Imagine a young girl, 17 years old, walking alone through the snow and the cold day after day until her feet are frozen. She stumbles across the frozen river in the dead of night. She has escaped North Korea into China but her journey is only beginning. Her feet need immediate medical attention. Kind strangers, part of a little known Underground Railroad, take her to a sympathetic doctor. The prognosis is grim. She is likely to loose both feet. But it is too dangerous for her to stay where she is. There is heightened security inside North Korea and the Chinese border patrol is searching everywhere. She has to be moved deeper into China where another doctor takes over her care. With time and patience her feet begin to heal and only two toes need to be amputated. But time is short. If she is discovered she will be sent back to North Korea where she will be imprisoned or executed. If she stays in China she is likely to be trafficked or sold to a Chinese husband. The Underground Railroad moves her on until, feet still swaddled in bandages, she reaches a safe haven in a third country. In her letter of thanks she tells those that helped her that she will study hard because she wants to be a doctor to help others who are poor and hurting just as she was.
This is just one of many stories of the refugees who arrive in Northern China. This young lady left China with five other girls, each with her own story of survival. The majority of the refugees escaping from North Korea are female. This surprised me so I asked why. I got two answers. First, the women can hide themselves easier in China because they can more easily find work in restaurants or can be sold or trafficked. The second is that men have to report for work or military service. Men have ten years of mandatory military service. Women have only two years of military service and do not have to report to work. Their disappearance might not be noticed as quickly as that of a man.
Often when we hear about North Korea the emphasis is on military threats and nuclear proliferation. Aid efforts often fail to help the most needy causing frustration among donors and others wanting to help. Here in Korea I hear over and over again that the young are apathetic to social issues in their own country and see North Korea and the possibility of reunification as a needless financial strain on the South Korean economy. I am told that they no longer teach Korean history in Korean schools. Many young people do not know and do not care. Beauty and money are the gods of their generation.
Where does that leave our young lady with the frozen feet? Without the activists of the Underground Railroad she would have been left to die my the river or captured and sent back to North Korea. She knows that she owes her life to their faith and their bravery.
The activists are seeing some signs of change. They are seeing pockets of young people beginning to care. There is a strange coalition forming between Christian youth and liberals led by activists from earlier decades. Their interest, along with that of other groups throughout the world, can ignite awareness and build energy towards change. Governments have not been able to find solutions. It is only through the individual acts of bravery and compassion that we can chip away at the forces that cause suffering in North Korea, in the Congo, and in every other corner where humanity suffers. We must each find what touches our own heart and take action, no matter how small, to alleviate a little bit of suffering or feat.
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