Gwangju International Center

SPEAKERS: Vanessa ReidCO-WRITERS:​ Hong Eun-Gyung and Brittany BakerGIC TALK DATE: April 9, 2016GIC TALK TITLE: The Need for Evidence-based Care in Pregnancy and BirthFor today's GIC Talk we invited Vanessa Reid, a certified Breastfeeding Counselor and Labour Doula, to talk about the need for Evidence-based Care in Pregnancy and Birth.Ms. Reid gave birth to her second daughter by the natural process at home, with the assistance of a midwife hired from Ansan. She shared about that experience as well as her professional knowledge.First, she talked about the difference between childbirth and other hospital procedures. Doctors are trained to see risks and prevent problems in illness and emergency situations. However, a low risk childbirth is a process that a woman's body is adapted to handle naturally, with no need for medicine or procedures in most cases.She said that most of the procedures in a hospital birth are not based on evidence for medical need, but on following a routine. In fact, many of these procedures increase the risk of problems for the mother and baby.Secondly, she said that for women with low risk pregnancies, giving birth at home can prevent procedures that are not needed. These unnecessary procedures make changes to the natural process, and then more procedures are needed as a result.Third, she explained that women should not fear natural childbirth. They should trust their bodies. Fear creates tension, and tense muscles will have more pain. So women should stay relaxed and let the body follow the natural process.Ms. Reid closed her talk with the hope that more women and their partners will be empowered in the future. Then they can do research to make the best decisions for the birth. When they understand and can choose what is best for the mother and baby, then they won't fear this natural and wonderful time of birth.

SPEAKERS: Ynell Lumantao & Dana Han & My HouseCO-WRITERS:​ Keonhee and VivianGIC TALK DATE: April 2, 2016GIC TALK TITLE: The Vagina Monologues 2016 We are very honored to have three speakers with us today to talk about Women. Ynell Lumantao, Dana Han and a speaker from My House.The first speaker, Ynell Lumantao, introduced the award-winning play The Vagina Monologues, which leads to the topic of the organization of the V-Day movement. She explained that the Vagina Monologues was created by Eve Ensler in 1998, and was based on interviews with 200 women about their views on sex, relationships, and violence against women. She then introduced its development from 2010 to 2015. She stated that the Vagina Monologues got bigger in 2013 and that men started to join in 2015. She specially emphasized that all the money raised by the Vagina Monologues were donated to My-House, an organization which helps the women who need help, like single mother. Lastly, she explained what is violence and highlighted the fact that there are many women suffering from it every day and every year. The second speaker who is part of My House, talked in more detail about the charity-My House. Firstly, she explained us why they chose this name as it is very amicable. My-House is here to help single mothers who have lost their family’s support and for who it is hard to raise their kids by themselves. Then, she stated that My House not only offer a comfortable environment but also teaches them some new skills and provide jobs for them. Lastly, she expressed appreciation to her family, friends and all the people who offered support for her work and call for always more and more people to get involved in this charity.The last speaker, Dana Han, also introduced the great harm to women caused by violence. “The women under the violence are in more dangerous situations than soldiers,” so we can’t ignore it anymore. She showed us a video to tell us, “Run like a girl” shouldn’t be a sneer. Lastly, Dana told us how we can we get involved in My House and the ways to help those women. She welcomed people to watch the play- The Vagina Monologues 2016. To sum up, it was a really nice GIC Talk and all of the audience members were deeply shocked, as the speakers exposed the serious issues that we could have ignored before. We hope that more and more people will realize this issue and give warm support for those women.  

SPEAKER: Allan JessenCO-WRITERS:​ Brittany BakerGIC TALK DATE: March 26, 2016GIC TALK TITLE: Western Leadership in Eastern Companies Today’s topic was Western Leadership in Easthern Companies.We invited Allan Jessen, today’s GIC Talk speaker to discuss his experience as CEO of KJI in Pyeongdong Sandan. He lectured about the importance of relationship and cooperation in the company. First, he stressed the need to open your mind to other cultural perspectives. He said, “I try to see what makes sense to you, and why. In this way, you becomes we.”  Secondly, he discussed keys to successful management. He said in order to build job satisfaction, communication and flexibility are necessary. You can identify what motivates employees and assist them to self-manage so everyone is accountable for success. Third, he talked about values of the company. He said customer is king, because: no customer - no company. Mr. Jessen closed his talk with the following words: “When you have achieved successful leadership, is the day your customers praise your employee.”“Everyone should perform their daily work with the passion of today being the highlight of their career.”“Innovation and creativity is born from a relentlessly ambitious attitude.”

Interview by Solène Heurtaux   Audry Hawkins, ESL teacher in Memphis, Tennessee, came visit the GIC this week. Grandmother of three grandchildren, Audry is now learning Spanish and how to play the guitar. Great adventurer, her love to travel and her job search led her to accept, at 50, a teaching job in a Korean hagwon in Gwangju, in June 2006. At that time, she had no experience in teaching, and would have never imagined becoming a teacher. When she received a call from a Korean private academy at midnight that day, she had six weeks to prepare for her new life. She didn’t know anything about Korea and knew no one in Gwangju. Once in Korea, Audry couldn’t speak any Korean and asked her coworkers for a place in Gwangju where she could seek assistance. They advised her to visit the Gwangju International Center. This is how, for two years and a half, she started to come to the GIC every week. During her time in Gwangju, she created two GIC programs. The “Junior GIC Talk” was a program dedicated to middle school students that reproduced the template of the GIC Talk, except that it was given by middle school students for middle school students. No parents were allowed. She also created the “Kids GIC”. With this program, students were randomly choosing a different country to discover together every week. Finally, she wrote articles for the Gwangju News, attended dozens of GIC Talks and took part in the Book Club. After two years and a half, because she started to feel homesick and because her daughter called her back home, she went back to the United States. But Audry had discovered a passion for teaching. She was now determined to teach English as a Foreign Language. She got a teaching Master’s after coming back to the United States because she felt like “the USA needs a teacher like me”. Since she left Korea, she had the opportunity to teach students from all over the world. So why did she come back to Gwangju? “Just to visit. Because I had a need to come back. Gwangju and the GIC is for me like a second home.” After these eight years, Audry says that the only thing that changed about the GIC is its building. The spirit of the GIC is still the same, the people are still vibrant and wonderful, even if, among the ones she knew at that time, only a few are still in Gwangju.  Audry just visited us for a few days to say Hello. We thank her and look forward to her coming back again soon! - You can find the Korean version of this article here. -

SPEAKER: Áine Byrne, Jen Lee, Susan SahabCO-WRITERS:​ Coco and VivianGIC TALK DATE: March 5, 2016GIC TALK TITLE: Art Connecting CommunitiesToday is a special day for GIC. Three speakers gave a Talk about Art&Communities. Aine Byrne, Jen Lee and Susan Sahab introduced themselves, their different art life and the way they understand Art.Aine firstly told us about her background and her Art in different periods from 2006 to 2016. She then introduced her art classes about craft, origami and paper folding. She thinks art is subjective and everyone can draw what they like.Jen then shared with us her experience of Art and displayed her previous work and work in Korea. Jen considered art as a reflection of ourselves. Her new book will be published soon this year and we are looking forward to reading it!Susan, who is an English teacher at Hwasun Elementary school, also told the story of her art life. After showing us her art works, she introduced her figure drawing classes. She has her own understanding of Art because she believes that anything can be art if it has the intention of art and if it provokes a feeling.At the end of their speech, they inspired everyone to be creative and started their 5x5 Community Art Project. Everyone was asked to draw or paint on a 5x5 piece of paper, that were then exhibited on the 5x5 Community Art Wall in the GIC.

SPEAKER: KIM Eunjoo & PARK SuaCO-WRITERS:​ Kim So-iGIC TALK DATE: Februay 27, 2016GIC TALK TITLE: From the Youth Hope Project to a GIC Talk, the Amazing Experience of Two High School GirlsThey are two pretty highschool students. Do you wonder who they are? Today’s speakers are two young girls named KIM Eunjoo & PARK Sua. They shared some of the amazing experiences they have had at GIC events working as youth volunteers and sometimes participants. “Youth Hope Project” is the first experience they started with. In 2014, they participated in KF-GIC Youth Hope Project. The project is for multicultural students. Youth Hope Project includes a camp with many activities, and some presentations. They went on tours in places like Tangheung Market and Haenam. In many activities, Park Sua and Kim Eunju were selected as the best participants. As the result, they got the chance to go to Australia. They went to Australia with the other best participants from other cities. Today’s speakers participated in a forum with Australian students at Ad Altiora Place Our Lady’s College, where they discussed differences in life and studying habits. Also, they attended the Brisbane Youth Ambassadors Forum, and an Indigenous Cultural Exchange program. They went to many places in Australia and even stayed with Australian homestay families.How wonderful were their experiences! All those experiences and places in Australia became unforgettable memories for them. They were also able to think more about what they want to be.  When they came back to Korea, they participated in various programs at the GIC such as GIC Day and Adios Day as volunteers with their amazing experience background. All experiences helped them go further for their future. They said that they have learned many things here at the GIC. These amazing two students put an importance on “Experience”. With your passion, you can improve yourself like these two girls regardless of your age! By far the best proof is experience.

SPEAKERS: Chris Doekpar and Jarvis NghotehCO-WRITERS:​ Ashlyn Winter, Beomjin ParkGIC TALK DATE: Februay 20, 2016GIC TALK TITLE: Gwangju African Community Being together is a very valuable activity in one’s life. Today our two speakers, Chris Doekpar and Jarvis Nghoteh introduced us to GAC, the Gwangju African Community. The GAC is a community of many African people that meat together and try to preserve their own customs and celebrate their different African cultures while trying to share their traditions with the Korean community.  The GAC is an organization which consists of many different people from African countries that have come to Korea for different reasons. The GAC wants to support other African people that do not live in their home country, celebrate with them when some achieve great things and mourn with them when something sad happens to a brother or sister. This is what family does for one another and this is what the GAC wants to do for its people. The African culture and Korean culture are very different so this community will help encourage each other in difficult times.  “The GAC is not just a social gathering but it’s a family. Africans love singing and dancing. We can’t do that if we don’t have a community.” The GAC aims to protect and promote the interests of Africans in Gwangju City. Through their monthly meeting, they hope to establish its image as a cooperative community in Gwangju.

SPEAKER: Nate GlabCO-WRITERS:​ Rebekah CramerusGIC TALK DATE: Februay 13, 2016GIC TALK TITLE: Think Tank: House of Genius Nate Glab’s GIC Talk got started with two videos showing The House of Genius in Amsterdam. They helped the audience members understand the concept of “House of Genius”.  House of Genius is a brand new type of event where presenters share their stories, mostly asking solutions for any difficulties their business is going through, or requesting productive suggestions for further development of their business. In response, the audience is welcome to share feedback about the topics presented. There is no limit when it comes to the topic. What is really innovative and interesting about House of Genius is that the audiences vary from big time CEOs to university students. They shouldn’t reveal their names or occupations when they give advice. So, technically it is possible to give anonymous and critical feedback, which means that the presenter can utterly be open to any ideas without bias, not knowing what everybody does. One idea can lead to another or be supported with more detailed examples or statistics by others. The discussion starter – that is, the presenter – likely would accept some of the ideas which had been suggested or discussed and incorporate them into their business. This is the very goal of House of Genius.Nate Glab also showed two successful examples. One with a Car-to-Go business and one with Enormous: the Gorge story.  This combination think tank is already holding a lot of events in many cities around the world like Boston, Istanbul, Madrid, Amsterdam and so on, as well as being sponsored by major companies like Google or Microsoft. Today’s GIC Talk is one of his preparative steps to a House of Genius event in Korea. He also clarified the differences between House of Genius and Pecha Kucha night.Whoever is interested in hosting the first event can contact the Community Development Manager of House of Genius, Jacqui Dietrich.  It is amazing that this simple action of gathering and listening to diverse people can be a powerful engine to make our business stronger and innovative. As it is said, “Some ideas are absolutely worth being shared”.

SPEAKER: Joey NunezCO-WRITERS:​ Elizabeth AugustovizGIC TALK DATE: January 30, 2016GIC TALK TITLE: Work Highlights, Moments, & Memories: Life as the First Westerner GIC Coordinator Today’s speaker was someone who has been the face of the GIC Talk for quite a long time, Joey Nunez, a former GIC coordinator. Joey’s presentation was titled Life as the GIC's First International Coordinator. He focused his talk on the highlights, moments, and memories he had while working at the GIC.   His first volunteer role was with the GIC library, where he helped to arrange the books and recategorize the library. In 2014, he started helping out with the Gwangju News program. His main role was proofreading, where he felt he could have a great impact. Through those two volunteering experiences he knew he wanted to get involved more with the GIC. He had dinner with Dr. Shin and this is when it was decided that the GIC would have its first international coordinator. Joey’s main duties at the GIC were overseeing the GIC Library, GIC Talks, the GIC talk Junior Program, proofreading, organizing the World Human Right Cities Forum Discussion Groups, helping with the Gwangju News, and managing the first-floor. As you can tell, Joey was a very busy person at the GIC so he could not possibly talk about everything he experienced during this GIC Talk. He did, however, share one powerful lesson he learned.  It was during one the World Human Right Cities Forum discussions, when he truly understood the importance of the “voiceless” being heard. During Joey’s time as a GIC Talk coordinator, he saw the creation and execution of 51 GIC Talks! One of his main goals was to create an atmosphere of community where all people would feel welcome. His management helped the program grow into what it is today. Lastly, Joey shared his future plans with us. The first week of February, he will travel to Daegu, Busan, and Seoul. Then, after a week of rest, he will leave Korea to travel to Japan, Mexico, Honduras (for 1 month), and then, he will go back home to the USA. Joey also explained that his reason for leaving Korea was“Nothing special, I just want to move onto a new chapter in my life.” Thank you, Joey, for sharing your experiences at the GIC. We will never forget the time we spent with you. Take care and best wishes!

SPEAKER: Atonu ChakraborttyCO-WRITERS:​ So-i KimGIC TALK DATE: January 23, 2016GIC TALK TITLE: Save the Biodiversity! Save the Earth! Have you ever thought about the connection between biodiversity and Earth? Or about why should we protect biodiversity? Atonu Chakrabotty, today's speaker, explained what biodiversity is. Biodiversity is a term given to the large variety of life on Earth. Why is it important? The main reason is that our Earth is healthier when there is a large variation of living elements. Having a healthy Earth has a deep connection with our life. Atonu Chakrabotty said, there are three main factors for biodiversity: genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity.  Genetic diversity comes from the organisms having different genetic makeup. Species diversity means that there is a variety of species.  Ecosystem diversity represents the entire environment having an array of different living elements. Mr. Atonu talked about how Bangladesh has the largest mangrove forest in the world, which used to be a biodiversity heaven.  However, the diversity of species is decreasing. The forest and its animals have been negatively impacted. So, despite the increase in human population, the number of plants and animals is decreasing, not only in Bangladesh but all over the world.  What is the reason to this phenomenon? To put it simply, plants and animals are losing their habitats because of human development.  GIC Talk speaker specifically used the example of Korea, even though it is a problem that can be seen throughout the world. Amur tigers, Asian black bears and Amur leopards are extinct in Korea.  Mr. Atonu said that some of Korea's species loss can be attributed to Japan's occupation of Korea as, at that time, the Japanese over-hunted lots of tigers.  He gave us some solutions on what we can do to help. The first thing is to 'be good to our climate'. Some examples were given, such as using the bus or train instead of driving a car. The second thing is to avoid buying souvenirs made from animals, because it can promote practices that lead to animal extinction. Third, he said that we can help save the forests by reducing our paper consumption. We should protect biodiversity because plants, animals, and microorganisms provide clean water, and breathable air. We cannot survive without a healthy environment. Each and every one of us can make small changes to help save the Earth!