JOY ELLEN YOON — Feeding Children in North Korea

Every time we meet a child in North Korea, whether a boy with dark hair and a playful face or a more feminine, shy, yet cheerful, bright smile, we are grateful for the acquaintance. There are times when we are tired and exhausted from work, but when we see the faces of these children, an unknown strength springs up from within us. Where there are children, there is still life. As the sounds of children’s laughter color the countryside, it reminds us of any other ordinary home. The next generation is precious, and they are the hope for the future. It is no different in North Korea. Among other projects, we prioritize placing children first. Initially, the first big project our team took on was building a kindergarten.

We went to several villages to see which area needed a kindergarten the most. There were many places, but we wanted to find a place that was unique, more special than any other location. Among our options, our hearts were led to a very small, rural village on the outskirts of Rason.

As we conducted our preliminary investigation, we visited an existing kindergarten in that location. It was a small building with two or three rooms made out of tile. Since it was around June when the rainy season begins, when we opened the door and went in, water was everywhere. The floor of the classroom was soaking wet with moisture. At the time it was a humid summer day, but we were also thinking about how cold the building must be in the winter. We decided to build a new kindergarten for those children right then and there.

Because of our decision, we worked hard for almost 8 months, putting all our hearts into every single nail that went into the building. As the building went up for the children of the village, not only the parents but also just about every villager joined in the efforts.

After constructing the building, we started supporting kindergartens and daycare centers throughout the Rason area every month through the Lunchbox Project. Consequently, each month Ignis Community has provided 5 tons of rice to feed children a warm lunch every day. In addition to rice, we work directly with local childcare entities to provide side dishes and nutritious ingredients for the children’s lunches.

Every time we came to visit the children, they would swarm around us, running to us and welcoming us with their bright faces. Just seeing the children thrive made our hearts flutter with pure joy. Every month as we delivered food and supplies, our relationships with the kindergarten principal and teachers deepened. Once the principal received the message that we were coming, she would deliciously roast locally grown potatoes or corn and serve them to us. We still remember the savory taste to this day.

Unfortunately, as the North Korean borders are now closed in the midst of the global pandemic, it has been largely impossible to ship supplies into North Korea. With only a few exceptions, almost no humanitarian aid has been able to get inside the country. Thankfully, Ignis Community has been able to continually purchase food within the country’s borders through our local counterparts and deliver it to kindergartens and daycare centers.

However, food shortages continue to increase in country, and as a result, we have added an additional 2,000 children to our monthly feeding program. Currently, Ignis Community is feeding 3,000 children ages five and under in the Northeast region. We also supply coal for heating, which is critical during the frigid winter months in North Korea. The hope is that as the borders start to open, Ignis Community will be able to supplement current food supplies by sending in much-needed nutritional support.

As we have simply supported rural kindergartens, children as well as entire villages have changed. Hope has given birth to more hope as infinite possibilities of engaging with the next generation of North Koreans are being discovered.

At the end of the day, through supporting these children in this remote area, we have begun to see the humanity inside North Korea. Our first rural kindergarten was just one opportunity for us to put aside our own preconceptions of what we thought about North Korea and see people for who they really are. That is people just like you and me.

To contribute to feeding children every month in North Korea, please click here.

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