At the dawn of June 25, 1950, the Korean War started with a surprise attack of the North Korean Forces. Just three days after the outbreak of the war, South Korea lost Seoul and its troops were pushed back to Nakdong River. Under this desperate situation, 16 UN member countries (Greece, South Africa, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Luxembourg, the US, Belgium, the UK, Ethiopia, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Thailand, Turkey, and France) dispatched troops to South Korea. Thanks to their noble sacrifices, South Korea could maintain its existence.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia was the only country among African countries that dispatched the army to Korea. Although the country had nothing to do with the Korean War, Ethiopia was willing to dispatch 6,037 soldiers from 1951 to 1956. Ethiopia lost 121 soldiers and had 536 casualties during the war, but the country didn’t hesitate at all to help South Korea.
[ Kagnew Battalion fought for South Korea from 1951 to 1956. ]
The Ethiopian soldiers dispatched to Korea were called “Kagnew Battalion” which means “Establish an order from chaos,” or “Destroy the enemy in the blink of an eye” in the Ethiopian language. As the name implies, they bravely fought for South Korea and brought a glorious victory, winning all of the 253 battles. In 1953 when it was at the height of the war, Ethiopian soldiers collected money to build an orphanage called “Bohwawon” in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi-do, and took care of Korean War orphans. Likewise, Ethiopia was a true family that stood by South Korea that was suffering from poverty and war.
However, Ethiopia is currently designated by the United Nations as one of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in the world, and 33.5% of its population is living below the poverty line (※ which means they make less than 1.25 dollars a day and have difficulty getting food that could sustain their lives with their current incomes/ quote: UNDP, ‘Human Development Report 2016’). Those who emigrated from Ethiopia to escape from poverty are now suffering from discrimination and still living in poverty. Since they cannot afford their children’s education, those children lack behind from their peers in school and have a hard time fitting in socially and psychologically.
[ Ethiopian children from immigrant families are running a race ]
Aiming to help Ethiopian children boost self-esteem, become more psychologically stable and better adapt to their community, HUMAN IN LOVE has been running the Empowerment for Ethiopian Children program from October 2016 with Dr. Batia Sheffy, an expert in psychosocial support, Ms. Nava Mayer, an expert in psychology, and Mr. David Zuaretz, an expert in physical education.
