The Korean Jesuit Province is offering a programme to help scholastics and brothers-in-formation understand the real situation of migrants in an industrialised society like Korea, and the urgency of the issues they face. The programme will be run by Yiutsari, the Jesuit migrant centre located in Gimpo.
Migration is one of the priorities of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific and Immersion Program on Migration in Korea (IPMK) 2016 will encourage participants to reflect on how to be with migrants, who are often marginalised in the countries they go to for work, and suffer from economic and social discrimination.
IPMK is also a response to the 35th General Congregation, in which Jesuits are encouraged to develop interprovincial collaboration. The Korean Jesuit Province hopes that this formation programme will allow scholastics to experience different cultures and reach a sense of solidarity as men called to work for others. This mutual understanding and sharing will in turn help Jesuits work together for the universal mission.
Participants will also be encouraged to observe the activities of non-governmental organisations. This observation will help stimulate their social imagination.
“If we learn how to identify social issues, to respond to our observations, and to actualize our plan, we can be good workers in the Lord’s vineyard,” said Fr Andrew Lee SJ, the head of Yiutsari.
The programme for IPMK 2016, which will be held from June 22 to July 9, begins with a workshop on labour and transnational movement in Korea. This will introduce the participants to the general situation of migrants and integrate migration sociologically and theologically to help them to understand migration issues more deeply.
The participants will also visit several centres for migrants. These centres work to promote respect for the rights of migrants, beyond the walls of race, culture, religion, nation, and language. Through the recognition of the cultural and national differences and diversity of each other, the centres, including Yiutsari, are trying to build a community in which migrants can enjoy a greater quality of life.
The programme includes an experiential component. Participants will be sent to a factory to live and work for a day with migrant workers. They will meet the workers the evening before they are to work in the factory and spend the night in the factory dormitory with them. This experience will give them a chance to understand not only the migrant worker situation in Korea but also the situation of labourers in Korea.
This will also be an opportunity for the scholastics to get to know the Jesuit Korean Province. They will visit some Jesuit communities in Seoul and will attend the Ordination Mass of Korean Jesuit deacons.
The programme concludes with two days of recollection in which the scholastics will be encouraged to reflect and share on their experiences during IPMK 2016.
Yiutsari has devoted itself to serving and accompanying migrant workers in the country since 2005. Through its programmes and services, Yiutsari provides a safe and welcoming environment for the Filipino, Thai, Cambodian, Chinese, Vietnamese migrants workers who go there for social and emotional support in dealing with difficulties caused by factory management and cultural differences.
Applications are now open and priority will be given to scholastics and brothers-in-formation from migrant worker sending countries within the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific. For more information, contact sjkrsec@gmail.com.