KAMP for success

Photos courtesy of the Jeollanamdo KAMP

“I’ve been very blessed to have her in my life,” said Tiffany Monreal. “Meeting with her is the highlight of my week.” Monreal is the current coordinator of the Jeolla/Gwangju branch of the Korean Adolescent Mentoring Program (KAMP), and in saying these words she is reflecting on the unique joy she receives from getting to develop a strong friendship with her high school-aged Korean mentee.

KAMP is a young and expanding initiative which intends to improve the lives of Korea’s most vulnerable teenagers through one-on-one mentoring with foreigners. According to one of its founders—Elaine Townsend, who returned to her American home to pursue a career as a teacher—KAMP was started to address the issues faced by Korea’s multicultural, low-income, LGBT, disabled, orphaned and bullied teenagers—those students most likely to face challenges in Korean society. Though the program has retained its goals to “promote cultural awareness, provide professional and personal development opportunities, and upbuild the confidence of [their] mentees” from its inception, KAMP has since divided into two independently run branches, one in Daegu—where the program was started—and its newer Jeollanamdo location.

In 2013, four Fulbright English Teaching Assistants—grantees of the US State Department’s Fulbright Program that work as native English teachers throughout Korea—worked together to organize KAMP. In this initial phase the Daegu-based organization Stompy Ruffers Cultural Fusion, a non-profit that works to “fuse” Korean and Western cultures, was one of the sponsors of the initiative. When the original founders returned to the United States at the termination of their grants and the program suffered, Brian Van Hise contacted one of the founders to ask for permission to weave Daegu’s KAMP into Stompy Ruffers. Van Hise is now the director of the Daegu KAMP, working to strengthen the restructured program which he hopes will “make as strong an impact [on the Daegu community]” as the original program did.

Though Fulbright ETAs are no longer in charge of Daegu’s KAMP, they, too, recognize the value of the program and, as such, brought it to South Jeolla—where other Fulbright initiatives have been successful—last year. Though still relatively small, with 13 mentors each having one or two mentees, the program has been a success so far. Both Monreal and Brett Fitzgerald, last semester’s coordinator, are optimistic that the program can be expanded to other cities with ETAs, notably Busan and Sejong, in the coming years.

Though KAMP has suffered some small administrative struggles in the past, both branches are looking to expand and improve. In South Jeolla province, Monreal credits Fitzgerald’s hard work in “streamlining most of the process” which has allowed for “KAMP [to] essentially [run] itself after the initial recruitment of participants [and allowed] relatively smooth transition between years and leaders.” Monreal is particularly enthusiastic about the impact the program has had thus far, emphasizing that it is “not every day that [the mentees] meet a foreigner so willing to be a part of their day. KAMP is doing something great for Gwangju and for South Jeolla.”

Similarly, when speaking of the Daegu branch, Van Hise points out that KAMP’s value is not merely in English education, but instead in the mentees “having fun” and “find[ing] joy in a no-pressure, fun and exciting environment with local expats.” In order to ensure the success of the restructured program, Van Hise has slightly shifted the focus to group activities and outings which allow both the mentees and mentors more flexibility. In order to maintain the quality of the program, mentors are screened through an application process. Additionally, with Daegu’s KAMP now a wing of Stompy Ruffers, Van Hise is enthusiastic about fundraising prospects to strengthen the program.

In the end, however, for both of the branches the most rewarding parts of the program have not been administrative or organizational successes, but rather seeing the impact the program is having. As Monreal said, whether by “fostering an interest in the global community, exchanging culture and language, learning about each other’s families and daily lives, or even just sharing a meal together, the coming-together of two people from opposite sides of the world is a momentous occasion and will have lasting effects.” According to Van Hise, KAMP provides a unique opportunity for the “mentees [who] seem to really enjoy making non-Korean friends at this important stage in their adolescent development,” especially since recent cutbacks in native English teachers have decreased students’ access to these types of interactions. Though beneficial for the mentees, KAMP is also inspiring for mentors like Monreal. “She’s a kind soul and has taught me so much about Gwangju and Korean high school student life, and it’s just so great to laugh with her and be someone that she can rely on,” she said.