Adoptee campaigns against addiction
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Ki-ja Kristoffersen
By Kim Se-jeong
Ki-ja Kristoffersen’s life veered from its original path because her biological family put her up for overseas adoption. Thirty-three years later, her life is changing again because of her desire to help her struggling family and people beyond them.
Kristoffersen grew up in Denmark and is studying psychology and education. She said she wants to help her biological family torn by gambling and alcohol addiction, as well as others affected by addiction.
She learned about the tragic story of her biological family six years ago when she visited Korea and met her biological mother.
The mother told her that her father was addicted to alcohol and gambling. She was 4 months old when abandoned, and it happened because the family was too poor to support her.
Her two siblings were not abandoned but grew up with very little education and care, and they had to work from a young age to support the family. And her brother, after becoming an adult, became addicted to computer games.
She visited her brother this summer only to discover that he too is a severe alcoholic. Her sister was better off, free of any type of addiction, but struggling to survive and homeless. Her mother died three years ago.
“Addiction leads to addiction,” Kristoffersen said. “Psychological problems foster children that are marked for life if not helped or given the proper guidance, education and psychological support. There was also violence in my biological family. So it has really not been easy for my siblings.”
Kristoffersen said she was trying to help her brother during the summer.
“We encouraged him to stop smoking,” she said. “But, it’s not easy. He is addicted and is trying to forget his pain and problems by drinking and smoking and not going outside for any type of exercise.”
She is now looking for a translator, “so I can send him letters to encourage his recovery. I think that is a start.”
During the summer trip, she met local activists campaigning against gambling and joined them to protest in front of an off-track horserace betting facility in Yongsan, central Seoul. She met with gambling addicts and their families and shared her own story.
“I believe that gambling is a big problem in Korea and it is tempting for people who are unstable to get into big trouble that leads to suicide and broken families.”
She now studies psychology and education at Via University College in Aarhus. She wants to help her brother and others like him.
She said she feels thankful about her life. “I am lucky to have had a chance in Denmark to get a proper education. I am happy that I discovered (my family) because I have always wondered who I am. When I learned about my biological family, their story made so much sense to me.”