Let’s complete this school and give hope to those affected by the earthquake

Aug 28, 2024 – Visit to Turkey Earthquake Recovery Site

Hello. Today, we are visiting and surveying the site where JTS is building a school that was destroyed in the Turkey earthquake.

Sunim woke up at 3 AM, practiced and meditated, and then started a live broadcast of the Dharma talk at 4 AM local time in Turkey, which is 10 AM Korean time.

Once all the Jungto Society members entered the video conference room, Sunim gave his opening remarks.

“I am currently in Turkey. I’m meeting with you online from a city called Gaziantep, which is close to the epicenter of the Turkey-Syria earthquake that occurred last year. First, I’ll share the schedule of the past few days, and then I’ll listen to your stories.”

Next, we watched a video showing Sunim’s activities over the past week, including his attendance at a psychology symposium in Switzerland and his Dharma Q&A sessions for Korean expatriates in Zurich and Frankfurt.

After the video ended, Sunim engaged in a dialogue with those who had requested questions in advance. Three people pressed the raise hand button and asked Sunim questions. One of them sought Sunim’s advice on how to overcome a situation where they felt disliked by their coworkers.

I’m Struggling Because My Coworkers Dislike Me

It’s up to you to choose whether to downplay your abilities to receive less jealousy from team members, or to fully demonstrate your talents and gain clear recognition despite some envy.

First, you need to understand your colleagues. It wasn’t your decision to attend the 10-day external training. Your supervisor sent you for the training, and it was also their decision to give you the award. These were not things you could control. Therefore, it’s best to accept that ‘your colleagues might be jealous.’

Second, you need to harmonize with your coworkers. If you don’t collaborate well with them, your work evaluations within the company may suffer in the future. You mentioned that you don’t want to be around your colleagues, eat with them, or talk to them. If you have talent but can’t get along with others, your performance ratings might decrease. This could ultimately hinder your promotion prospects. This is because interpersonal harmony is more important than talent when it comes to becoming an executive. While technical skills are crucial for technical leaders, overall organizational managers need strong interpersonal skills. So, if you maintain your current perspective, it might become difficult to advance further in your career.

Therefore, you should first try to understand your colleagues. Say something like, ‘I’m sorry about how things turned out, even though it wasn’t my intention to be greedy,’ or ‘Since I received the award, let me treat everyone to a meal.’ If you can overcome this situation, you’ll likely have opportunities for promotion in the future. However, if you continue to dislike your colleagues, it could become a significant obstacle in your career path.”

“I treated my colleagues with a positive attitude, grateful that their support allowed me to complete the training successfully. I expected that if I approached them with goodwill, they would treat me well in return. I think I was hurt because things didn’t turn out as I had hoped. As you suggested, I will focus on doing my part rather than resenting my colleagues. It will be challenging, but I’ll try to maintain a good relationship with them.”

“From what you’ve said, your attitude seems somewhat passive. While it’s better than feeling completely unable to work with your colleagues, if your mindset remains this passive, you’re likely to quit your job in the future. With such a passive attitude, you’ll continue to feel tense, dislike going to work, and accumulate stress. You might end up exploding after enduring for a while. That’s why you need to change your thinking to be more proactive.

It’s normal human psychology for coworkers to be jealous when someone is doing well. You should understand that ‘they’re jealous because I’m doing well.’ There’s no need to feel guilty as you haven’t done anything wrong. It would be good to respond more proactively, like treating everyone to a meal to celebrate your success. Usually, when someone does well, people applaud at first, but if that person fails later, they might feel schadenfreude. Similarly, you should realize through this experience that life isn’t always positive. Understanding that in this world, when one thing is good, another tends to be bad, and vice versa, will help you understand your colleagues and reduce your stress.

“Isn’t this problem arising because you’re doing well? In this world, there are so many problems that occur because people aren’t doing well, so you shouldn’t be troubled by problems that arise from your success. You can think of it as a kind of side effect of your success. This issue stems from your desire for all 100 things to go well, without a single thing going wrong. Try to accept that having one or two bad things happen is actually a good phenomenon.”

“Yes, I understand that I shouldn’t be troubled by issues arising from my success. I used to be very afraid of being criticized by people, but now I’ll choose to demonstrate my abilities while accepting criticism.”

The questions continued. After an hour and a half of conversation, Sunim concluded the live broadcast with closing remarks.

“Next week’s Dharma talk will likely be held in Bhutan. I expect that the internet situation in Bhutan may not be very good. However, I will bring you live updates from the scene, so please understand.”

After finishing the live broadcast, Sunim had breakfast at the accommodation and departed for the Turkey-Syria border region at 7 AM.

As we approached the earthquake-affected area, Sunim looked out the car window and commented.

“Even after a year, many places remain unchanged.”

After a three-hour drive, we arrived at the school construction site at 10:20 AM. As Sunim got out of the car, White Helmet volunteers warmly welcomed him.

“It’s good to see you.”

After taking a group photo, we began to tour the new school under construction.

When Sunim first came to survey the earthquake-damaged area, the school was completely collapsed and in a dilapidated state. Today, a beautiful new building in pastel colors stood tall. This school is being rebuilt as part of the Turkey-Syria earthquake recovery project, a collaboration between JTS and the White Helmets.

First, the construction manager showed the floor plans for each level of the school, explaining, “Here are the classrooms, administrative office, and restrooms,” detailing the layout of the school facilities.

Sunim toured the school’s interior with the volunteers, personally inspecting the classrooms, meeting rooms, and faculty offices currently under construction.

They added that the school was designed with a bomb shelter in the basement for use as an emergency evacuation site, and thorough safety measures were being put in place to prepare for various situations. After hearing the explanation, Sunim emphasized, “Emergency measures must be in place to safely evacuate in disaster situations such as fires or earthquakes.”

We thoroughly inspected the entire building from the first floor to the rooftop. Sunim showed particular interest in the safety issues of the school facilities. While checking if emergency evacuation routes and fire prevention facilities were properly installed, he said, “There should be sufficient emergency stairs and exits for students to evacuate quickly in case of fire or earthquake.” Thanks to Sunim’s repeated emphasis, the White Helmet volunteers were also reminded of the importance of thorough preparation for school safety issues.

While touring the facilities, opinions were also exchanged about classroom size and layout.

“Is this a classroom? Isn’t it too small?”

When Sunim expressed concern about the small classroom design, the construction manager responded.

“It’s designed to accommodate about 30 students, and we’re considering how to make it as comfortable as possible for students to study.”

After touring the school inside and out for an hour, the White Helmet volunteers expressed their gratitude to Sunim.

“Thank you so much for building this school. Many children have suffered through war and earthquakes, and many were unable to receive education. Thanks to you, many children will now be able to study. We are sincerely grateful.”

Sunim replied:

“I am very pleased that an environment has been created where children can receive education again.”

From 11:20 AM, a meeting was held in the school office with White Helmet volunteers to discuss the earthquake recovery situation and future directions. First, Sunim expressed his gratitude for the hard work of the White Helmet volunteers.

“Thank you all for your hard work in constructing this building. I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude.”

Sunim emphasized the safety and quality of the school construction.

“Please don’t rush to meet the completion date. It’s important to build the structure safely, so it’s okay to postpone the completion date. I’ll change my schedule and come back, so I hope you won’t hurry too much.”

As the discussion about the progress of school construction continued, Sunim suggested creating a memorial space.

“This school is where many students and teachers lost their lives in the earthquake. I would like to erect a memorial to commemorate them, to create a space where we don’t forget their sacrifice.”

When everyone readily agreed to Sunim’s proposal, they also discussed where to install the memorial space for the victims.

“How about installing a memorial next to the school sign? It would be good to engrave the history of how this school was rebuilt on the stone as well.”

The White Helmet volunteers all hoped that the school reconstruction would become a symbolic place that gives hope to the local community and students, beyond just being a simple construction project.

Sunim also talked about the issue of space utilization in the school.

“It seems there’s no empty space in the school because the buildings are packed tightly on a small plot of land. The playground also looks too small for 4,000 students to play.”

The volunteers informed him that they are working on using the empty lot next to the school and are in negotiations with the landowners.

Although a new school building for 4,000 students has been built with JTS support and White Helmets’ efforts, there are still a million children in refugee camps who are not receiving education. Sunim proposed introducing an online education system to quickly address the education problem.

“The idea is to conduct regular classes at this school and broadcast them through an online system. Then, how about setting up simple tent schools in the refugee camps for online classes? This way, even with a shortage of teachers, we can educate many children. Children shouldn’t miss the crucial period for education.”

The White Helmet volunteers all agreed with Sunim’s proposal and responded:

“Sunim’s suggestion is really good. However, infrastructure needs to be established. We will look into building the infrastructure to enable online classes.”

Through this conversation, we could see how much responsibility they feel towards the local community and their strong will to solve educational problems. Sunim once again encouraged the White Helmet volunteers.

“Let’s give confidence and hope to those who have fallen into despair after suffering from earthquakes and war.”

“The White Helmets’ helmets that the volunteers had taken off looked truly impressive and dignified.

After finishing the school visit and saying goodbye to the construction managers, we moved to a clothing factory operated by the White Helmets.

We drove for two hours. Inside the car, we had lunch with the boxed meals prepared by the White Helmets volunteers.

As we drove on unpaved roads, the car kept bumping. The driver apologized and said:

“Sunim, the ride must be very uncomfortable for you, isn’t it?”

Sunim smiled and replied:

“Not at all. Look at the people riding in the truck ahead. When I go to remote areas, I usually ride in trucks like that. This is quite good in comparison.”

Through the car window, we could see refugee camps continuously.

“Since people can’t receive medical treatment and there’s a shortage of drinking water, children’s education inevitably becomes a secondary concern.”

Although Sunim repeatedly emphasized the importance of children’s education, he was also aware that the reality was not easy.

At 1:50 PM, we arrived at the clothing factory operated by the White Helmets. Guided by the factory manager, we observed the overall operations and activities.

The factory was producing various products to help with earthquake recovery and support the self-reliance of local residents. Sunim expressed admiration for the diverse product manufacturing activities while touring the factory.

“They’re making various products themselves and doing all sorts of comprehensive work.”

The factory was producing various clothes, including school uniforms. Sunim showed great interest in the uniform production process.

“Do female students wear pants too?”

“Yes.”

The boys’ uniforms were also well-made and sturdy.

“These pants would fit me too. The color is very nice.”

The factory manager emphasized the automated system and efficient production process.

“Here, once we design on the computer, we can produce quickly. Everything will be ready by the opening ceremony. We’ve already made all the uniforms.”

They also briefly discussed whether it would be better to distribute uniforms to 4,000 students on the day of the opening ceremony or in advance.

After touring the factory, Sunim encouraged the volunteers working there.

“The uniforms and items produced in this factory will be a great help to the students. Please make sure the students can study comfortably at school.”

Sunim highly appreciated the various activities of the White Helmets volunteers contributing to the local community after the earthquake and concluded the factory visit.

We moved to the factory office for a meeting with the factory management. They discussed various topics including the factory’s operation method, energy use, and future construction plans. In particular, the White Helmets factory was operating using a clean energy system utilizing solar power.

“Is this place using only solar energy without any regular electricity?”

“Currently, the use of regular electricity is decreasing, and our goal this year is to completely switch to solar power.”

“It seems that using as much solar power as possible will enable energy self-sufficiency.”

Sunim highly valued the self-sufficient energy system. While explaining the factory’s various business areas, Sunim asked another question.

“There’s a huge demand for construction, so why don’t you create your own construction company?”

“If we operate a construction company, there could be transparency issues and misunderstandings. Currently, we outsource construction to external companies through bidding.”

“I understand completely. Nevertheless, it might be good to consider self-reliant methods for the future.”

The factory was also producing various items such as masks and clothes. Sunim emphasized that the items produced in the factory would be of great help to local residents and asked them to ensure that they could be used safely and comfortably.

As there was a report that the construction schedule was tight, Sunim made a suggestion about the school opening ceremony date during the meeting.

“We shouldn’t rush the opening ceremony if the construction is not fully completed. It would be good if we could have the ceremony on October 9th, but if not, it’s okay to postpone it for about a month.”

However, the White Helmets volunteers expressed confidence that they could complete all construction by October 9th. After the meeting, Sunim expressed his gratitude to the factory staff.

“Please do your best. We are here to give hope to the local residents and students.”

Then, from 3 PM, we moved to the White Helmets office for a meeting with the Syrian representative.

They discussed the progress of school construction, future plans, and the construction schedule. First, Sunim expressed his concerns.

“Based on the current state of construction, it seems that time is a bit tight until the opening ceremony. I understand that if the opening ceremony is delayed, it could cause problems with the students’ curriculum progress, but I think building safety is also an important factor. Safety facilities like fences should also be adequately installed. I hope we all take care not to have shoddy construction due to rushed work. If we need to hurry the construction, thorough supervision and management are absolutely necessary. I hope you can finish everything properly so that no problems occur after the construction is completed.”

The Syrian representative then explained the situation.

“If we postpone the school opening ceremony, there could be educational confusion as the students’ curriculum progress might differ from other schools. We will do our best to proceed with the opening ceremony on the scheduled date. We will complete the construction by deploying White Helmets members and new workforce. All personnel are prioritizing quality and safety, so please don’t worry.”

Sunim once again expressed his gratitude.

“Let’s discuss the opening ceremony date again then. Thank you for your hard work. Let’s work together to complete this school and give hope to the children.”

We took a commemorative photo together and concluded the meeting.

After completing the inspection of the earthquake damage recovery site, we headed back to our accommodation. The wide fields densely planted with olive trees were a spectacular sight.

The sun set as we returned to our accommodation.

After arriving at the accommodation at 7 PM, Sunim had dinner. He proofread manuscripts and handled work matters before ending his daily routine.

Today, Sunim devoted all his efforts to bring hope and courage to people affected by war and earthquakes. We hope that Sunim’s steps will be a great strength to the residents suffering from earthquake damage and civil war.

Tomorrow morning, he will have a meeting with White Helmets volunteers, and in the afternoon, he will depart from Gaziantep Airport, transit through Istanbul Airport, and then take a flight to Delhi, India, in the evening to enter Bhutan.”