Harvard students bring individualized stories to parentless children in Seoul


Yoon Mun didn’t speak English well when she moved from Korea to the U.S. as a kid.

But the storybooks that she buried herself in slowly helped her to learn the language.

Now the 22-year-old Harvard student and her college friends are helping parentless kids in Korea learn English through unique storybooks. She and four other members of the Harvard College Stories for Orphans project traveled to Korea to present the individualized books to kids living at Angel’s Haven in Seoul.

“When I was young I really liked books,” she said. “When I first moved to America I couldn’t speak English and it took a very long time for me to learn. I didn’t have many friends so children’s books became my friends.”

And Yoon Mun hopes that the 17 individualized stories ― a different one for each of the 17 orphans taking part in the project ― will help their recipients too.

“We each got a paper with a kid’s name, age and what they liked,” explained another volunteer, Pureunsaem Kim.

“My kid was a teenager called Hyong-man. He said that he wants to be a vet, that he likes the color blue, likes dogs and wants to have a city life when he grows up.”

So, Pureunsaem wrote a story where the main character, Hyong-man, lives in a blue apartment, has pet dogs and wants to be a vet. Hyong-man saves the day when he finds the cure to a disease threatening to infect the world’s animals.

“The story was a parody of the ‘Contagion’ movie, as it was based on an animal epidemic,” she said. “I love writing and reading and also it is really special to have a story where you are the protagonist and you get to be part of the adventure. I think that this is a really good opportunity for the kids. When I was younger I was given a book that had me as the protagonist and it was a very special experience for me.”

Like the other volunteers, who paid their own way to volunteer at Angel’s Haven, the 21-year-old is originally from Korea but moved abroad for study.

“Learning English was a very hard experience for me,” she added. “But reading books in English helped. Hopefully these books can help the kids here learn too.”

And 22-year-old Yoon Mun, who studies molecular cellular biology, said part of her motivation for the project came from having the chance to do something entirely unrelated to her major.

“Over time I became more interested in science but there is a part of me that really likes creativity and fantasy books,” she said.

She wrote her book “The First of the Dragon Fliers” for Angel House resident Won-joon.

“He requested a book about dragons and knights. So I wrote this book and named the main character Won-joon. We all made the individual child the main character of their story,” she said.

“I thought this was a really original way to do voluntary service, I really enjoyed it.”

Half of the volunteers were authors while the other half illustrated the works. Yoon Mun’s partner decided to illustrate the dragon-themed story by taking pictures of a little boy with colorful stuffed dragons in different poses to illustrate events in the story.

Others decorated the books with anime-style characters while some texts featured painted scenes or comical line drawings.

The books’ authors also included a dedication inside each story. One message read: “I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it for you. May you always have the courage and strength to stand up for what you believe in and to push yourself through any obstacles along the way.” Another first page bore the encouraging words: “Never forget the magic your presence brings.”

In order to tailor each book especially for its recipient, the orphans were asked to fill in questionnaires about their likes and dislikes ahead of the trip. The volunteers then transformed the kids’ ideas into individualized narratives.

The students also played with the orphans and help them with their English skills during the short visit to deliver the books on Jan. 4. They read the stories with the kids, who in turn read out some sentences in English for language practice.

The Harvard College Stories for Orphans was launched in 2008 and its volunteers have also visited Tanzania, South Africa, the Dominican Republic, Poland and Peru to give books to orphaned kids. It also goes by the name Snowflake Stories.

“This represents our core belief that each child, like a snowflake, is unique and deserves the chance to have something special to call their own,” said Isabella Wechsler, co-president of HCSO.

“We depend on the diverse, creative talents of Harvard undergraduates to write, translate, and illustrate stories for orphaned children. The mission of our organization is two-fold: We hope to remind each child that he or she is special, and to foster an early love of reading.

“We hope these children will ultimately discover not only a whimsical storyline but also a sense of individuality and self-worth within our personalized books.”

As well as an orphanage, the Angel’s Haven complex in Eunpyung boasts facilities for disabled people including a vocational training workshop and an organic soap factory.

It also provides service for senior citizens, single mothers and vocational training for recently released prisoners.

An on-site Nanum Center also helps raise funds to support disabled and needy children living in impoverished parts of the world including North Korea and Uganda.

The press department publishes books on social welfare and a research center carries out studies to see how best disabled people can be helped to integrate well into society.

Angel’s Haven also provides facilities for senior citizens, single mothers and vocational training for recently released prisoners.

By Kirsty Taylor  (kirstyt@heraldcorp.com)