Increasing Global Awareness Through KIVA

In 2008 I was fortunate enough to attend some presentations by Alan November at the EARCOS Administrators' Conference. During one of his presentations he stated that KIVA.org was justification enough that the internet is a good thing.

At that stage I had a personal KIVA account (which I still have) but I had not considered how this micro finance website could be used in education. This year I have been working with our Student Life Minister, Ms Choe to increase our students' global awareness by lending money through KIVA.

Each student contributed 3000 won (roughly $3 USD) that enabled us to create an account that each Home room could use to lend $25 USD to an entrepreneur of their choice. Interacting with the KIVA website and researching the profiles on the site has enabled our students to learn a great deal about developing countries around the world, as well as gaining an awareness of the plight of individuals who need a helping hand in the form of a loan to get their business idea off the ground, or to expand a business that is already running. The monthly updates keep the students engaged with their chosen entrepreneur, and helps them to feel connected as they see the loan being repaid.

This is proving to be a great way for our students to develop a more caring attitude and to engage in an authentic and meaningful way on an ongoing basis. I hope this initiative prompts some of our students and families to look for other ways that they can make a difference.

Giving Students the Opportunity to Shine

On Saturday we kicked off a new service/outreach initiative in the MS. Our Student Life Minister Ms Choe and one of our active colleagues and parents, Ms Chang recently started a conversation with a couple who are Pastors of a church near Suwon Sports Stadium. The Pastors run afterschool tutorial sessions for the local kids, most of whom come from broken and/or underprivileged homes. Both Ms Choe and Ms Chang knew that we had been looking for opportunities for our MS students and faculty to contribute to our local community through meaningful and repeatable service and they quickly realized that this is just what we had been waiting for.

So on Saturday the Pastors brought 13 elementary aged students to GSIS to participate in a Chapel, story time, computer time, games, swimming, and lunch. Each child was paired up with one of our MS students, 20 of whom selflessly gave up their Saturday for this worthwhile service. The day was also generously supported by Ms Choe, Ms Chang, Ms Kim in the library, and Ms Smith and Ms Wendling in the pool. Our visitors had a wonderful time and they all said that they can't wait to come back again - we are also excited about our next day together scheduled for December.

I was extremely proud of our MS students and the way that they put their own wants and needs aside for the day to serve these children. I know our MS students gained a lot from this experience and I was very pleased to hear that they will all be signing up to help out again next month.

I have been discussing this idea with our Student Life Minister for some time so it was great to see it come to fruition. Saturday was a wonderful beginning and I hope it is proves to be the catalyst for an expanding and growing community service program here at GSIS.