2024 Kkachi Foundation Trip Report

Hello Kkachi Friends and Family!

We can’t believe our second class has come and gone! Time truly flies when you are having fun. This year we had two girls and two boys and a chaperone from ShinMyeong, and they all stayed with us again at our home Milford from July 19-29th. This was a special year, because the two students that Rob tutored and were the reason we got involved at ShinMyeong way back in 2018 were a part of the program this year, and it has been four years since we’ve seen them.

We want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who made this trip possible with time, hospitality, food and finances, and especially to those that have been multiyear partners. We are so passionate about this program and these kids and love that you are as well! It does not happen without community and you are all such a blessing to us and these students. If you are a donor and have not received a link to view the complete trip photo gallery, please get in touch so we can send it to you.

Now what you have all been waiting for: the highlights! For us, it’s all one big shining moment, but here a few things that stood out in the eyes of the students and how it impacted them:

We were blessed to keep most of the same schedule as last year, with a few added bonuses thrown in. Emma’s uncle took the students off-roading on a private tour of the Cape Cod dunes, which was an uproarious good time for all. The students laughed and squealed the entire drive. We also went on another whale watch this year on the Cape, and it was one of the best we’ve seen. Hundreds of dolphins surrounded the ship, multiple whales breaching and playing in the waves; the students were overwhelmed with the experience, which is something completely new to them.

Throughout everything, Rob and Emma and our volunteers all want to be able to communicate with the students, to gain that deeper interpersonal connection. One student, Bokki, was an absolute ace at not only bravely approaching new people and starting conversations, but also translating for others. He constantly impressed us with his talent and his desire to learn. So we were very surprised to hear the following from our wonderful Chaperone, Jin-dong:

“Bokki had a fear of English conversation before the tour to the U.S., but his usual fear of talking freely with others was lessened during the tour, leading to his ability to naturally talk with foreigners he met, and his English conversation skills improved, giving him an opportunity to grow confidence in English.” – Jin-dong (chaperone)

The importance of this cannot be understated. It isn’t just about communication or breaking through ceilings of fear, which is of course important. Korean students all take a very large and important SAT-style test that determines not only what college they get into, but essentially also determines what kind of life they have moving forward. The openness of our volunteers and the love that the students can feel from everyone involved encourages them to step outside of their comfort zone and realize they are capable of things they never thought possible. They then hopefully go back to Korea with a newfound sense of their own abilities and dream bigger. In the words of one of our students this year:

“After experiencing many things in America, what I thought when I came back to Korea was that I wanted to work harder on my goals and dreams and experience more. After graduating from high school and becoming an adult in a year, I want to become a person who helps others and knows how to laugh like Rob and Emma when I grow up!” -Seunghwan

He so poignantly encapsulates the purpose of the trip and the nonprofit as a whole. It isn’t about flying some underprivileged Korean teenagers to America to show them a good time for a few days. We do have fun, loads of it, and that has its own benefits, but the reason we started Kkachi was to give these students the confidence to forge their own path, to believe in themselves and what they can achieve regardless of what they have been through in the past. Our desire is that by getting outside of their culture and their comfort zone, they can break through the glass ceilings society places over them, and they place over themselves and return to their home country reinvigorated about life and their future. And more than anything we do on the trip; college tours, Sikorsky, practicing English even; that is achieved through the LOVE they experience throughout this trip from us and from each of you in all the big and little ways you help.

“Thank you for loving me like this in a way I’ve never really seen before. All the experiences were new and I felt the love and warmth of a family from them. Thank you so much and I love you.” -Bokki

THAT is at the core of this program and what everything else pours out from: Loving on these precious children, letting them be free to explore and laugh and skip and be themselves and become more. We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again; to know these kids is to love them, so our job is really easy! In Year Two, we have only become more convinced of the importance of this program and its impact on our students, and we continue to learn from them how to best bless them. We, of course, already have our sights set on Year Three and we love what Kkachi is doing but, to quote Inception, we aren’t afraid to “dream a little bigger, darling”. These kids inspire us! We want to begin stepping into the gap of what happens after they age out from the children’s home at 18 in a bigger way. We want to be able to accommodate the students financially with college scholarships so that they don’t have to defer their education to work when they graduate high school. We aren’t there yet, but by the grace of God and with your continued support we know we will be.

Thank you again to everyone who volunteered their time or money or both! Also thank you to our sponsors; Trader Joe’s in Orange who donated a bag of snacks to the students, to Costco in Milford who also donated towards feeding the students, to Six Flags New England who graciously donated towards tickets for the students, especially Art’s Dune Tours and Alex for generously providing an amazing and unique Dune experience for these kids and making them laugh, and our other sponsors who helped in a variety of ways. And a special thank you to Sean Park and his family for a second year in a row for making these kids feel at home and having such a welcoming and loving energy towards them. Your time is so invaluable to them.

Thank you for a great program this year, and for being part of this journey with us!

2024 Sponsors

2024 Expense Summary

Costs are for 5 individuals (4 students & 1 chaperone).

Trip Total: $15,569