost the national competitiveness.”
Mary Jean Eisenhower, the granddaughter of Dwight D. Eisenhower and CEO of PTPI International, lauded the Cheonan chapter’s 30th anniversary in a congratulatory message, quoting her grandfather as saying, “Given a change people will make friends across, around, over and under all the natural and man-made barriers separating them.”
“By extending the hand of friendship, we cultivate a climate of mutual respect and an appreciation for other cultures,” Eisenhower said. “You have your heartfelt gratitude for your efforts to enhance peace through understanding at home and abroad.”
Cheonan is one of the 11 most foreigner-populated cities in the country with around 20,000 registered non-Koreans ― nine of them are located in Seoul and its suburban areas and the other one is Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province. Foreign workers account for nearly 70 percent of the entire foreign population, according to Cheonan City.
By nationality, Chinese take up the largest portion, followed by Vietnamese and Filipinos.
Cheonan Mayor Sung Moo-yong said, “We are doing our best to help them settle in this town by providing a variety of education programs aimed at deepening their knowledge and understanding about Korea.”
At present, PTPI has 37 community chapters across the nation and 36 university and two high-school student chapters, with more than 3,000 members actively taking part in various volunteer programs.
