Poster in Didimdol Shelter, drawn by one of the residents.

Choi Eum Jung y Choi Il Sim with one of the girls from Motungii shelter.

Supper at Didimdol: rscj, staff and some of the young girls.

“The urgency of the world’s needs, the calls of our local Church, impel us to respond creatively, in conformity with the spirit of the Society.” (Const. 1982, 12)’’

As an integral part of the preparation for the celebration of the bicentennial of the Society in 2000, the province of Korea began a process of discernment in order to give a communal response to the needs of the local Church. The service of providing a temporary shelter for runaway and delinquent girls was one concrete answer to the urgent needs of Korean society, a service that the Association of religious in Korea asked us to undertake. In the Constitutions it is written that ”we participate in the mission of the church through the service of education....Caught as we are in the desires of His heart, we want people to grow in dignity, as human beings and justice and of solidarity with those who are poor and rejected by the world.” (par. 7)

We are willing to be a stepping stone for heart-wounded girls who run away from home, school and society so that they will be enabled to recover their dignity and find a way to become healthy members of society. In the words of the Bible,

 “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.´(Ps 118, 22) This is Yahweh’s doing.” Motungiii means cornerstone in Korean, and the shelter aims to be a stepping stone for the girls, so that they will be empowered to become aware of their personal worth, to persue their skills in being trained for a job, so that eventually they can live alone as responsible members of society.

There are many reasons why these girls have run away. Although some have personal problems, the majority come from homes where the family structure has broken down or is nonexistent. It is rare for a girl to run away while she is living with her own mother; in many cases, there has been a male partner at home with the mother. Usually these girls live with their fathers and stepmothers, some with grandmothers, others only with a father. Most of the girls living with their father or without parents have been exposed not only to poverty but also to domestic and sexual violence. They suffer from trauma and from personal histories sometimes beyond our imagination.

The immediate intervention in the dangerous life of runaway girls begins with the offer of welfare services and continues as an expression of the educational mission of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Giving unconditional love to girls who have lost their dignity and self-respect because of wounds caused by home, school and society, we help them to experience the love of God so that they can get courage and hope to love themselves and be open to a future with realistic possibilities. We also try to look for a way, together with the girls, to mend broken family relationships, a wound that has come from problems encountered in home, school and society at large. We work towards healing of wounds and strive to bring together those who suffer from separation. Sometimes we even  have a “ceremony of going back home”.

Rscj from the province of Korea are in charge of two shelters.  Motungii is housed in a large house just outside Seoul. It is a “short-term shelter”, allowing girls a stay from three to six months. The number of girls living at the Shelter at one time varies. About less than half of the girls eventually return to home and/or school. Roughly, half are between 17 and 19 years, half between 14 and 16. Sixty percent of the girls come to the shelter by themselves. They have found Motungii through its home page on the internet (http://www.motungii.or.kr ) or through other sites for shelters. Some are referred by police, school and other institutions.

The Shelter follows the principles of social work combined with a strong educational perspective. Motungii shelter is committed to treating each girl as an individual, and is dedicated to become a place for young women to discover their own potential and abilities.

Didimdol is a long term shelter, where the girls can stay up to two years. When they decide to do so, they sign a contract that outlines their rights and responsibilities. The girls decide if they want to move out before the two years are up, but it is their decision. In any case, the hope is that the experience in the shelter will help them to “remember that they are loved”.

The rscj who are currently involved in running the two shelters offer the following reflections on their ministry:

“What gives me joy? That the girls find in the shelter a second home and a chance for life.”

“When I meet these girls, I realize that I am doing something here, at this moment. I am planting seeds, I will not see them grow, but I believe that they will grow, somewhere. As Saint Madeleine Sophie said, ‘for the soul of a single child’....”

“I fail with one third; they go back to the streets. Even many of those phone me when they are struggling. And, someone needs to be here when they want to return.”

“Teenagers have lots of energy, and they lose their way easily. But when they find their way, they turn in that direction and go with energy.”

“I have to realize that I can’t go beyond a certain place, and God will do his part, that the girls also have their part to play....”

“I felt during my long retreat that God was asking me to go to the broken-hearted, because I had a broken heart myself, a heart that had been healed. One is always struggling with the girls, but I am reminded of God who came to those who are wounded... When I meet the girls I become aware of the Incarnation. I don’t understand it fully, but God is with us in the broken-hearted. So I try to find its meaning.....”

“When we first meet these girls, their faces are dark and closed. As they gradually find their way, they become open...They need us, our relationship...That is why I am here.”

“Sometimes I don’t know why I really am here, only because these girls need my help and I am here to help them”.

“The question, ‘Why do I do this?’, stays with me all the time. I like youth, it is a gift of God to do it, I trust the girls have many possibilities, I trust that God knows them better than me, and He must do His work...”

This picture drawn by a girl who lives in one of the shelters summarizes her story, and that of many other girls:

“When I came, I felt small and my heart was dark. But I grew, and my heart became lighter. Now I stand tall and my heart is full of love.”