By Celeste Kriel
A group of expat poets and actors are coming together this Saturday for an evening of spoken word poetry to raise funds for the Korean Unwed Mothers Families Association (KUMFA) which advocates for the rights of unwed mothers and their children in Korea.
Featured writers from all over Korea are to participate in the event which will include a special performance by KUMFA founder Megy Kim. KUMFA's goal is to enable unwed Korean women to have sufficient resources and support so they can keep their babies if they choose.
The event will take place at G-15 Sonnendeck in Itaewon-dong, Seoul, 6.30 p.m. Saturday. The night will feature performances from a number of talented expat and Korean poets. After the show, there will be an after (birthday) party with drinks and DJ's. The suggested donation is 15,000 won at the door.
Statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare from 2007 show that 96 out of 100 pregnant unwed women in Korea will have abortions and only four will give birth.
KUMFA said that it's not far-fetched to assume that the four women who give birth to their children, choosing to face social stigma and family rejection, likely want to raise their own child.
KUMFA was founded to support unwed mothers in Korea who are subject to socially and financially challenging conditions where the Korean government's rate of support is often not enough.
According to KUMFA, since the 1990s, 90 percent of the children adopted both internationally and domestically each year are the children of unwed mothers. Laura Wachs, a KUMFA member who is a Korean adoptee, and a talented poet, decided to celebrate her birthday by hosting the poetry event to raise awareness and funds while bringing spoken word artists together for the cause.
Before moving to Korea, Wachs was funded for a KickStarter project, "The Voices of Korean Adoption." It was set to be a poetry anthology written by adoptees from around the world.
"At the time I had no knowledge of Korea, Korean adoptee organizations or activism work already taking place and the politics. I learned later that adoptees already had a platform and a poetry book wasn't innovative or new," said Wachs.
However, in 2014 she was introduced to KUMFA through the adoptee organization KoRoot and participated in a march with them at City Hall. While in Korea, she had the idea to highlight the plight of single mothers.
"While on a vacation trying to find inspiration and motivation for my KickStarter project, I had an idea. I wanted to shift the narrative to also incorporate voices of single moms, as they were a group I hadn't heard from. In that, I wanted to teach them to express themselves in the medium of poetry and use the book to help spread awareness, and fight for social welfare from the government."
Along with this project, she volunteers with KUMFA, helping where she can.
Of the founder, Megy Kim she says, "Megy is a courageous woman I admire and respect. After our work together, we now call each other "sister", and I hope with my heart to stand in solidarity with her and fight for women's rights to keep their children with adequate resources and no shame."
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| Laura Wachs |
Featured writers from all over Korea are to participate in the event which will include a special performance by KUMFA founder Megy Kim. KUMFA's goal is to enable unwed Korean women to have sufficient resources and support so they can keep their babies if they choose.
The event will take place at G-15 Sonnendeck in Itaewon-dong, Seoul, 6.30 p.m. Saturday. The night will feature performances from a number of talented expat and Korean poets. After the show, there will be an after (birthday) party with drinks and DJ's. The suggested donation is 15,000 won at the door.
Statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare from 2007 show that 96 out of 100 pregnant unwed women in Korea will have abortions and only four will give birth.
KUMFA said that it's not far-fetched to assume that the four women who give birth to their children, choosing to face social stigma and family rejection, likely want to raise their own child.
KUMFA was founded to support unwed mothers in Korea who are subject to socially and financially challenging conditions where the Korean government's rate of support is often not enough.
According to KUMFA, since the 1990s, 90 percent of the children adopted both internationally and domestically each year are the children of unwed mothers. Laura Wachs, a KUMFA member who is a Korean adoptee, and a talented poet, decided to celebrate her birthday by hosting the poetry event to raise awareness and funds while bringing spoken word artists together for the cause.
Before moving to Korea, Wachs was funded for a KickStarter project, "The Voices of Korean Adoption." It was set to be a poetry anthology written by adoptees from around the world.
"At the time I had no knowledge of Korea, Korean adoptee organizations or activism work already taking place and the politics. I learned later that adoptees already had a platform and a poetry book wasn't innovative or new," said Wachs.
However, in 2014 she was introduced to KUMFA through the adoptee organization KoRoot and participated in a march with them at City Hall. While in Korea, she had the idea to highlight the plight of single mothers.
"While on a vacation trying to find inspiration and motivation for my KickStarter project, I had an idea. I wanted to shift the narrative to also incorporate voices of single moms, as they were a group I hadn't heard from. In that, I wanted to teach them to express themselves in the medium of poetry and use the book to help spread awareness, and fight for social welfare from the government."
Along with this project, she volunteers with KUMFA, helping where she can.
Of the founder, Megy Kim she says, "Megy is a courageous woman I admire and respect. After our work together, we now call each other "sister", and I hope with my heart to stand in solidarity with her and fight for women's rights to keep their children with adequate resources and no shame."
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