© mondaytimes

On July 11th, at Okcheon High School, a special UNESCO club lecture program was held with guest speaker Kamilah Dreux, also known as Han Haeng-wun in Korea, majoring in Korean History from the Graduate School at Korea University. Kamilah, an American citizen, engaged with students during their lunch break, participating in a busking program, and sharing songs with them, creating a meaningful and enjoyable time together.

Following this, Kamilah proceeded with her special lecture titled "Han Haeng-wun's Story on Global Citizenship Education: Embracing and Utilizing Cultural Diversity in the Era of Globalization for Korean Youth." During the lecture, she had an open and candid conversation with students from Okcheon High School's UNESCO club. She shared her personal experiences in Korea as examples, emphasizing the essential qualities and values that today's youth need to cultivate as global citizens. The students actively reflected on the virtues and ethics presented by Kamilah and shared their thoughts and suggestions about their own global citizenship.

Kamilah stressed the importance of viewing foreigners, including herself, not as "foreigners" different from Koreans but simply as humans. She believed that by adopting this perspective, the issues of discrimination and exclusion prevalent in our society could be naturally resolved. Her perspective resonated strongly with the students, and they empathized greatly with her viewpoint.

Jeong Ji-hwang, a teacher at Okcheon High School, who planned and invited Kamilah for this program, evaluated the program's success by stating that it significantly broadened the students' horizons in terms of their global citizenship. He expressed gratitude to Kamilah for making the journey all the way from Seoul to Chungcheongbuk-do province. The students were also thankful for Kamilah's presence and admired her diverse background, particularly her profound knowledge of the Korean language and history. They considered this program a fantastic opportunity to contemplate how they should live as global citizens in the future.