Philanthropy
Long before my background in sociology and linguistics, I had always had a fascination with the world around me. Being of Korean descent, I saw growing up not only the surface level cultural differences but also the often completely different worldviews that shaped life. I came with this premise when I began working and living among the Chinese in 2004, with the Saudis in 2007, and in 2018 when I learned Japanese in Hokkaido. I would go on to study Russian in Belarus in 2021, as well as spend considerable time in Russia, Czech Republic, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Rwanda, Burundi, India, Mongolia, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil to name a few. And while the locations changed and the landscapes varied, the mission did not, namely to understand the people. To hear what they were saying, actually saying. To understand their points of view and most importantly, to be able to articulate their sources of happiness as well as the complete opposite, to understand what caused extreme pain in their lives.
A thousand interviews later I knew in my heart that I had to make a decision. It was on my first trip to Freetown, Sierra Leone, a stunning place with the backdrop of rugged coastline, endless stunning beaches, and lush green mountains where it hit me. Walking on the beach I noticed an entire group of young people playing football, which is common everywhere in Africa, but as I looked closer, I realized they were all amputees. I watched them play, slide, score, and celebrate together. Against the backdrop of the setting sun and the waves crashing in the background, eager to hear their stories, I listened.
I listened for hours. Stories of brutality. The long war that tore their lives apart and the amputations that would shape their futures. Many had buried it so deep that even recalling key events caused tears, yet no one cared as there was no embarrassment or shame. They had hit rock bottom and survived. Many did not survive. Others had taken their lives as the burden was too much to carry. Absolutely devastating stories with each one sharing this part of their lives and the lifelong healing process that never felt quite right.
I would return many times to this place as well as Liberia, also affected by the same war, and I would often ask myself if there was a solution. There was animosity and pain when talking about the NGOS that had flooded the country in the 1990s at the peak of the violence. The lofty promises that had been given, and the emptiness and broken dreams that had ensued. What they wanted more than anything else was the ability to earn a living for themselves and not to be looked down on. Some wanted some help to finish education, others desired a prosthetic leg so they could work, others pleaded for the chance to start their own business so their children could look at them one time in their life and not see a beggar.
In that absence of hope, in that deeply rare intimate human connection of pain, understanding, acceptance and complete and utter hopelessness, sometimes an ember can be enough to ignite change. I listened to stories so brutal that it could cause one to lose faith in humanity. The devastation of Charles Taylor’s war in West Africa destroyed countless lives. The genocide in Rwanda. The sprawling slums of Nairobi. The horrific system of bonded labor in India. The dire poverty that keeps countless indigenous peoples in Bolivia from exiting the underclass. The still present suffering of thousands still afflicted by the horrors caused by Agent Orange in Vietnam.
In January 2022 LEE began making dreams a reality including but not limited to microloans to help businesses start as well as education assistance and crucial medical intervention. First in Sierra Leone, then in Liberia, then in Nairobi, Burundi and Rwanda. Whether going deep into the Nairobi slums, the Brazilian favelas, or the rural interior of India where bonded labor and forced child labor still exists, LEE has no borders.
Operating in some of the most difficult places on earth, approaching with humility, compassion, empathy, understanding, fearlessness, and a genuine desire for change, LEE works towards solutions, to change lives of those most vulnerable, suffering, forgotten, and without a voice. LEE is that voice.
