By Simon Phillips
Contributing Writer
At the top of a long winding road, not far from the hustle and bustle of Seoul, live a group of mentally and physically handicapped people.
They are the residents of Angel House and volunteer helpers can meet them once a month at their home in the woods.
Not only do they live on the fringes of the city, but also the fringes of society. This monthly encounter with a group of volunteers is the precious little contact these people have with the outside world.
Conditions like Down syndrome restrict them from travelling freely into Seoul and communicating with others. If they did not have the facility of Angel House to care for them, they might as easily end up in the tragic situation of begging on the subways with the less-fortunate handicapped souls.
``You see an amputee in Insa-dong, who you cannot really help except to give some money to’’ says Zach Pinson of Oklahoma, U.S. ``Here at Angel House are people who really cannot integrate into normal society due to their difficulties. I would like to help them integrate, but how? Volunteering at Angel House is an opportunity to give human contact which is very much needed.’’
Some 50 residents live at Angel House, a settlement of several buildings in a peaceful wooded setting in western Seoul. They live here because their families are unable to care for them. Some still have regular contact, but many unfortunately do not, having been given up into the care of others.
Walking into Angel House on a sunny Saturday afternoon is like going down to Strawberry Fields; the disabled home for children, from the Beatles’ song.
It is an unreal world created for people who are very much alive, but slightly different to others. In this unreal world the atmosphere is serene.
Toddlers and older residents sit together affectionately on the patio as one big family. A girl sat with her limbs contorted unnaturally, reads a music book in the shade of a large maple tree.
The stillness of the afternoon is broken only by the sporadic shouts of a woman in a doorway, talking to herself. A refreshing breeze rustles the tree canopy.
Whilst volunteers busy themselves washing clothes and preparing a meal, the people who live here move around them inquisitively.
This one monthly visit is something both parties look forward to. The days in between are spent wrapped up in work or wrapped up in their own world, depending on how you look at it.
In Ken Kesey’s novel ``One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’’ the lead character Murphy befriends the residents of a mental hospital.
Seeing them as human beings, he encourages them to stand up for themselves. Ironically the story ends with a tragic twist: Murphy is lobotomised.
Potential volunteers please contact koreayou@gmail.com