On the first day of June, Asian Times had an interview with Muriel Ndolo from EcoFemme. Due to the pandemic and the tight schedule of EcoFemme, the interview was done in a written form.
Q1. Hello, thank you for participating in this interview. Can you briefly introduce yourself?
A. My name is Muriel Ndolo. I am from the Democratic Republic of Congo and have been living in South Korea since 2004. I am married and have 3 children.
Q2. What is the ultimate goal of EcoFemme? Please explain when and why EcoFemme is founded.
A. EcoFemme was created on May 30, 2009 at the initiative of Mrs. Jinsook Park.
It is not easy for migrant women to adapt and find work in a host country, especially when they immigrate for asylum.
Often meeting refugee women, she realized that these women were not doing anything because of a lack of opportunities. They stayed at home doing house chores and taking care of the children, despite the different skills they had. That is how she came up with the idea of working with them.
At first, it was difficult to find a suitable program. Then the idea of learning drawing came to her, especially seeing the artistic potential of these women, to whom she taught Korean in the organization called PNAN.
As a result, refugee women were able to have drawing classes with volunteer teachers.
It was only a few years later that EcoFemme became interested in all migrant women because Ms. Jinsook Park had realized that refugees and migrants face the same socio-cultural and economic problems, and that many of them were depressed and needed counselling.
Seeing that the children of migrant women often have a problem with cultural identity, EcoFemme has further expanded its field of work by incorporating an education programme for children.
It was only on May 30, 2019, during a concert organized to celebrate the 10th anniversary of EcoFemme that the legal representative changed.
Q3. EcoFemme is collaborating with migrant women in Korea. What kind of people are working in EcoFemme?
A. EcoFemme focused first on refugee women. Now Ecofemme works not only with refugee women, but also with marriage immigrant women and all other immigrant women interested in what EcoFemme does.
Q4. I found there was the first online exhibition of EcoFemme recently. What kind of activities are going on in EcoFemme?
A. Now 2 online classes are opened: art and French classes.
French courses are intended for the children of immigrants from French-speaking countries.
We will also provide an online summer camp for immigrated children (as well as parents who wish to join) in July. The goal of this summer camp is to learn how to play the recorder.
Q5. I read that EcoFemme focuses on building migrant womens creative capacity and cultural resources. Why creativity and cultural resources are so important for migrant women besides financial support?
A. Each persons culture is important for his development. It is true that migrants in general adopt the culture of the host country, but do not forget or reject their own culture as a reference point.
Migrant women are raising their children in a country that has a different culture from their own. That is why it is important to be able to understand the culture of the host country and, by mixing it with their own culture, it is possible to find similarities and differences.
This mixture of culture is a source of inspiration in the creation of artistic works and can be seen in migrant womens drawings. They are able to create unique works that mix cultural differences.
Q6. In 2020, EcoFemmes Annual General Meeting was held in online due to COVID-19. Can you explain about the role of The Annual General Meeting of EcoFemme?
A. The Annual General Meeting plays an important role in showing to our various sponsors how we use finances. It allows us to establish a budget for the following year.
Q7. What kind of difficulties the migrant women in Korea are mainly facing, and how does EcoFemme help them?
A. They often face communication problem. And some of them stay home, raising young children, they have difficulties to find stable job and/or communicate with others, which leads to a withdrawal into themselves. Then there is the culture gap.
To overcome this, we sometimes organize culture classes. Migrant women talk about the culture of their respective countries for local communities to better understand them.
We also organize special lecture to understand what a refugee is and the reasons why people leave their home countries to seek asylum somewhere else. We believe that those lectures can provide lots of information to help local communities accepting migrants.
After the art class, we organize an exhibition to present the artwork of migrant women. If sold, they can receive income. We also provide the counseling with specialized volunteers (for those who need)
Q8. Working in EcoFemme, what was the most impressive experience for you?
A. The most impressive experience for me is the way I am treated at work, with no discrimination and equally with others, although I am a migrant woman.
Q9. I wonder what would be the most important virtue for the society where various people, including migrants, live together.
A. Diversity is wealth.
A society made up of peoples from different nations has a diverse and rich culture, there is respect and understanding of different cultures while appreciating them individually.
Q10. This is the last question. Many people including migrant women will read this article. Please introduce how people can participate in or help EcoFemmes work, and how they can contact EcoFemme.
A. Those who are willing to participate in or help EcoFemmes work are welcomed and can contact us by email at the address(ecofemme.info@gmail.com)
The participation or help can be:
-Providing any kind of training, especially art training,
-Buying products made by migrant women or from their art works,
-Collaborating with people who have projects to promote the work and lives of migrant women,
-Register as a sponsor.
Thankfully, Ms Ndolo answered the questions very sincerely despite of her tight schedule. She gave a detail explanation of how EcoFemme works as a partner of migrant women.I hope this interview to be a good opportunity for readers to understand EcoFemme. Anyone who are interested in participating or supporting EcoFemme's work can visit its website:https://ecofemme.or.kr/
Thankfully, Ms Ndolo answered the questions very sincerely despite of her tight schedule. She gave a detail explanation of how EcoFemme works as a partner of migrant women.
I hope this interview to be a good opportunity for readers to understand EcoFemme.
Anyone who are interested in participating or supporting EcoFemme's work can visit its website:
https://ecofemme.or.kr/