Q&A) Are you wondering about MANNAM?

Q) What is the meaning of 'when light meets light, there is victory'?

A) Every single person is a light and should become a light. As these people who are like light meet, we can defeat the dark world. The MANNAM’s slogan is “when light meets light, there is victory!”

Q) What does MANNAM pursue in its “culture and art service”?

A) MANNAM is well-known for its strong volunteerism and outstanding cultural event planning ability. Delivering donation to the less fortunate is also a service that MANNAM is involved in, however, the delivering messages of hope and love through cultural and art performances is also what MANNAM pursues. Therefore, every MANNAM event is accompanied with an art and cultural performance of high standards.

Q) Why does MANNAM do country-related events?

A) It is very natural to dedicate time and efforts to those we love. As MANNAM loves its country and sincerely appreciates those who sacrificed their lives for the country, it is logical to give our time and effort. We do not see this as sacrifice. The question of “why do you do country-related events?” is equivalent to the question of “why do you love another?”

Q) Question to the Chairwoman of MANNAM: “What does volunteer work mean to you?”

A) I believe that the basic foundation of every ideology is filial piety, and this is not limited to only Korea. When one is dutiful to one’s parent, it is filial piety; when the same devotion is shown to a country, it becomes loyalty; and in religion, it becomes faith. This is based on sacrifice, thinking of others before oneself, which is related to the core mentality and spirit of volunteer service. Service in MANNAM is voluntary and dedicating oneself as he/she is doing work at one’s home, even when picking up garbage on the street. This is the spirit of MANNAM.

Q) What are the future plans of MANNAM?

A) For world peace, there must be the unification of Korea. Every MANNAM member sincerely longs for unification and is concerned with the issue. Hence, during the 65^th Anniversary of Korean Independence Day event, MANNAM announced the Declaration of Unification which expresses hope for a true unification of North and South Korea. Also, the Declaration of Unification monument was set in the east and west, where the north is in sight.  

Also, as the entire world must cooperate among one another for the unification of Korea, MANNAM will take the lead in forming and evoking the world’s consensus and support. For world peace, MANNAM pursues to become the ambassador of world peace and will host world cultural exchange events.

The meaning of MANNAM's Slogan?

MANNAM! When Light meets Light there is Victory

Do you know MANNAM’s slogan?? If you are a MANNAM member, you might have heard this.

When Light meet Light there is Victory!

Then... do you know what this mean? How can light makes victory?

Light represents a person who had light, this light is one's own CULTURE.

If people who has a light(culture) meets another light(culture) and share it together, the light will get bigger and bigger to lighten the dark world!

When dark world shines with the light, isn’t that a victory??

Light in this slogan is not just a sunlight that shines on us.

We, all of MANNAM members are the LIGHT who can lighten the world!

How? By invovling in volunteer works! We, MANNAM is a pure association

We make the world brighter by volunteering. When we share our culture thorugh volunteering, there will be victory.

Every languages have word 'LIGHT'. Because people or creature cannot live without light.

Light is essential to all of us. In this way, we need your culture to lighten the world.

Don’t you want to see brighter world? Let’s make VICTORY together.

sourse: mannamgwkorean.blogspot.kr

An Essay Ⅱ from MANNAM Korean teacher.

This is a story why am I willing to be a volunteer for foreigners.

It was 15 years ago. I had been working in Gunsan Daewoo commercial vehicles. I had some chances to meet foreign buyers that time. Whenever I met them, I had got trouble because of my poor English skills. So I wanted to learn it more, but it was not easy to do both learning and working.

At that time, IMF hit Korea in 1997 and the economy was getting worse. Numerous workers were fired from their companies. However, I quit the job myself and flew to Australia to prepare for a better future.

Since I had been experienced in staying Japan, I felt living in foreign countries seems to be romantic. However, It was different between dream and reality. One of the big problem was, of course, the language!!

I wanted to be a permanent resident in Australia so I needed to improve my English skills. But entering the language school costed very expensive. I had been spending a mount of money to rent my house, get some groceries, and so on. I had to figure out a better way to study English.

I used to go a library nearby my place to read some books. When I had walked through the hall, a tiny invitation posting caught my eye. It was an ad about Free English classes for foreigners like me!

I was excited that I could learn English for free and decided to go there.

The class was made by some Australians and christian missionaries. They volunteered every Saturday. Most of the volunteers were from different countries. They offered English classes, Bible study, and singing to the students. I liked those. The best thing I liked was I could meet many foreign friends there. I could hear a lot of stories about the world from them. It was so much fun.

During break time, all of students and volunteers roamed around the class and had a chat. Thanks to that, I should practice to speak English to communicate with them. I had tried my best to learn from the class and have a conversation with the volunteers and I could feel that my English skills were getting better little by little.

I still have keep in touch with one of them. Her name is Allison. She is Australian. She came there to help the students with English. She told me her fiance was Korean and she had been interested in learning his language. Since her fiance had used to be an international student, she knew the difficulty of foreign students' well. So she had started to volunteered there.

Allison told me about her life and took me to meet her husband. She always tried to help me with daily conversation. Even though she was one of volunteers, she was a real teacher to me. I was really thankful to her. She treated me not only as a student but a friend. From then on, I think I have dreamed to help someone with my language like her.

After 15 years, now, I am a teacher in MANNAM Korean Class. I have my own job, bring up two kids, and I volunteer every Sunday. I am truly happy I can help the foreigners. I feel I am giving back the kindness to Allison who gave it to me.

Some of my students study very hard in order to teach Korean in their countries. They express their gratitude to me every time. How nice!!

Like the slogan of MANNAM, When Light meets Light, there is Victory, I convey a small light to them and they receive and spread the light through the world.

Written by

Hwang, Jae-yeon

My Seollal(Korean New Year's Day)

There is a big holiday in Korea called Seollal which is Lunar New Year's Day. On Seollal, each family member get together, have a chat and cook some special foods. One of the most typical dish that we feast is ddeok-guk. It is a rice cake soup and very delicious. Even if you are not Korean, you may like its light and clean taste.

By the way, do you know why do we eat ddeok-guk on Seollal?

Seollal, the day we have ddeok-guk, literally means the beginning of the year and also it's the time winter turns into spring. This rice cake is symbolized for living healthy and longevity with having a good harvest because of its long shape. So eating ddeok-guk, you could have the warm energy in your body. And we believe that sharing ddeok-guk with neighbors means sharing the good fortune with them together.

I will eat this delicious dish with my relatives on this Seollal as usual. My relatives gather in grandparents' house. My aunt and uncle drive for 5~7 hours to meet us. We will have great time, talking, laughing and preparing some traditional foods. We have not only the traditional foods but also variety traditional games for Seollal. We enjoy them all together, from little kids to grandparents.

Could you imagine how peaceful and happy the day would be?

However, at this moment, I'd like to say that there could be someone who are not able to have this peaceful and happy time with their family or relatives. I am talking about "War". Some children and young men could be fighting in the war holding guns to survive even at this moment. The words, like 'family' or 'happiness' are far away from them. I think we should not forget those people. We need to take care of those situations because the world has been getting closer and people living in each country become neighbors as we express 'global village'. If so, the world peace should be needed and the war should be stopped so that the children and young men won't be dragged to the battle.

In MANNAM Volunteer Association, we share our thoughts for world peace and try to make world be the place fulling of happiness and love. The MANNAM volunteers from all over the world seem to look different in color, race, culture, gender and religion, but those are not important to us. Whatever you have, whoever you are, we don't care. If you accept the differences and admire each other, we can understand each other. Furthermore we can be friend or family living in "global village". And when we understand and respect each other, the war will be end at last. Like MANNAM slogan says, 'When Light meets Light, there is Victory', the world peace is possible if there's someone desire to make it. And the "light" could be YOU and I.

That's all what I am thinking.

You and I, we can make the world bright.

Written by

Na-yeong Yoon.

What a beautiful World Peace Festival!!

On Sunday September 16, 2012, the Seoul Olympic Stadium was packed to capacity for the first time in 24 years, since South Korea hosted the Olympic Games in 1988.

 Peace is Possible!!

 Ni Hao!

 Guten Tag!

 Mangandang Tanghali Po!!

 Two handsome man from USA

The World Peace Festival was a spectacular event, demonstrating unity and peace through friendly sports tournaments, mass games, and an enormous card section. Festivities started at 9am and lasted until 9pm, with foods from around the world, face painting, magic shows, performances by various artists, and messages of peace and hope from celebrities and VIP’s across the world.