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Call for Session Proposals

International Korean Adoptee Associations (IKAA)
2010 IKAA Gathering

Gathering Dates: August 3-8, 2010
Location: Hotel Lotte Seoul, Korea
Submission Due Date: March 19 (extended deadline), 2010
Submit to: usa@ikaa.org
Questions? Contact – Sarah Kim Randolph at sarah.kim@ikaa.org

Download word application here

• Introduction
• Types of Sessions
• Suggested Session Topics
• Submission Policies

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INTRODUCTION

The Korean adult adoptee community has been organizing for over 20 years, and the Gatherings have been an essential part of the emergence of our truly global community.  While there have been multiple conferences for and about Korean adoptees, the Gatherings stand out for their large number of attendees from a diversity of backgrounds.  Previous Gatherings include:
•    1999 – Washington, D.C., USA
•    2001 – Oslo, Norway
•    2004 – Seoul, Korea
•    2007 – Seoul, Korea (the 1st Gathering officially organized by the IKAA network)

With each successive Gathering, the number of conference attendees rose significantly, with over 600 attending in 2007.  Given that the height of adoptions from Korea occurred during the mid-1980’s, we expect to see continued growth at the 2010 IKAA Gathering, since larger numbers of adoptees are now in or reaching adulthood and therefore more likely to travel to Korea for such a conference.  We project over 800 Korean adult adoptees to attend the 2010 IKAA Gathering.

As is tradition at the Gatherings, the 2010 IKAA Gathering will provide the opportunity for adoptees to present a wide variety of sessions related to Korean adoption and living as a Korean adoptee.  We encourage submission of thoughtful proposals for sessions that will provide attendees an opportunity to learn, network, share, interact, and reflect.  These sessions are different in nature than the presentations that will be made during the Gathering’s Research Symposium in that the general sessions are not required to be academic in nature.

In addition to academics, we welcome session proposals from artists, community organizers, filmmakers, writers, and other members of the Korean adult adoptee.
Aside from sessions, there will also be a mini-film festival during the Gathering, featuring past and more recent works that address various aspects of Korean adoption and our community.  There is a separate Call for Proposals for films as well as a separate submission form for films.

 

GOT A GOOD IDEA? SEND IT IN FOR REVIEW.

Technorati Tags: ikaa,ikaa gathering

"Resilience" Premiere SOLD OUT-

 

TICKETS SOLD OUT!!! Over 30 turned away! 

Wednesday night was the Seoul Premiere of "Resilience" a film by Tammy Chu. A great turnout and actually over 30 were turned away for safety rules at the venue. Even the Korean War Baby was unable to get in but he did organize a lottery for any available seats in case some did not show up. NOT to happen, all 120 seats were occupied. Due to being the oldest Fart there, the KWB was offered a ticket but chose to spend time with Pastor Kim instead, which was a great chance since he is so busy.

After the showing some guests were allowed in for the thirty min. of Q and A with Pastor Kim and Tammy Chu (Guess that did not violate the safety rules, just 30 min. SIGH!!!). 

We are hoping to get another chance in the future to see "Resilience", watch this space!

Congratulation to Tammy Chu and all those involved in the filming/production/editing/marketing of this documentary film that will be available later in DVD. Watch this Space.

Unmarried mothers coming out of isolation-The Korea Herald

From Facebook Friend Marc Champod came this link:

Unmarried Mothers Coming Out of Isolation-Korea Herald

Marc is one of the active members of Korean Adoptee’s groups that help to showcase and garner support for the Unwed Mothers who bravely are RAISING THEIR CHILDREN. Marc is a professional photographer who has covered many events for GOA'L, Adoptees Solidarity Korea, and Truth and Justice for Adoptees Commission in Korea.

Chang Ji-young once dreamed of becoming an unmarried mom voluntarily in protest against the unfair prejudice towards them here. However, two years ago, when the 34-year-old former business consultant became pregnant by her former boyfriend, she first considered getting married to him.

"Facing the reality was totally different from vaguely assuming it," said Chang, who is currently raising her daughter alone after her boyfriend didn't keep the marriage promise. Her parents and brother tried to persuade her to get an abortion or to give up the baby for adoption. But she resisted and her family turned their backs on her and the child.

The KWB has met Ji-Young several times, most recently when she spoke at the “60th Women’s Policy Forum” presented by the Korean Women’s Development Institute’s last forum on FEB. 24th of 2010, just days ago. Sponsored by the Korean Unwed Mothers Support Network (KUMSN) and attended by Dr. Richard S. Boas, MD and President. NYTimes-Effort to Defend Unwed Mothers and also notes the work that Jane Jeong Trenka, and the members of both ASK and TRACK have openly done to support them.

The KWB totally supports these efforts for these reasons. Korean women who have chosen NOT to Abort their babies MUST be given support because they

According to the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, about 6,000 to 10,000 babies are born out of wedlock every year in Korea. In the year 2007 there were 7,774 babies born to Unwed Mothers. Unwed mothers are struggling against Family, Society, and lack of Government support to keep their children and raise them. Yet, thousands are given up for Domestic, Civil, and ICA adoption.

PLEASE NOTE: ICA ONLY ACCOUNTED FOR 1,268 IN THE YEAR 2007, FIGURES FROM THE MAY 2009 report from the

Executive Summary

Reviewing Issues on Unwed Mothers' Welfare in Korea

Sources : Ⓑ Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Family 2008. Total Number of Adopted Children

Sorry, got to shout here, Every baby Given up by it’s Korean Mother must be available ONLY for Korean Domestic adoption for FIVE (5) months BEFORE being considered for ICA!!! The Figures are THIS:

2007	Babies born to Unwed Mothers
7774	Total
2,464	Kept by MOTHERs
2,656 Total  1388 Domestic 1268 (ICA)	Adoptions InCountry by 4 Adoption Agencies and InterCountry Adoptions (after 5 months old)
3014	Unidentified?? MAYBE SECRET CIVIL ADOPTIONS???

 

At the Feb. 24th KWDI Forum on Women’s Policy, EVERY SPEAKER lamented the lack of details from the Government on exact figures for Unwed Mothers, single head of households (Divorced/widow), EVEN how to FIND these answers by altering the CENSUS scheduled this YEAR. Thanks to the Forum the various NGO’s and Provincial/Federal Officials can solve these issues.

 

Fearing financial and social struggles, 96 percent of unmarried pregnant women have abortions, and of those who choose to give birth, 70 percent give up their children for adoption, the state-run Korean Women's Development Institute reports.

The KWB notes that this has been updated by 2009 figures from KWDI that show 37%  of Unwed mothers are keeping their children. This means only 63% are giving up for adoption, for CIVIL adoptions NOT covered in Government Stats, Domestic Adoptions, and THEN the ICA (InterCountry Adoptions).

In the United States, only 1 percent of unwed moms choose adoption, according to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. NYTimes

In 2007, 7,774 babies were born out of wedlock in South Korea, 1.6 percent of all births. (In the United States, nearly 40 percent of babies born in 2007 had unmarried mothers, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.) Nearly 96 percent of unwed pregnant women in South Korea choose abortion, according to the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs.

The KWB Does NOT feel anger or put blame on these women who DO have Abortion, They have the Right to Choose. They also have the right to Choose to GIVE UP FOR ADOPTION. YES? Contact KUMSN, Dr. Boas and see how you can help. Take time out and DO something, it will help you also understand WHAT YOUR KOREAN MOTHER FACED when she had to decide what to do with YOU.

When it comes to welfare services, Korea still lags far behind other developed countries. Childcare, in particular, is one of the biggest obstacles for working moms, regardless of their being married or not.

However, while married or divorced women receive support from their expanded family members for childcare and other family affairs, such support is absent for unwed moms, making them more vulnerable.

The Korean War Baby believes that we must support these brave Korean mothers, who actually number thousands. The founding members of KUMSN are only the tip of the iceberg at 50 some members. There is a move to becoming a Non-Government Organization (NGO) and if you are interested contact Dr. Richard BOAS at richardboasmd@gmail.com

PLEASE FACTCHECK THE KWB!!! If you disagree SHOW HIM YOUR FACTS, engage in dialog and discussion. We can/should/must work together for the good of every child in our homeland.

Technorati Tags: unwed mothers,childcare,welfare services,abortion,family affairs,government support

A what? Cliff? Oh...Cleft, A CLEFT LIP? OMG

 "Satan sent you to drive me crazy, that right Private? I CANNOT BELIEVE What you JUST SAID!!!"

"A what? Cliff? No...Cleft, a CLEFT LIP? OMG!"

The KWB and his 1st wife K. were meeting with a Korean woman who had been married for ten years but was 'barren' or infertile. Or so they thought, as the JipSa Nim (Deaconess in an Evangelical church) told us the wrong translation, she actually just had no children but had become pregnant several times. After carefully backtracking and careful questioning, it became understood that the woman's last pregnancy had been 'terminated' because of a MRI scan that showed that the baby had a Cleft Lip.

His wife was stunned, having worked in a hospital she knew that this was a correctable and fairly common procedure that was done requiring several operations depending on the severity of the condition. They asked many more questions and learned Yes, it was a minor Cleft lip condition and could be corrected by two operations but everyone in the husband's family insisted to 'get rid of it' or Bari Da 다리다. "IT" was too shameful to have to deal with and everyone in the large church would know about it. So at 28 weeks into her pregnancy with a 'boy baby', this woman tearfully told them that she had had Another 'operation'.

"ANOTHER operation? She had another one before?" The 1st wife was now asking the questions rapid-fire through the Jipsa Nim. "How many "Operations did you have?" The Jipsa Nim apparently already knew and told us "Oh, she's had five, Anio? Six, this was her sixth...it was boy baby. Pastor agreed she should do it." The previous 5 were girls and the family of the husband wanted a boy first. This is an unusual case but not entirely unknown as the sex ratio of male to females in some rural areas reached 130 males to 100 females. This is why over 160,000 mixed-racial or Multi-cultural marriages have produced 103,000 mixed-blood children!) 

Now 1st wife was speechless and the KWB had to ask the Jipsa Nim to repeat again about the pastor. The pastor had told the couple that it "It's okay, because it would be too shameful and embarrassing to give birth to such a baby."

'such a baby'!! Do you see why the KWB weeps tears of anger and Rages against injustice? This is one of the reasons his first wife could not stay in Korea anymore. Go look at the Overseas Adoptees Korea here.

You will find the stats on children with cleft lips under Disabilities

언청이 means cleft lips. From 1961 to 2005 there were (2,005) children with CLEFT LIPS (the government keeps excellent records, eh), sent away from the land of their birth for ICA or Overseas adoption. Because every year only 3 % take by adoption those "disabled" souls.

OH, THEY WERE KIDNAPPED/Laundered for profit!!! YEAH right! NOT TRUE!! BOGUS!!!

Perhaps we could get some of these children, (who according to a few "Non-Humans-사람아니야",  should have been terminated with extreme prejudice) to speak about their lives?
The KWB is sending emails to these 'victims of child laundering/kidnapping???' and will post reply to his query, "Gee, kid, do you wish you had been aborted? You know, instead of being sold to 'rich white Adopters".

Can I get a Hell, NO!?!

Not to say "there are no cases of this horror" because IT DOES happen. YES, kidnapping and laundering by lowlife scum who REALLY do profit from sex trade, child labor, selling boys and girls IN China, and many other countries has and will happen. That is the purpose of the Hague Conventions on Adoption/Child Protection to regulate these things properly. But being given away by grandparents is not the same as kidnapping, is it? One famous adoptee claims that she was 'kidnapped' for adoption but fails to mention it was her Father's Mother (Paternal grandmother) who sent her secretly away because she disapproved of her son's marriage) and then claimed the two children were "kidnapped" on a police report. Instead they were given to a JeongMae (Mid-wife who took them to another city and claimed they had been 'found'). Procedures must be in place to prevent this from being attempted again. With the advent of the Internet and identification, cross referencing with every police station in the country this should NOT be able to take place. BUT it has in the past, IN A FEW CASES. COME on give me the facts!!! Prove your case. 

It is the tactic of "Some" to apply the "all" label to these matters. Such illogical statements defy  sensible minds, and puts 'poop in the soup'.

Some friends have told the Korean War Baby that he should NOT talk about the big "A" word. NO, not Adoption, but the other "A" word-ABORTION. But in This Thing of Ours-Adoption, one cannot avoid it, it is the BIG WHITE ELEPHANT in the room, or the 700 lbs Gorilla. 

Let it be KNOWN, He shall be quiet NO MORE.

From OAK:

	Domestic Adoptions					Overseas Adoptions
Year	Reason for Relinquishment			Condition of Child		Reason for Relinquishment			Condition of Child
연도	UnwedMother	Institution	Poverty	Normal	Disabled*	UnwedMother	Abandoned	Poverty	Normal	Disabled*
	미혼모	시설	극빈가정	정상	장애*	미혼모	기아 등	극빈가정	정상	장애*
1995	680	297	48	997	28	2,019	21	140	1,135	1,045
1996	906	271	52	1,212	17	1,916	26	138	1,145	935
1997	1,064	258	90	1,400	12	2,018	8	31	1,273	784
1998	1,067	287	72	1,420	6	2,271	9	163	1,526	917
1999	1,369	199	158	1,712	14	2,253	5	151	1,584	825
2000	1,350	234	102	4,668	18	2,356	2	2	1,726	634
2001	1,428	221	131	1,756	14	2,434	1	1	1,693	743
2002	1,344	203	60	1,678	16	2,364	1		1,538	827
2003	1,181	210	173	1,544	20	2,283	2	2	1,638	649
2004	1,250	236	155	1,634	7	2,257		1	1,553	705
2005	1,095	172	194	1,434	27	2,069	4	28	1,364	737
Total	12,734	2,588	1,235	19,455	179	24,240	79	657	16,175	8,801

Let's check the math: 1995-2005

179 adopted by Korean people so far. 

8,801 went to ICA adoption

APPROXIMATELY    50 TO 1 -ICA to Domestic Adoption

 

 

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Motivation to Serve

Why do I want to serve GOA'L

Korean War Baby
Holt #A-20



What motivates me? If you check My Story on my blog at the top you would find out that I was one of the first of thousands of Korean Adoptees to find homes in a land that was not their own. I am now 58, or 59 by Korean accounting, one of the Old Guard, 'saved' from the devastation just after the Korean War. I was a Korean War baby and one of thousands of 'war babies' born of Foreign troops serving in Korea, born from liaisons with Korean women-children born out-of-wedlock, rape, or abandoned by the 'fathers' who returned to their countries. I was on the first plane from Holt Adoption Program, leaving on May 21, 1956. I lived most of my life only knowing about the war through books, MASH television series, studying TaeKwonDo, meeting Korean Marines and soldiers in Vietnam. My level of understanding my mother's people was about 2 on a scale of ten.

Pastor Peter Kim's Wife (Choi SaMoNim), Kathy, me. 1995

Ilsan compound, Holt Museum.

 
I first came back to my mother's land, in 1994 for a two week visit with a Korean pastor from the church I attended in , followed by 3 more two week ministry trips with my church from the USA. From the first meeting with Ami Nafzger after Nolin Stratton's introduction, I saw the need for the organization of GOA'L as the Founder presented it to us. At first it seemed like we would be some sort of loose Support Group which was a good idea. I was very surprised to see how quickly we grew, how many adoptees were actually in the country. By word of mouth, newspaper articles in the English dailies, the word got around and the meetings swelled.

YeoSeong DongAh article, June 1997

When Korea experienced the crisis wrongly called IMF (who actually helped Korea recover and OPEN up to more foreign investment), I was here and almost left but I felt compelled to stay and help prepare Koreans for Globalization. By being here I had a chance with all my students to expose them to the realities of people of mixed-heritage or as they say, mixed-blood. Constant rejections done in subtle ways, never face to face, faced me all the time. Though upset and even angry, I knew that deep down it bothered my PAIN inside that I must deal with personally. I must face my own 'demons' before I could help Koreans with theirs.



When Korea approved the F4 Visa in 1999 I was one of the first to get one. For all overseas Koreans up to 25% ethnicity, a grandparent of Korean genes, it gave Korean Adoptees a better chance to come and learn about their homeland, stay for awhile if they wanted and make a living by first teaching English or even their European languages for our brethren from the EU. More and more began to come, some to search for their biological family, many to discover their roots and what being a Korean really meant. I went with some to meet their families for the first time, a very emotional time for all.

After getting married to a Korean woman, a public servant with a gun, in 2005 for the next 3 years I could not attend the conferences but dropped by the office and kept in touch. I felt that GOA'L was in great hands with the new leadership and that the fundamental functions and ideology of GOA'L were being carried on by those who were dedicated to helping Korean Adoptees from all walks of life and countries, maintaining an openness to all stories, attitudes, viewpoints in the complex issues of This Thing of Ours-Adoption. We who are of the Diaspora are from the entire spectrum, those who do not plan to return to Korea to those who have come back, searched and found family members with various results, some have changed their names to reflect their Korean identity. Adoptees attitude about their own adoption ranges from Happy to Sad, content to unsettled, peaceful to filled with rage. It is like Black to White and all the degrees of Grey in between.

Then two years ago, I met two students who were Domestic Korean adoptees. I discovered that there were thousands like us, thousands perhaps equal to the 170-200 thousand Overseas/InterCountry/TransRacial/Trans-Cultural adoptees. Both of the two students had been secretly adopted, and were Late Discovery Adoptees, who told me how they found out in a shocking way. The more I searched it surprised and then shocked me even making me angry. I checked about Korea and learned about the legend of Princess Bari, the seventh daughter of a Chosen King, who threw her away and abandoned her to death because she was just a girl, and he needed a son to inherit his Crown. Bari da actually means "to throw away" so it is called in english "The Abandoned Princess"but she became the Matriach of the Mudang, the woman priestesses of Shamanism.

BaRi Gong Ju-Abandoned Princess

Princess Bari's story matched my student's life and it helped to explain why she was considered unlucky to be born, a seventh daughter by her Natural/Birth mother, because of the unluckiness of her being a 7th daughter. TIK-This Is Korea we must consider the cultural differences. Her story is an example of women's place in Korean society since the late Neo-Chosen period. As I discovered through various sources the actual numbers and began to study on the internet for the first time in depth. I joined with activist groups ASK and TRACK, both groups I found concerned with the issues of our Birth mothers who actually wanted to keep their children.


I began to study more and more, every aspect of the issues of Abortion, birth mothers, domestic and ICA adoption, the psychological and mental effects of abandonment, difficulties of some in attachment disorders. I had so much information and no way to express it, then I took the plunge and began to blog in June of 2009, hardly knowing the simplist tasks at first, needing "blogging for Dummies" desparately. I found that site!


This is what "Pulled me back In" just when I thought that my involvement with GOA'L would just be limited. This is why I am so passionate about This Thing of Ours-Adoption. GOA'L provides a safe and neutral hub, a place where an adoptee can come for help in their journey of self identity, searching for their bio-family, working and living here, whatever their needs and wants are about. I believe strongly that we must remain open to all, let all voices be heard and NOT be bias in any way.


There are some who think that GOA'L should be against Adoption, Intercountry and Domestic, and therefore represent a group that DO believe that only supporting Unwed Mothers to keep their children is the answer. Regrettably this is not the case as my research and the facts show that only some of the thousands of Adoptees from Korea feel this way. GOA'L must not be tunnel visioned nor ignore the majority of adoptees who have not yet come to a place where they have formed an informed opinion on these matters.


Therefore, I throw my hat into the ring, declaring myself as a candidate for the position of Secretary General of Global Overseas Adoptee's Link website GOA'L . Please mark your calendar for the General Meeting on 27 March, Saturday, place and time to be announced. You must be physically challenged, oops, physically PRESENT in order to vote...Stone age rules from the Korean government it seems, they haven't caught up with Cyberspace/Internet/Online Voting yet. Sigh!


Sincerely,


Don Gordon Bell