Columban Fr Noel O'Neill with Kim Yoon Cheong opening the apartment door to her new home for the first time. - Photo: Fr Noel O'Neill SSC
Hyen Sen had returned to her home in Seoul, where we had got her a job in packaging at a nearby clothes factory. She earns 1,100,000 won a month ($820). When asked how she liked it, she said that her greatest joy was going to the local department store to choose a dress in a colour of her own liking. Up to this, it was always somebody else who did the buying.
Il Cheong has got a job as a watchman at a building site, and with his monthly pay of 1,200,000 won ($892) he is helping to support his widowed mother. Mi Suk is married. Our social worker was instrumental in arranging a marriage for her with a physically disabled man who could hold down a job. They have one child, a daughter, who has graduated as a nurse from one of the leading universities in Seoul.
A few weeks ago, at the Vocational Training Centre, during the afternoon 15-minute break, we (trainees and staff) were treated to a snack of tomatoes and bananas. Our benefactors were three ex-trainees who had got a job in an assembly-line factory. On receiving their first pay package, they came back to the centre to express their gratitude. However, not all at Emmaus are likely to break down the barriers and make it to open employment. Paulo, a 17-year-old with Down syndrome, died of congenital heart disease last year.
His parents requested that his remains be brought to Emmaus and that the burial rites be held there. Amidst their unbearable sorrow, Paulo’s parents and family found much comfort and consolation in the loving hugs and embraces of Paulo’s friends at the centre.
Han Seng and Kang Kou, both young men in their late twenties, who had been attending Emmaus for the past five years, are now hospitalised for treatment at a psychiatric hospital. Both were coping well here at the centre but lack of understanding and acceptance in their homes by other members of their families resulted in emotional stress that led to constant outbursts of violence. Our doors always remain open to welcome them back.
Pyong Chul (55) is the oldest man at the centre. His limited skills have not improved much over the years, although he can recognise the number ‘25’, which is the clue for his daily bus ride to the centre. Once or twice a year, he may mistakenly take the number 45 bus, ending up lost in unfamiliar surroundings. At the centre, because he has only the use of one hand, he is engaged in moving up and down the handle of the moulding machine to make artificial flowers. To onlookers, his work may appear boring and monotonous but for Pyong Chul it is an occupation that motivates him to get up each morning and run to catch the number 25 bus. Having a job to do enhances the quality of his life.
Columban Fr Noel O’Neill blessing Kim Yoon Cheong’s new apartment. - Photo: Fr Noel O'Neill SSC
Kim Yoon Cheong, a 26-year-old lady with an intellectual disability, came from an orphanage to live in one of the Emmaus group homes. While there she finished high school. Then as she passed the entrance exam for a two-year college course she remarked, “I want to climb another mountain”.
Two years later I attended her graduation. While posing with her for a graduation photo, I turned to her and asked, “What is the next mountain you would like to climb?”. She answered, “Independent living”. With the help of the social workers at Emmaus, she began a trial period of living independently. To the delight of all, she passed with flying colours and is now living in her own little apartment. As she held up the key to the front door of her new home, she asked me to bless the apartment. Joined by many of her close friends and staff from the group home, we had a house blessing ceremony followed by refreshments. As I was leaving, I turned to Young Cheong and once again posed the question, “Is there any other mountain you would like to climb?” And, with a playful giggle, she turned to me and said, “I would like to have a boyfriend and eventually marry”.
It is forty-two years since we began our journey to Emmaus. Along the way, we have listened to and trusted the ‘Stranger’ who walked beside us. We learned we were not answering the cry for pity or charity, but the cry for justice.
Columban Fr Noel O’Neill lives and works in Korea.
Listen to "The key to my own home"
Related links
- Read more from The Far East - August 2024
