On Sunday, I got up early and met a group of people who were all going to visit the House of Sharing (www.houseofsharing.org). This is a place where some of the remaining "comfort women," live. These women are just a few of the thousands who were put into sexual slavery by the Japanese, during World War II. On the property, located outside of Seoul in a beautiful rural area, is a three-story building with meeting rooms, a museum, and a housing facility.
We took a train to one of the last stops on that line, then took a bus to a town a little ways away, then took cabs to the house. It took us about 90 minutes to get there. We were alerted to bring a lunch, because the location is so remote and there is no place to buy food or drinks. When we arrived, we went into the upstairs meeting room where we introduced ourselves. There were people from around the globe (UK, Australia, New Zealand, many from the US and Canada, and many Koreans). I was surprised to hear that many of the Koreans had barely heard about the issue.
We saw a brief documentary film and then split into two groups for the museum tours. Pictured above was a wall of pictures of some of the halmoni that have come forward. Many of the women were killed at the end of the war before they could be liberated. Many of them died because they were treated with mercury injections for STDs they contracted. Some others survived but still bear the shame of their imprisonment anonymously. Only a few have been brave enough to come forward with their stories.
The woman who led our tour has been volunteering at House of Sharing for nearly two years, speaks fluent Korean, so she can communicate easily with the remaining "halmoni," as they are respectfully called. Translated this means grandmother. She is passionate about doing what she can to get their issue resolved. The third floor of the museum is a display of the paintings by the halmonis. They painted these were part of their therapy to help them deal with their PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). The paintings are extremely poignant.
After the two groups were finished with the museum tour, we had some time to eat our lunches and visit with each other. I visited with a Korean adoptee from Denmark who is teaching a history class at a local university. He brought some of his students to learn more about the "comfort women" and their plight. I talked to a civil rights volunteer from New Zeland who is going to Uganda for about six months. He has volunteered in many places, and we chatted briefly about how there are civil rights issues everywhere. I told him about Aunt Maryann and what she did for the people of CAR. I also met two 1/2 Korean girls...one from near Chicago, and the other from the DC area. They are here teaching English, and are planning on staying indefinitely, as their friends have mentioned to them how hard it is to find a job in the US. The jobs they have either provide their housing or give them a housing stipend in addition to their salary. So it's a good deal for them, they are able to save some money, and hopefully, in the meantime the US economy will improve. They are both learning Korean and spoke it much better than me.
After lunch, we went into the home where the halmonis live. I'm not exactly sure how many are there right now. I think someone mentioned twelve, but we didn't see that many. We did hear that some were getting IVs, so they would not be able to visit with the group. The youngest of them is in her 80s...she gets around well on her own and seems vivacious and energetic. The oldest of them is in her 90s, is wheelchair bound, and we were told her mind is weak, but her body is healthy. We also met or saw three others. One of the halmonis likes to have people sing for her. They got three volunteers to sing songs, although one guy sang a children's song, and the halmoni said she didn't want any more childrens' songs. That was pretty funny. The Korean university students sang two songs...which was great, because they were in Korean, and the halmonis were clapping and singing along. I asked and was told that some of the halmoni do have children/grand children living in Korea.
In a previous blog, I talked about some of the suffering these women endured. It was just unimaginable. They conduct weekly protests at the Japanese embassy, hoping for the government of Japan to meet their six demands which includes: a formal apology, their admittance that the Japanese government knew about and perpetrated this crime, reparations to the victims/survivors, and a couple of other demands. So far, they have been unsuccessful. They have been protesting in front of the Japanese embassy for 18 years now.
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