HOMECOMING
Anna's House: A Haven for the Marginalized
By Monica Park
Anna’s House, a charity in Seongnam, Gyeonggi province, welcomes the homeless, elderly, jobless and street children. The center also hosts an association for people with dyslexia. Since 1998, the organization has been a haven for the marginalized. There are three ways you can serve: talent support, counseling as a native English speaker, or by donating goods or money. The soup kitchen serves about 400 meals a day. Last year, they distributed more than 83,000 dinners to homeless adults. The center also had 1,136 patients and provided them dentistry, psychiatric or oiental medical assistance. It also provided employment and legal counseling and distributed clothes, and provided a place to wash clothes or just shower.
October / November 2016 Discovery
At the home for adolescent male runaways, there are two programs. One is short-term and the other is long-term. Father Vincenzo is looking for a native English speaker to work short term at the shelter once a week from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
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Anna’s House is an amazing place. There are so many people serving others in the most selfless ways. Father Vincenzo Bordo, who started the charity, is also an incredible force. I was really struck by his humanity and I was also happy to do charity work. I first went to Anna’s House to volunteer work last year with a group of Italian friends. Since then, I have been happy to work at Anna’s House alongside SIWA members Mi Kyung Yu, Kaylin Kyung Lee, Sonia Vanderaa and Andrea Leideck, preparing food for the homeless. Shuda Tumbe teaches at the Dyslexia Center twice a week. Though giving, I understand the point of life, which is sharing ourselves with others. After serving at Anna’s House, I found myself a bit different and more openhearted. Every time we go, I experience this treasure that we have with us through everyday living. The next SIWA meetings at Anna's House will be Oct. 27, Nov. 10 and Dec. 8. The charity work starts at 1 p.m. and finishes at approximately 4 p.m.. To get there, we can meet at Moran Station (Line 8 or Bundang Line), Exit 4 at 11:45 PM to have lunch and go together to Anna’s House, which is a five-minute walk from the station. You can also donate money to the charity through two accounts in its name: Woori Bank(1005-601-037069), Shinhan Bank (100-024-061995) or Kookmin Bank (275401-04- 093261) or via PayPal. Monica Park, a SIWA member since 2010, is a native of Korea. She worked for 30 years for KT Corporation (formerly Korea Telecom) before taking an early retirement.