Oct 9, 2024 – Completion Ceremony and Opening Ceremony for Khalid bin al-Walid School
Hello. Today marks the completion ceremony and first day of classes for a newly constructed school, rebuilt after being destroyed in the Turkey-Syria earthquake.
After arriving late last night at his accommodation in Gaziantep, Sunim got a brief rest before waking up at 3 AM to practice and meditate. He then began his day by livestreaming the Weekly Dharma Assembly starting at 4 AM.
Once all the Jungto Society members had joined the video conference, Sunim greeted them.
“I am currently in Gaziantep, Turkey. This city is close to the epicenter of the major earthquake that occurred in February last year. The local time here is now 4 AM. Today, we will be holding a completion ceremony for a school built by JTS in the Turkey-Syria border region. This ceremony will be very meaningful for the people who have suffered greatly and fallen into despair due to the earthquake damage. About 5.5 million people live in this region, and this may become the largest building in the area. I hope you will join in celebrating the completion ceremony in your hearts, so that this school can become a symbol of hope for them.
For the past 10 days, there have been offline lectures every day. Let’s watch a video of those scenes together and then begin our conversation.”
After the video ended, Sunim continued speaking.
“Since transitioning to an online Jungto Society, we haven’t had many opportunities for people to meet in person, mostly communicating through screens like this. When we’re having a conversation, people suddenly disappear just by turning off a switch, don’t they? So I think we should occasionally have time to meet offline, as you just saw in the video. When we meet in person, we can sense a bit of each other’s personal aura and human presence, which seems to give us more vitality. While maximizing the convenience of online interactions, I think these offline events help compensate for the lack of face-to-face contact. In October and November, there will be many Dharma Q&A lectures held in major cities. Since it’s difficult for the general public who watch YouTube to meet me often, I plan to travel around the country to give Dharma Q&A lectures in person.”
Following this, Sunim engaged in conversations with those who had submitted questions in advance. Over the course of an hour and a half, four people asked Sunim questions. One of them sought Sunim’s advice on how to eliminate feelings of envy and jealousy.
How Can I Eliminate Feelings of Envy and Jealousy?
However, when this sentient mind becomes excessive, suffering increases. If the desire is too strong, or the desire to receive attention from others is too intense, or the negative feelings when others succeed are too powerful, or the displeasure when criticized is too severe, conflicts arise in relationships. Thus, our lives can be described as a cycle of living according to our temperament, then restraining ourselves when losses occur, becoming stressed due to this restraint, acting out again, and then restraining ourselves once more when losses occur.
Suffering, sadness, hatred, and jealousy are not our original nature but karma formed as we grow up after birth. Practice is about moderating the emotions that automatically arise in response to this karma. Anyone can practice. If we make it our practice to “Be patient even when angry because acting on anger causes losses,” we end up getting stressed repeatedly. We need to look deeper. That person and I cannot be the same. We are different. From his perspective, he can speak and act that way. Understanding this, we can realize, “There’s no reason to be angry!” We should move towards seeing through to the essence like this.
The questioner can be said to have slightly more jealousy than others. In the past, people thought of this as karma from a previous life or fate, but from a practice perspective, this is formed by the surrounding environment and social environment we see and hear while growing up. Because this is formed, it can be changed.
First, one method is to not outwardly express the feelings that arise, but to endure them. However, this method is difficult to sustain because it causes us stress.
Second, there’s a method of expanding one’s mind. Jealousy is a kind of hatred. When you have jealousy like “I can’t stand the sight of them” or “I can’t stand their showing off,” hatred arises along with envy, and envy arises along with hatred. So, as the questioner said, thinking “If it’s my sibling, my wife, or my child, I should be happy for them!” or “If there’s someone better than me in our company, it’s good for the company and I can learn from them, so it’s a good thing!” is one method. Although this is still creating a perception, if we create a larger perception, these minor issues can be resolved. Of course, the Buddha spoke about the essence, seeing through to the truth that “there is nothing that can be called ‘I’.” However, ordinary sages generally spoke not of non-self (無我) but of the greater self (大我), saying “Let’s expand our minds.” They suggested thinking not just about oneself, but about one’s family; not just about one’s family, but about society; not just about society, but about the country; not just about the country, but about all of humanity; not just about humanity, but about all sentient beings. In other words, they spoke of a universal self. If we expand our minds like this, minor problems can be resolved. To use an expression from the Diamond Sutra, it’s about creating perceptions of self (我相), others (人相), sentient beings (衆生相), and lifespan (壽者相). Even if we haven’t completely seen through to the essence, by expanding our boundaries like this, the minor anguishes of daily life disappear.
Third, we must see through to the essence. The essence of jealousy is ultimately the desire to be superior to others. However, when I become superior to others, I become arrogant, and when I am inferior to others, I feel a sense of inferiority. If you think you should fundamentally solve the problem by penetrating the essence, you should have a perspective of non-self. In other words, there is no such thing as doing well or poorly, right or wrong, superior or inferior. We are just different from each other. Just as there are trees, stones, and animals, the world is simply diverse. That person may be good at one field and not so good at another. The best approach is to adopt a non-self perspective that the world is just different, like there are big stones and small stones.
However, while we may think this way, it’s difficult to maintain a non-self perspective in reality. In such cases, we can adopt a greater-self perspective. Instead of trying to fly when we can’t even crawl, if we expand our boundaries, many of our daily worries will disappear. The method the questioner has realized is also a good way to move towards a direction free from suffering. From the perspective of believing in the existence of self, it may not match the essence, but it’s a good method for becoming free from suffering. It would be good if Christians could realize non-possession by thinking, “There is nothing I can call my own.” But even if they can’t realize non-possession, if they can just think, “Everything in this world belongs to God. There is nothing I can call my own,” they can be free from suffering. The sentence “It belongs to God” is not enlightenment, but the sentence “There is nothing I can call my own” becomes enlightenment. This is because attachment disappears.
It’s important to reduce the envy and jealousy in our hearts. It’s a good thing if anyone in our country sings well, studies well, and has excellent skills because it all contributes to the development of our country. This is also a good way of thinking. However, this is expanding the scope of thought through thinking, and the actual world of enlightenment can be said to be a state without thought. But we can’t be without thoughts, can we? So realistically, I’d like to say that it’s okay to stand from a greater-self perspective.”
“Thank you. I understand well.”
Questions continued to come in. After answering the last question, the live broadcast of the Dharma assembly ended at 5:30 AM. The morning sun began to slowly brighten outside the window.
At 6:40 AM, Sunim departed from the accommodation and headed towards the area where the completion ceremony was to be held. He drove for 3 hours and 20 minutes.
In the moving car, Sunim explained various questions about the principles of JTS’s relief work, the causes of Syrian refugees, why he came to build a school in a Muslim area, the reason for the visit of the JTS Philippines delegation, the proposal for tent schools to eradicate illiteracy among Syrian refugees, and the impact of online education methods on refugee camps. Before long, they arrived at the school where the completion ceremony was to be held. As Sunim and his party got out of the car, White Helmet members welcomed them warmly.
First, they went around checking every corner of how the school was built. After examining the stage where the completion ceremony and school opening ceremony would be held, they headed to the memorial stone where the names of the earthquake victims were engraved. When Sunim visited this place a month ago, he had repeatedly requested to erect a memorial stone.
The names of 124 students and 9 teachers who died in the earthquake were clearly engraved on the memorial stone. We earnestly prayed that their noble sacrifices would not be in vain, and that this newly built school would become a warm foundation that instills new hope and courage in the villagers and children.
Sunim looked around the puppet theater set up outside the school. The children were completely immersed in the puppet show. As he approached the children, they all extended their hands with joyful expressions and shook hands with Sunim.
It took a full year for the school to be built. The White Helmet members used their own equipment to demolish the collapsed buildings and built new classrooms one by one with great care. The building, with one basement floor and three above-ground floors, has 122 rooms. There are 52 classrooms, and the rest are spaces necessary for various educational purposes such as science labs, libraries, and conference rooms.
Sunim encouraged the hardworking White Helmet technical members and took a commemorative photo with them.
Shortly after, Prime Minister Raed Saleh, representing the local government, and the Governor of Turkey arrived, and the completion and school opening ceremony began at 11:40 AM.
First, Sunim and the Prime Minister greeted each other warmly.
“Thank you for coming from so far away.”
Then, with Sunim and the Prime Minister in the center, and JTS representative Ms. Park Gena, Governor Hassan, Governor Ibrahim, Governor Hatay, Governor Orhan, Minister of Education, and local government officials lined up on both sides, they held a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“One, two, three!”
As they cut the ribbon with scissors, everyone cheered with joy. After cutting the ribbon, students presented bouquets of flowers.
Next, they paid respects at the memorial stone for the earthquake victims. They paused briefly in front of the memorial stone to pray for the victims. Sunim placed a bouquet of flowers in front of the memorial stone.
Next was the unveiling ceremony of the school opening commemorative plaque.
“One, two, three!”
As people shouted, the curtain-covered plaque was brightly revealed. Today is the day when new hope begins, overcoming the scars of war and earthquake. Everyone applauded loudly and rejoiced.
Everyone moved to the playground to officially start the ceremony.
The host introduced the attending dignitaries.
“We welcome Venerable Pomnyun Sunim and Ms. Park Gena from Korea, and the entire JTS delegation. Today, we are joined by the Prime Minister of the Interim Government, representatives of the local council, members of the Syrian Revolution General Commission, the Minister of Education of the Syrian Interim Government and education officials, and many journalists. Thank you for gracing this occasion.”
Next, they observed a moment of silence for one minute to honor the earthquake victims.
Then, Mr. Raed, the representative of the White Helmets, gave a congratulatory speech.
“It has been 1 year and 7 months since the earthquake. Even now, it’s too sad to think about that day. But thanks to JTS’s support, we were able to rebuild the school in a year. I was very moved by how Venerable Pomnyun Sunim paid careful attention to our suffering. I would also like to express my gratitude to the Turkish government officials who invisibly helped with the school construction. This school will be a symbol of hope for us. Above all, I thank the White Helmet members who came to work here every day and sweated until the school was completed. I hope that with today’s completion ceremony as a starting point, we can solve many problems in our society one by one.”
Then Sunim took the stage to give a congratulatory speech.
“I heard that last year, 124 students and 9 teachers died in this school due to the earthquake. Also, many people lost their lives and were injured during the Syrian civil war over the past 10 years. I offer my sincere condolences to those who have passed away. If we, the living, carry on the roles of those who have passed away, their sacrifices will not have been in vain.
Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the White Helmet members, we were able to build such a good school with little money. I sincerely pay my respects and express my gratitude for their efforts.
May This School Become a Symbol of Hope for Syria’s Future!
The reason we built this school is to give hope to people who have suffered from war and earthquake damage. Just as broken buildings are rebuilt, I hope that Syrian children and the Syrian people will rise again with hope.
I would like to thank the Turkish government officials and governors who have cooperated in various ways to make the completion of this school possible. I also thank the Syrian Interim Government officials and education officials.
Education is not achieved merely by having schools. Good teachers and good students are essential. I hope that the Ministry of Education will take over this school successfully and manage it well, that the teachers will educate the children effectively, and that the children will study diligently according to their teachers’ guidance, becoming future leaders who will be the hope of Syria.
While today is a joyous day, it is said that this school will benefit only 4,000 students. Due to the civil war over the past decade, many children have been unable to receive school education. Even now, it is reported that there are 600,000 children between the ages of 7 and 14 who are of primary school age but are not receiving the benefits of school education. Therefore, I hope that all of you participating here today and JTS can work together to quickly devise a plan to ensure that these children can receive at least primary school education. Adults may recover even if they face hunger or hardship, but children grow up quickly, and if they don’t receive education at the right time, it becomes very difficult for them to get another opportunity. Let’s all join forces to ensure that our children can at least receive basic education in a timely manner.
If you think we cannot educate our children because there is no foreign aid, that is a mistaken idea. No matter how difficult our situation is, we must educate our children ourselves. There is hope for Syria’s future when all children born in Syria can receive basic education.
I am confident that this school will become a symbolic building giving hope for the future of Syrian children. I hope that this kind of hope we see today will continue for the Syrian people, especially Syrian children. Once again, I sincerely thank the White Helmets members who dedicated themselves to the construction of this building. I also thank all the distinguished guests who participated in this event today.
The students, parents, and education officials all cheered and rejoiced at Sunim’s congratulatory speech.
Next, Prime Minister Raed Saleh, representing the local government, gave a congratulatory speech.
“This school is a building that gives hope not only to students but to all Syrian people. For Syrian people living in pain day by day due to 10 years of civil war and earthquake damage, this school will inspire courage that we can rise again. The interim government is also rebuilding in many areas such as road construction and communication network construction. I especially thank JTS for supporting the school construction with great interest so that this country can become safe and peaceful.”
This was followed by congratulatory speeches from the Turkish governor and the Minister of Education. They all emphasized how much hope this school is giving to the residents.
Next, they watched a video showing the school construction process. It showed the demolition of buildings collapsed by the earthquake, digging the empty lot again, laying the foundation, building the first floor, second floor, third floor, installing solar panels on the roof, decorating the classroom interiors, and painting pictures that children like here and there on the corridor walls. Hope-symbolizing pictures were also painted in pastel colors on the exterior walls.
Everyone applauded with joy as the school that had collapsed in the earthquake came back to life as a wonderful and beautiful new school.
Next, there was a ceremony to hand over the agreement document and keys to the Minister of Education and the school principal. After reading the agreement, Venerable Pomnyun Sunim, the chairman of JTS, handed over the agreement to the Minister of Education.
Then, JTS representative Park Gena handed over the keys to the school principal.
Next, there was a gift exchange between the JTS delegation from Korea and the students. Sunim and the JTS delegation gave schoolbags and uniforms as gifts to the students.
In return, the students gave Sunim and the JTS delegation a framed picture of Sunim’s face and a handmade Taegeuk pattern as gifts to express their gratitude.
The children’s faces were full of smiles as they received the gifts. Everyone took a commemorative photo together on stage.
Next, children came out wearing butterfly-shaped clothes and performed a dance to music. Korean subtitles were displayed on the screen.
“Your worry is my worry, my worry is your worry
Don’t be discouraged, be happy and work hard for your dreams”
Then there was a traditional Syrian music performance. As music and dance blended together, the completion ceremony turned into a festive atmosphere.
“Without dignity, without strength, we achieve freedom with love.
Life is not beautiful without peace.
Let’s live together in peace.
Peace is the medicine for wounds”
The attendees kept pressing the record button on their phones to capture the children’s performances.
The last item on the completion ceremony agenda was a school tour. While music continued to play on stage, the school tour began at 1 pm. As there was no time for lunch, the White Helmets distributed a box of baklava, a traditional Turkish snack, to all participants, with the JTS and White Helmets logos engraved on gold foil.
First, they visited the classroom where students were studying. Sunim and Representative Park Gena sat at the desks themselves.
“Well, we are old students. Please take a picture.” (Laughter)
Various pictures drawn to fit different situations in the corridor made people smile.
Moving to the next classroom, children were sitting at every desk, receiving schoolbags gifted by JTS. Sunim took pictures with the children.
“What grade are you in?”
“We’re in 4th grade.”
When the children opened the gifted schoolbags, they found pencil sharpeners, erasers, colored pencils, pencil cases, and notebooks inside.
Sunim asked the children a few questions.
“Are you happy that the school has been newly built?”
“We are very happy.”
“Do the uniforms fit well?”
“Yes, they fit perfectly.”
Moving to the next classroom, he conversed with the students again. The students greeted loudly.
“As-salamu alaykum” (السلام عليكم)
Sunim asked the students a question.
“Are you happy that the school has been newly built? Those who are very happy, please raise your hands.”
Everyone raised their hands high.
Moving to the next classroom again, he greeted the students.
“Which school did you attend before the earthquake?”
“We attended this school back then too.”
“Are you happy that the school has reopened?”
“We’re so happy!”
There was also a five-year-old child who came to school following their mother, who is a teacher. Sunim smiled and spoke to the child.
“Dance for us. I’ll take a picture.”
The child danced excitedly to the rhythm of clapping.
“Oh, well done!”
Sunim took a picture with the child who danced.
“Is there anyone who can sing well?”
When Sunim asked, one student sang a song. Sunim clapped along to keep the rhythm.
They looked around several classrooms, and each classroom was full of children.
After touring the classrooms, they also looked at the bathrooms, visited the library, and went into the computer room and science lab. Some equipment such as microscopes, human body models, and beakers were already in place.
On one side of the corridor, drawings made by the students themselves were also on display. They say these are drawings that the students freely drew about things that came to mind when they volunteered.
Finally, they went up to the rooftop.
Looking around from the rooftop, numerous buildings around the school were still left collapsed as they were. Sunim expressed his regret.
“The recovery is still not happening at all.”
Sunim was concerned that the railing on the rooftop was low, worrying that children might fall while playing.
“Couldn’t we make the railing higher? What if children fall?”
“For now, we plan to prevent children from coming up to the rooftop. We will proceed with raising the railing later.”
After touring the school for 50 minutes, they moved to the school office and had a meeting with Prime Minister Raed Saleh, representing the local government, starting at 2 pm. First, Sunim spoke about the Prime Minister’s hard work.
“It must be very difficult to manage everything with the severe damage from both war and earthquakes.”
The Prime Minister also expressed his gratitude for the efforts of JTS and Sunim.
“First of all, thank you for building this school through JTS. Without JTS’s support, we couldn’t have built this school. I believe this is the largest and most impressive school in Syria. I’m grateful for the construction of such a large-scale school. As I looked around, I couldn’t help but be amazed.
I sincerely thank you for coming all the way from Korea, thinking of Syria’s pain. This area has not only suffered greatly from the earthquake but has also endured war for a long time, so there are many people in hardship here. Other foreign organizations have come to help us before. However, there hasn’t been a project as significant as this one from JTS. So, I’d like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the Korean people. Through this school, we have gained hope and belief that Syria can build a wonderful future. I’m confident that the children who study and grow up in this school will create a beautiful Syria.”
Sunim praised the White Helmets members for their tremendous efforts. He then proposed three ways to address the education issues of children living in Syrian refugee camps.
“The White Helmets have done an incredible job. They worked as diligently as if they were building their own homes. However, many destroyed schools still haven’t been restored, and children living in refugee camps can’t even attend school. How to solve this problem is a major challenge going forward. I’ve thought of three possible solutions to this issue.
Three Proposals for Children’s Education in Syria
First, I believe the most urgent issue concerns those who haven’t received any schooling for the past ten years. Even if these people want to go back to school now, there are no classrooms. Even if classrooms were restored, many have already become adults, making it difficult for them to attend school. Therefore, we should prioritize teaching these people how to read, write, and do basic calculations so that they can at least be self-sufficient in the world. This basic education can be completed with just two hours a day for six months. In my opinion, it would be great if all educated people in Syria could start a national movement where they become teachers for two hours after their work, in a spirit of volunteerism.
The idea is to quickly eradicate illiteracy by gathering people who haven’t even received elementary education and teaching them for just two hours a day. If this is done four times over a period of six months each, illiteracy can be resolved in about two years. Therefore, the goal should be to enable every Syrian to read, write, and perform calculations. If the entire Syrian population rises to launch a national campaign for literacy, JTS can provide the necessary textbooks, notebooks, pens, and tents. A small booklet that helps people learn and write characters should be created as a textbook. This task is impossible through normal school education methods, both in terms of timing and finances, and can only be resolved through a national movement.
Secondly, according to the reports received, about half of the damaged schools have been repaired, while the other half are still in need of repair. Currently, entrusting school repairs to technicians is too costly. Therefore, Sunim suggests that for buildings that are severely damaged and require professional technicians, help should be sought from foreign NGOs. For buildings that can be used after partial repairs, he proposes that all parents and local residents voluntarily participate in repairing the damaged areas. If they agree to do this, JTS will provide cement and other materials necessary for school repairs. If this is also promoted as a national movement, damaged schools can be restored in a short period.
Thirdly, children aged 7 to 12 should receive elementary education. There are 600,000 children who should be attending elementary school, but building new schools and securing teachers for them is not feasible in the short term. Therefore, Sunim’s proposed solution is to ensure that this school, which was completed today, operates normally and to install broadcasting facilities to enable online broadcasting of the classes here. When this school broadcasts, children in each region can be gathered for online classes. This eliminates the need to find separate teachers; only someone to manage the broadcast and take attendance is required. With this method, classes can be held not just in classrooms, but also in small rooms with few students, in large groups, in tents, or in empty buildings. Sunim hopes that various methods to teach children will be actively considered in the future. To create an online class system, broadcasting facilities and smart TVs are needed.
However, the biggest problem is that there is no internet infrastructure in this area. The first solution to this problem is to discuss with the Turkish government to get permission and cooperation to build transmission towers for education. The second method is to request Elon Musk to support Starlink, a satellite internet service, for education in this area.
How About Launching a National Campaign to Eradicate Illiteracy?
We can solve the children’s education problem in this way. Although this is still very expensive, it costs much less than building new schools and securing new teachers. To do this, we need to raise a national movement that goes beyond individual interests and unite our hearts to ensure that all citizens can receive elementary education. We must provide such opportunities to our children for our future; if we fail to provide this, our future can be seen as very bleak.
Given the current international situation and the situation in Syria, we should assume that it will be difficult for the country to reunite and establish a new government normally for the time being. It’s already been 10 years. Soon it will be 20 years, and 30 years will pass quickly. Therefore, even if it’s just the northern region, we need to establish an education plan under the name of an autonomous government. In Korea too, it seemed like unification would happen soon after the war ended, but 70 years have already passed. I was born in the year the war ended, and I’m now 71 years old. However, South Korea established its own development plan and successfully achieved economic development. Like that, although it’s difficult, we need to establish a long-term plan even for the region currently under the autonomous government. The area is 9,000 square kilometers and the population exceeds 5 million. Instead of just waiting for foreign aid, we need to establish our own long-term development plan to solve the current difficulties. If we have our own plan and work on solving it independently while requesting foreign aid, it’s much easier to receive help.”
The Prime Minister also responded positively to Sunim’s proposal, saying he would actively consider it.
“Thank you. I will instruct them to think about what can be done at the local government level. Your suggestion for eradicating illiteracy is really a great idea. I will also convey this to the Minister of Education. We will continue to communicate with you to discuss what we can do to solve Syria’s education problem. We will need your advice and support in the future as well.”
Mr. Raed, the representative of the White Helmets, also expressed his gratitude to Sunim, saying:
“Thanks to the support from Sunim and JTS, we were able to build the school well. When they saw the school, the hospital director asked if it could be used as a hospital, and the university president asked if it could be used as a university.” (Laughter)
After the conversation, Sunim presented gifts brought from Korea to the Prime Minister and local leaders. The White Helmets gave olive oil and soap made from olives grown in this region, as well as White Helmets notebooks and pens, as gifts to Sunim and the JTS delegation.
Sunim joined hands with the Prime Minister, the White Helmets representative, and JTS representative Ms. Park Gena.
“For the children!!”
After expressing gratitude to each other with gifts, everyone went to the main entrance of the school to take a commemorative photo.
“Fighting!”
Sunim once again expressed his gratitude to the White Helmets members who had worked the hardest in building the school.
The school completion ceremony was concluded with joy. We got back in the car and moved to visit the office of the Turkish governor.
He is the person who provided a lot of help for the White Helmets members to freely travel for the school construction. He was also the first to suggest that it was urgent to rebuild the school when it collapsed.
After a warm handshake, Sunim presented gifts brought from Korea and expressed his gratitude.
You and I have kept our promise here. You were the first to suggest that we should build a new school. Thank you.
“It’s not you who should thank me, but we who should thank you. It’s because of your support that we were able to build the school.”
After discussing for an hour how to cooperate to solve the problem of children’s illiteracy, we took a commemorative photo and left the office.
We got back in the car and drove for two hours to return to Gaziantep.
We moved to a restaurant with the White Helmets members for a late lunch and dinner. We hadn’t had time for lunch in the busy schedule, and it was only at 7 PM that we were able to have a meal.
The White Helmets presented a framed gift of the scissors used in the ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate today’s completion ceremony.
After having dinner and further discussing future cooperation plans, we returned to our accommodation at 9:30 PM.
On the occasion of today’s completion ceremony of the Khalid bin al-Walid School, we went to bed praying that the Syrian people would stand up again with new hope. We sincerely hope that this school will be a warm light in their lives, giving them strength and courage to move forward.
Tomorrow morning, Sunim will depart from Gaziantep Airport and move to Istanbul. In the afternoon, we will tour historical sites with traces of Byzantine culture and Ottoman Turkish culture with the JTS delegation. In the evening, he plan to meet with the Consul General of the Korean Embassy in Istanbul to share the results of the school completion ceremony and have dinner.
