At the Jan. 29 preview of the movie “Crossing” in Tokyo, one of LFNKR’s foster children joined the preview press conference to talk about her experiences.
An orphan, she had lost her parents to starvation in North Korea, but is now a university student in South Korea. LFNKR members are happy see that she has grown into such a fine lady. The movie apparently reminded her of her own childhood.
Back in March this year, LFNKR supplied money for expenses, education and protection of its 20 foster children in China. This money covered the latter half of fiscal 2009 for LFNKR’s education sponsorship program. We expect the children will soon be mailing thank-you notes.
LFNKR’s education sponsorship program is unlike those of other NGO groups. Because we place top priority on the safety of our foster children in China, it is almost impossible for us to arrange open meetings between the children and their foster parents. Further, we found it necessary to stop introducing foster parents to any particular child. This was to prevent emotional distress to the foster parents if a child were arrested and repatriated to North Korea. Despite these discouraging conditions, we are happy to see that a small flow of new people still ask to join our education sponsorship program.
The movie “Crossing” has been a wonderful surprise, with its strong audience appeal, and the gratifying number of theaters screening it in Japan.
Screenings began in mid-April at just a few theaters in Tokyo and Osaka. But now, the number of theaters throughout Japan scheduled to show “Crossing” through December has grown to 90.
