 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There is a beautiful passage at the end of Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago that talks about the "still-living protagonists" of history. Too often, we choose to be passive recipients of events rather than active agents in the making of history. Below is a list of suggestions regarding how you can help to improve the human rights situation in North Korea. Many of these ideas are applicable to other human rights concerns, so please adapt them to your needs.
1. If you believe in prayer, please pray for human rights in North Korea and throughout the world. Compose prayers of your own and distribute them in your faith community.
2. Do you have a website? Link to this site and to other sites which promote the dignity of the human person.
3. Donate to an organization of your choice which reflects your beliefs, such as the Ton-A-Month Club. The Gulag Meal does not accept monetary donations, but we do take prayers and comments!
4. Educate yourself about human rights in North Korea or about another human rights issue that interests you. Talk to others about it.
5. Donate books about North Korea to a local library or give them as gifts. Two valuable books are The Aquariums of Pyongyang by Kang Chol-Hwan and Eyes of the Tailless Animals by Soon Ok Lee. One creative way to send such books out into the world is through BookCrossings.
6. Encourage film festivals to show documentaries about human rights (e.g. Seoul Train).
7. Write a letter. Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights is especially helpful in this regard. Look in the "Your Action Now" section. Letters to Chinese officials about recognizing North Korean defectors as genuine refugees are helpful.
8. Adapt the Gulag Meal to your needs.
Maybe your primary interest is not North Korean human rights. However,
we encourage you to think about how sharing reflective texts and having
a special meal (or other experiential activity) together could help to
promote human rights. Perhaps your focus is hunger in Africa.
In that case, do some research on conditions in Africa, then create an
activity and choose a set of texts which reflects your topic.
|
|
