Hope

“I think that kindness is something that we should all have. That’s in an innate quality that we have, and we need more of that out there.”- Ellen Degeneres

Hi, people! Is everything ok? I hope it is. It’s funny how the topics for my blog came out of nowhere. Last night, I could not sleep, and I decided to watch a movie. I watched a korean movie called, “The Way Home." The movie is about a young boy who has to live with his mute grandmother in a poor village. Now, he has to live without any luxury and to learn how important family is. It was an amazing and emotional movie. 

According to Wikipedia, The film won South Korea's equivalent of the Oscars for best picture and screenplay.

 But today’s post is not going to be about this movie. Today, I was doing my research for my Korean homework, and I had to watch a TED talk. This talk was about the North Korean country and its people. I have to share this with you, because I think it has a beautiful message.  

The family I lost in North Korea

Joseph Kim was raised and born in North Korea. Like many other Koreans, his family struggled against poverty. In 1994, the great famine began, and his life went from bad to worst. In 2003, when Joseph was 13 years old, he saw his father died of starvation. A few days later, his mother and sister disappeared. Joseph’s sister told him that they would try to escape to China to get money and food. That was the last time he saw his mother and sister. He was alone and had to work to get some food. “When I could not fall asleep from bitter cold or hunger pains, I hoped, that the next morning, my sister would come back to wake me up with my favorite food. That hope kept me alive. I don’t mean big, grand hope. I mean the kind of hope that made me believe that the next trash can have bread even though it usually didn’t. But if I didn’t believe it, I wouldn’t even try and then I would die,” said Joseph. After three years of waiting for his mother and sister, he decided to cross the border to China. Joseph thought things would be easier in China, but he was wrong. He was worried about being caught all the time. Months later, he met a person who helped him to escape to The USA. He didn’t know how to speak English, but the social worker told him that he had to go to school. “Even in Norht Korea, I was an F student,” said Joseph. He went to school just because they told him to do it. 

The chicken wing 

Everything changed one night when his Foster mother made chicken wings for dinner. Joseph said, “I wanted to have one more wing, but I realized there were not enough for everyone, so I decided to against it. When I looked down at my plate, I saw the last chicken wing, that my foster father had given me his. I looked at him sitting next to him. He just looked at me very warmly, but said no words. My foster father’s small act of love reminded me of my father, who would to share his food with me when he was hungry, even if he was starving.” That night, he promised to himself that he would get the best education in America to honour his father. Joseph received an academic award for excellence. “Hope is personal. Hope is something that no one can give to you. You have to choose to believe in hope.” He also remarked how many people helped him along the way. 

Joseph’s message to the world

“Have hope for yourlsef, but also help each other. I confidently believe that your act of love and caring can also save another Joseph’s life and change thousand of other Josephs who are still having hope to survive.” 

At the end of the talk, Joseph sent a very emotional message to his mother and sister. 

I think that this is a beautiful message for everyone. Never lose hope, and if you can, help others in need. 

I want to end this post with another quote of Ellen Degeneres:

“It’s very easy to lose hope, but we cannot do that. I always say there is a lot more good in the world than there is bad. That’s what we have to focus on. The world is full of amazing people. Good will always win.” 

Have a great week! 

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLeeTVmVrtA (TED talk)