Reality

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/02/north-korea/chang-photography

I can't even imagine going through what each North Korean refugee must endure to seek asylum. 16 hours of walking over a mountain.. crossing the cold river.. searching for food/water... constantly fearing the idea of being caught and sent back to North Korea. The fact that they knew what had to be done in order to escape, and still decided to go, shows how horrific it really must be in the place they should be able to call "home." They continue to fight through the countless hours of walking/running with little to no sleep to claim what should have been theirs from the beginning: Freedom. As I look at pictures of their journey and hear their stories.. it really makes me take a step back and see how I take so many things for granted, especially freedom. "Freedom" has probably been in each of our vocabularies from the start and we never had to think twice about whether we had it or not. And to think, those who have escaped/are escaping were stripped of something that's so natural to us.

It's true that not all of us can go to North Korea and try to help everyone that is in need. But one thing that we can all do right here in the U.S is use this wonderful thing we have called freedom to help those who have been deprived of it. Spread the word about what's going on in North Korea: tell a friend, teacher, parent, the cashier at Schnucks.. whomever. Anyone who's willing to listen, tell them. The more people become aware of the crisis, the stronger our voices will be. Let it not just be a "Korean" or "Activists" issue, but a human being issue. We wouldn't wish what's going on in North Korea on anyone, so why continue to let those, who have to face it every day, suffer any longer?

Be their voice. Pass it on.



oh and, don't forget to vote: http://www.refresheverything.com/link
tell all your friends!!

-jbug4NK