i forgot to say this but i remade (new blog is breetschlag) but i probably wont delete this blog because i want to keep my likes so feel free to unfollow or w/e
its as if people are tryna invalidate roach's original post like by going on to her blog n finding shit y'all dont agree with so u can argue against her original post...for whatever reason...
pukingirls-deactivated20150407
apparently awkward white teenagers identifying as turtles, wolves and anime characters for a time is the same as crippling honest to god dysphoria that makes children mutilate themselves and/or take their own lives. for a website that claims to be so trans positive y’all sure know how to put the serious problems they do deal with down
Why supporting organizations like nkhrrescuefund.org is so important
If you can’t read what’s written in the photos, click on the (site).
All of you probably know I absolutely hate LiNK (Liberty in North Korea) for reasons that can be found here. However, it’s more than just the financial part that irks me about them. Rather than making a long post about the pros (if there are any at all) and cons of LiNK, I decided to include the most asked question, “Why not LiNK but xx?”
I often find myself ‘screening’ non-profit organizations that claim to help North Korean refugees. Most of the time I ended up disappointed, shaking my head and closing the tab. The main reason for that usually is, they claim to send donations to North Korea but what do people who never escaped a country know about the costs of escaping? Where is your money really going? Because let me tell you, it’s not a ‘I donate, they send the money to China and they give it to North Koreans personally’ thing. Unfortunately. I’m still working on a post about all the finances of escaping so instead of focusing on the exact cost of every step that refugees need to make, I’ll focus on something else in this post: where your money should go to.
One of the very few organizations I’ve found and support is nkhrrescuefund. The reason why I like them so much? Basically, their whole “Where the Money Goes” tab. This is crucial, since we’re comparing anyway, LiNK doesn’t state anywhere where the money they receive goes to. “It goes to North Korean refugees”, but nothing else.
(site) They tell you exactly what your money is used for and what they’re saying is accurate. Chinese brokers are the biggest reason why refugees would need money. North Koreans who decide to take the route through Southeast Asia usually travel in groups. In order to stay safe they need shelters where they can stay in groups. (site)
In the last paragraph they state “In 2013, our parent NGO, Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), spent approximately $95,000 helping 50 North Korean refugees reach South Korea. The NKHR Rescue Fund funded the rescue of five of those refugees.” They give full credit to who helped them. They share the amount of money they used to save people and they also state exactly how many people they saved. They tell the stories of refugees in a discreet way. No interview, no photos, nothing too personal. I often talk about LiNK not ‘saving’ enough people, but why would I be so enthusiastic about them saving ‘only’ 50 refugees? Because they don’t just help them get to South Korea and leave them afterwards. This is incredibly important information.
NKHR’s focus is not just ‘helping North Koreans to get to South Korea safely’. They actually support several education programs. Education programs for North Korean refugees are rarely talked about whereas re-educating refugees is probably the most important step of the whole escape. People know Hanawon, but usually that’s the only one. Hanawon is not the best. It is run by the government and it extremely flawed in its way of treating people. NKHR doesn’t limit itself to just Hanawon. They support programs that offer the opportunity to connect with fellow refugees, scholarships, entertainment and courses to make the transition into South Korea. (site)
Correct me if I’m wrong, feel free to add to this one-named-list, but this is so far the only organization that supports these important programs. What’s even better is that they have a recent activity report. It shows that they care and take things seriously. They are willing to show proof of their achievements. For me, that’s a huge bonus.
I remember my eyes almost rolling out when I saw LiNK’s promotion video. The way they tried to sensationalize their actions, ugh. All it does is create a savior complex in those who use LiNK as their only source on North Korea. All they do is talk about bridges, helping North Koreans and aw, North Koreans can’t even use cellphones while South Koreans can dance to kpop. (huge shame, HUGE shame on them for saying such a thing) (Also, cellphones are actually used in NK)
NKHR has ‘facts’ on their site too. These are a lot more accurate than any of the stereotypical ones LiNK has been giving for years. (NK is behind, but come on. Things have changed a lot in even just the past two years. LiNK doesn’t seem to update themselves at all) (site)
I really like how they mention that most refugees are female. They mention the routes, they give the average cost of 1 escapee and they say it’s hard to publish photos. Although blurred, LiNK shamelessly posts the photos of refugees on their site. I mean, they’re not even trying to hide they see us as awards received by screaming their name in every university. We’re not animals at the zoo, thank you.
Also, very important, is how they honestly talk about China being a huge problem. They don’t blame only North Korea for the bad experiences of a refugee. They don’t just mention how women are often sold, they also mention how men are used as labor forces. As someone whose father lived this life for a good decade, I feel happy that he’s included in this too. They sound a lot more professional too. We are sold, we are used, we are getting abused and raped. LiNK e.g. states we sell ourselves for money, we marry Chinese men and we have no other option but becoming prostitutes. This might sound like just a minor thing, just a language difference, but it’s actually a big deal.
There are a couple of ways to get to South Korea, the two mostly used are the escape routes through Southeastern Asia and taking a plane in China to SK (latter is less common because of the high risk of getting caught. Only possible in very small groups or single person) The escape routes are pricy. Extremely pricy. I’m talking about more than a few thousands in total. (not the price refugees have to pay) Being part of one of those connections, I got to know there are a few hundreds of people involved in this, ranging from officers, drugs dealers, weapon distributors, human traffickers, brokers, people working for the government, taxi drivers, landlords, illegal Chinese men and adoption services. All these people need to get paid eventually and that’s why the cost of escaping is so high. You may see 3 of all the people working on one route, yet you have to pay for most of them.
NKHR says part of the donations goes to Chinese brokers, LiNK fails to even mention Chinese brokers, whereas they’re the people doing all the work.
Do you see those red lines from Beijing all the way to Thailand and Cambodia? That’s why it can easily take up to 5/10 years to get to South Korea. People get robbed, abused, illnesses… it can all contribute to losing money on your way to the Southeastern countries. The key point is not the time it takes to help a refugee get to the South, it is the safety and strictness that count the most.
Aside from this all, NKHR is just great because they raise awareness without spreading their name everywhere, and they actually educate people. NKHR always includes North Koreans in every activity they hold to raise awareness. Also, they’re fun, educative and it doesn’t neglect us. LiNK makes it all about themselves, whereas NKHR doesn’t. They acknowledge we are the people behind the stories, we are the ones who escaped, we are the ones who are trying to keep our heads above water. Our stories, our voices and anyone else only deserves little credit. Here’s the link to their blog.
To summarize this post:
- the money is rarely ever touched by refugees personally
- escaping is a lot more complicated than just ‘donating to refugees’
- we can’t forget to credit all Chinese brokers and other people helping us, even if it is to make profit of us, even if they use refugees to save themselves
- education programs are just as, if not more important than escaping itself
- especially if you support LiNK, your money probably won’t even reach refugees. Thousands of dollars are stolen by brokers, too.
- organizations like nkhrrescuefund.org > LiNK
- refugees’ safety and privacy above all.
Conclusion is that people should educate themselves on refugees and escaping before they blindly support an organization. Especially if that organization is called Liberty in North Korea. (thanks Alex for proofreading)
can you imagine? your teenage son killed on christmas eve? shot and left bleeding for 3 hours outside a gas station literally bc he allegedly matched the description of a burglar? in 2014?
i feel immense anguish and empathy for antonio martin’s family and also cannot even begin to fathom what his mother is going through right now. white supremacy is simply so pervasive that this sort of reality is something i will never be forced to encounter
No, You are not allowed to not talk about this! You aren’t allowed! Pakistan needs your prayers right now! The kids still trapped inside need your prayers right now… the families that lost their children need your prayers right now… the families who still dont know whether their child is dead or alive or hostage NEED YOU!
Its my country, its my city, and its bleeding innocent blood today!
At least 126 people, mostly children, have been killed in a Taliban assault on an army-run school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, officials say.
Five or six militants are said to have entered the building. All are said to have been killed or blown themselves up.
The army says most of the school’s 500 students have been evacuated. It is not clear how many are being held hostage.
The attack is being seen as one of the worst yet in Pakistan.
There are still children trapped inside, and sound of gunfire and bombs still continue. The death toll is expected to still rise.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30491435
Eric Garner’s widow, Esaw, STRONG response to the officers ”Condolences”
Please everyone watch this
how are there no charges against an officer who used an illegal chokehold that was outlawed for its killing potential on a man in clear view, with full visual and audio evidence. how are there no charges. not even negligent manslaughter.
what is it going to take, america. what is it going to take. guilty verdict or not. when do the victims get a simple fucking trial.
the thing about eric garner’s death is that you literally cannot explain it away. racists will always try to explain why this black person deserved to die or they’ll try to say “we don’t have all the facts” but you can’t do that with eric garner, there is handy video evidence taken from six feet away and there is just absolutely no way to say that “that’s not what happened” because it is what happened.
how are you going to explain it? how are racists going to explain why this black person, who has asthma, who was put in an illegal chokehold on camera, who is killed on camera simply for having a civil argument with an officer, how are you going to explain this one? what excuses are you going to make? all the tired “we don’t know the facts” and “there are two sides to every story” and “you weren’t there, you don’t know” aren’t applicable here. we do know. and still there’s no justice.
A few years ago, when I was waiting in line at Chipotle, there was a white male cop walking through the restaurant with his food to go. When he passed by a table with three young black children (they were around 5-7 years, they looked very young) that were laughing and enjoying dinner with their family, he stopped, stuck his finger in their faces, and said, “I’ll definitely see you guys later in life”.
He then left, smiling and holding himself up like he had just won something. The children were no longer laughing, and their mother looked like she wanted to cry. It was so disgusting, what he did. These people were just trying to have a nice dinner with their children. The children were just laughing and playing together. They weren’t doing anything different from any other family sitting down eating in that Chipotle.
For a cop come up to A FIVE, SIX, SEVEN YEAR OLD CHILD and basically tell them in so many words that he’ll be taking them to jail someday is just so fucking wrong on so many levels, and it was all because they were black.
Cops don’t go around pointing their fingers in five year old white children’s faces, criminalizing them because of their appearance. The racial bias that cops have against black children is very, disturbingly real.
A comment by insaneteacup added to this post about ingrained racial bias and how the police and corporate media routinely criminalize black youths (via odinsblog)
While there is a lot of appropriate rage about Ferguson right now, the killing of John Crawford, III is getting less attention than it deserves. I put Shaun King’s tweets and history lesson on the matter in chronological order for easier consumption.
Links:
You really should be following Shaun King on Twitter.
November 20th, 2014. WE’RE ALL AYOTZNIPA. This is my country and we’ve had enough. This began as a movement to demand justice and answers in the case of 43 students who were kidnapped and killed by a drug cartel at the behest of corrupt politicians. Drug cartel violence is nothing new to Mexico, but the students’ kidnapping struck a nerve and quickly became a national story, prompting protests around the country that have grown for more than a month. That’s not just because the kidnapping was so terrible but because the attack encapsulated many Mexicans’ worst fears and frustrations about where their country is headed. Protests in the state of Guerrero already forced its governor to resign over his response to the students’ disappearance. In recent days, protesters have been calling for the resignation of Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto. They try to shut us down, but we won’t shut up! #SupportMexico
Please reblog, we want to be heard.
"Tamir Rice, the young man shot”
No fucking way. He was 12. He was a god damn little boy and you will NOT try to take that fact away by referring to him as a “young man”.
Tamir Rice was a child. He was years away from adulthood.
Don’t try to protect the police who did this. They murdered a child, let it be known.