Orphanage Receives Christmas Gift

Christmas is not celebrated in North Korea, nevertheless we were able to give some 750 children a very special Christmas present. Marie Anne Bühlmann explains how this happend.
 

Warm children are happy children!	The orphanage director and a government representative accept the gifts from our project staff in a festive ceremony.
The babies are laid out in a row all day long with only a thin mat between them and the cold, hard floor.	Children packed into a small classroom. The stove in the picture is cold.

"Ambassador Ri Tcheul contacted us last December with an urgent request to supply children in two orphanages in the region of Sariwon with thermal underwear, shoes, jackets and other items.  Thanks to the efforts of our many friends and partners, we were able to purchase the desired articles immediately, and then we traveled to North Korea to present them personally just a few days later.
What a contrast North Korea was to our pre-Christmas season in Switzerland!  There is not enough electricity to meet normal daily needs, outlying villages go without electricity sometimes for days at a time.  Even in the privileged capital city it is normal for the electricity to be out for many hours per day.  As Christmas is not celebrated in North Korea, nevertheless we were able to give some 750 children a very special  Christmas present.  Marie-Anne Bühlmann explains how this happened:
a result, there in no running water.  People have to carry water in buckets back to their apartments in buildings with up to twenty floors and no working elevators. There is no energy to heat homes.  People live in frigid conditions.  While we were there the temperature hovered around the freezing point, but the coldest period is yet to come.  In addition, the food situation remains catastrophic as in years past."
During our visit to the orphanage, we realized once again what a toll all these years of poor nutrition has taken on North Korea's children.  The children are basically all too small for their ages; many two-year-olds are still unable to walk, a sign of developmental problems.  Campus für Christus has, therefore, decided to make a long-term investment in children by supporting these orphanages and children's homes.
 
Long-term Involvement in North Korea
Our current Project Year has long been planned and we have completed much of the necessary preparation.  For us, providing development aid means that we work in cooperation with North Korean governmental officials as well as those who are responsible in the various local centers in order to tailor our project to meet their specific needs.  The first step is a general agreement which defines the general area of our involvement: goat breeding, fodder production, milk processing and forestry.  We also set a period of time in which the work should be accomplished.  At this point in time, the work of Campus für Christus in North Korea should continue until at least 2006.
 

Project Development 1995 – 2002:  direct investments and donated materials the German humanitarian organization humedica, which allows Campus für Christus to distribute the items on their behalf as they no workers stationed in North Korea.
 

Development statistics for yogurt and cheese production in the Campus für Christus centers.

Closer partnership with South Korean supports as well as with DEZA, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Abroad is our current and future goal.  This will mean a widening scope of activities as well as an increased workload.  For example, our agricultural expert Heinz Müller worked with us in the area of fodder production at our seven model breeding centers as well as in five DEZA-sponsored locations.
 

	A common sight:  an ox delivers milk to the processing center.
	Useful Consultation: Daniel Gerster (agricultural expert) discusses the goat breeding strategy with a local vet, the locally responsible Brigadier and the leader of the communal farm in Zhang Zong.

As a sign of their support and interest in our work, DEZA has been a significant financial partner in the Campus für Christus North Korea Project since 2002.
Communal Farms serve as centers of competence and locations where new agricultural techniques are tested to see whether they should be implemented in other nearby farming cooperatives.  Three such centers run by DEZA are in the Miru Hill region south of Pyongyang, two other centers are in the north of the country in a mountainous region at an altitude of approximately 800 m/2400 ft.  The microclimate of this area closely resembles that of the Oberwallis or Unterengadin regions of Switzerland.  The map on the next page gives an overview of the Campus für Christus locations throughout North Korea.
 
 

Current Locations of Campus für Christus Switzerland  (in service since):   BPD: Bjong Pung Dok (1996)   SH: Sinhung (1997)   UR: Ungu Ri (1998)   KB: Kubin (1998)   ZZ: Zhang Zong (2000)   UZ: Unzong (2001)   NS: Namsan (2002)   HS: Hungsan (2003)          Current Locations of Campus für Christus Switzerland and South Korea: KB: Kubin (1998) UZ: Unzong (2001) Planned Locations of  Campus für Christus Switzerland: TC: Tanchon (2004) MC: Munchon (2004) KD: Kudu (2005)

 

US: Unsan (2005) Cities / Orphanages: PJ: Capital Pyongyang SW: Orphanages Sariwon

In large areas of the country, the diet is still primarily made up of carbohydrates (corn and rice).  Besides the general lack of food, this one-sidedness of the diet leads to serious malnutrition.  The new milk processing center locations will help to provide additional areas of the country with a high quality source of life-sustaining protein in the form of yogurt or cheese.  Your donations make a significant impact.  Through your generosity we were able to markedly improve the nutritional situation in various villages last year.  Our goal is to make it possible for the entire country to have a balanced and healthy diet.  The new project locations and the various milk-processing centers are only part of the overall solution.  We are excited about the widening scope of our work, but now, more than ever, we realize that all we do in only possible because of your support.  Thank you for your faithfulness!

Senior Citizens Get Involved in North Korea
"Seniors for the 3rd World" and "Teams for Applied Technology" (SE3WE – TAT / www.se3we.ch ) are two senior citizens' groups made up of retired experts in various fields.  These individuals have joined together to use their expertise to help third world countries. In the last eight years, SE3WE - TAT have invested a lot of time and creative energy in the development of a mechanical pedal pump which runs on human power, not with electricity.

The pump is simply built, so that it can be maintained or reproduced without special mechanical or technical know-how.  Past experience in Paraguay, Cambodia, South Africa, Nepal, Senegal, Haiti, Chad and the Philippines and cooperative projects with other aid organizations (HEKS, SKAT, Helvetas) have shown this pump to be very effective and reliable.  Campus für Christus brought the first pedal pump to North Korea last year and presented it to the Ministry of Agriculture.  Our next container shipment will carry parts to build seven more pumps which will be constructed under the supervision of our model farms and used as models for further production locally.  These pumps can provide up to 80 liters of water per minute from a depth of 8m.  They will be used for irrigation of rice paddies, general water provision for a village or at one of our milk-processing centers.
 

Project Leader Jürg Bühlmann Tests a Pump: The newest model is easier to build and main-tain.	Working together for the Third World: These men have developed the pedal pump which can be used almost anywhere.

New Project Staff Needed

Traveling together: Our two agricultural experts, Daniel Gerster and Heinz Müller with their traveling companions, O Jong Ho, from the Ministry of Agriculture, and the translator Hjong Kjong Chol.

Heinz Müller has indicated that he would like to become involved with another project, so we are currently looking for another agricultural expert – male or female – to take his place.  If you are interested in working for one or more seasons in the beautiful and fascinating landscape of North Korea, if you like to eat spicy foods and then sing Korean folksongs (or learn how to), then you could be the right person for this job!

Get your personal copy  of the North Korea Newsletter regularly either in the printed version or as email.

Support the project financially: New Online donations

Earlier project updates:January 2002 / March 2002  / Juni 2002 / September 2002 / November 2002 /
2001:
(only in German): Januar 2001 / März 2001 / Juni 2001 / August 2001 / November 2001