Like a rainbow that shines in seven brilliant colors after rain, people (Migrants) with diverse personalities and appearances emit beautiful light in their own colors in our “Clear Rainbow Center”.
The foreigner in a foreign country can or able to feel and understand what it seems to be a migrant being vulnerable. Working with migrants and refugees the vulnerable people are being challenged. Most of the migrants say that they come to this country due to war and pandemic or to get economic and educational opportunities. But they are forcefully led to the situation to provide a better future for their family and children. About one in three migrants have trouble to pay for food and pay the rent for the house. Adding to that being the non-residential people in the country they are not provided the health insurance, and the children cannot go to kinder garden. Fear and lack of information affects the daily lives of migrants. They live a life that is always insecure and worry that they or family could be detained or deported from the country. So they avoid talking to other people or ask any help even if they have problem like unpaid salary, renting house or health problem. Due to stress specially women who are pregnant get more health issues during the delivery times. This is the biggest traumatic situation for the migrants since they don’t have health insurance and proper language skills. Seeing and understanding this situation and the needs of the migrants we our FMM sisters opened a center called “CLEAR RAINBOW CENTER” collaborate with the unorganized centers and work for the migrants.
“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you” Gen: 12:1
Like Abraham leaving everything of his own and going to a new land , I left India 10years before knowing nothing about Korea .That was an exciting moment as well as a frightening situation. As a Franciscan and a missionary I was challenged to give up my own, and learn and adjust to new culture and language. If I have to help these vulnerable people I need to learn and accept the interculturality. At present I am working in the Clear Rainbow center for the migrants where we have day care center for migrant worker’s children from 6months to 2 years and study room for 6 years above, who comes to our center after school. These children are from Vietnam, Syria and Bangladesh. Thou I learnt and adjust with the Korean culture which is different from mine still had an opportunity to learn and be with the other culture people. Being with them and taking care of these migrant’s children got more opportunities to live our charism to be the inter-cultural and to feel one among them. When I see the simple and humble faces of these children’ I understood the words of Jesus “be like little children”. I am grateful to God and all the sisters and people who came into my life in order to fulfill the Will of God.
Besides this, we also accompany the migrants from Vietnam, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Myanmar and India to the hospital when they get health problems, especially the unwed pregnant women to the hospital, help them to get medical insurance card, to find work and solving the wages problems. And during the weekend help the Vietnam community (more than 250 people) during the Sunday mass, to deepen their life of faith and also help them for the documentation of the sacraments in the parish.
When we do all these I was reminded of the article from our constitutions “As a missionary we are sent to the poorest of the poor and economically, socially and culturally marginalized people”. I am so proud to be the missionary in Korea and thank God for giving me these experiences and to be the member of this precious family of FMM.
Sahaya Rosy Arockiasamy, F.M.M
Trinity Region
