Chennai, INDIA (March 2011)

I attended Opportunity International Global Leadership Conference held at Chennai, INDIA from March 29th to April 1st. It was the statutory leadership conference for all members that belong to Opportunity International Network. There are 5 supporting members, 16 or so owned implementing members, one associate member and a bunch of affiliated members that share the Opportunity International resources. Approximately 110 people attended all of whom were CEOs, board chairs or various board members.

Posted above are some photos of the conference, the venue and other events in which I participated. - Jeffrey

Dubai, UAE (March 2011)

Kristin and I stayed in Dubai for 2 days, March 26th and 27th, 2011. It was our first trip to the Arab world.

Dubai is full of contemporary architecture and unbelievably creative landmarks. It has the man-made islands, The Jumeira Palm and The World comprising numerous islands.

The Jumeirah Palm now has 30 5-star hotels under construction, a number of single family residences, apartments, condominiums and shopping centers. It even has Atlantis, the Green legendary lost city under water, copied from one in the Bahamas. It looks like a palm surrounded by wave breakers. They have another Palm project, even larger, to the right side of "The World."

The World is the world map made of numerous man-made islands. Each country was sold at different prices, ranging from $10 million to $100 million. People can access to The World only through helicopters or boats.

Burj al Arab is the world's only 7-star hotel. It shapes like a floating Dhow ship. They pick up their guests from the airport via a helicopter. When they go out, Rolls Royce limousine waits for you. How much does it cost you per night? I do not know. They do not publish that information intentionally.

Burj Dubai means the Dubai Tower and is the tallest building in the world at present. It is 800 meters high and more than twice as high as the Empire State Building. It looks like a drill that is poking the heaven. It just reminds me of the Babel Towner in the bible... How audacious we human beings are... Surprisingly, Dubai has 5 more super towers under plan to be built with one of them being even taller than Burj Dubai. It is called Al Burj, The Tower. How far more and how taller they should be...? I wonder...I wonder...

Dubai Creek was the mother's womb for Dubai. Water taxis still carry people cross the creek. One Dirham or 30 cents a ride.

Burjman Mall, City Center Mall, Mall of Emirates, Dubai Mall, Ikea Mall, Wafi Mall and on and on. There are bunch of malls where people are hustling and bustling. There is no sales tax or value added tax. So people buy stuffs that they really do not need. Mall of Emirates is the largest mall among them all.

Ski Dubai is located within the Mall of Emirates. Ski Dubai is the man-made indoor ski slope. Amazing, isn't it? You can get on the ski lifts and from the top you can run 400 meters. We have seen so many indoor skate rinks, but indoor ski slope was never thought of, particularly in the desert.

UAE consists of 7 emirates. Abudabi is the largest with almost 80% of the land and Dubai being the second largest emirate that provides the commercial center.

UAE national flag has four colors: red for security, green for prosperity, white for peace and black for national resource, meaning oil. I have learned that most Arab countries have these four colors or any combination there of in their national flags. It makes sense.

Fantastic beaches with white sands and emerald water were spectacular.

Jumeirah Beach Hotel is a 5-star hotel and substantially larger than nearby Burj al Arab, the 7-star hotel, but it is not as fascinating as Burj al Arab despite its wave looking shape that was quite interesting to me.

There are more than 500 mosques in Dubai alone. Mosques are the centers of life among all muslims. Many women are allowed to travel between home and mosque. Muslims pray 5 times a day. They believe that their religious activities will earn them salvation. Not a chance...It is by God's grace we are saved through our faith. To them, Jesus is at the same level as Moses and Muhammad, the prophets. Alas... how could they understand the profound meaning of incarnation and redemption.

In UAE, oil represents only 7% of the GDP, a surprise finding.

Dubai is building theme cities, like Media City, Business City, Sports City where they plan to attract world renowned companies to have offices in the cities.

One man's vision has made the current Dubai... but I am not sure if the legend will continue as the world economy continues to be ailing and the bubble once hit the area.

Dubai is knowns to be one of the lowest crime rate cities in the world.

We participated in the walking tour of the "souqs" Souq means a market. There are gold souq, old souq, spice souq, fish souq, textile souq etc.

It was a short but intensive two-day trip to Dubai. - Jeffrey

Mt. Karisimbi in Rwanda (4,508 m high) Dec 2010

On December 23rd and 24th, I hiked the tallest mountain in Rwanda. It is called Karisimbi at 4,508 m in height. It is one of five mountains (Muhabura, Sabyinyo, Gahinga and Bisoke) that comprise Virunga National Park, bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo. This area is where mountain gorillas are inhabitating.

[We were in high spirit before we began our journey. With the guide (Vincent) and porters]

On the first day, we left Kigali around 6AM for Ruhengeri, the capital city of Musanze District in the north. From there, we drove a little further to the Kinigi Center where you register the trip. We were a party of five: myself, Yurim (a Shalom Bible Study group member), Bohye (a Korean missionary), two young Rwandans (George and Omar) with whom the missionary is collaborating her ministry. For us, one guide and four porters were hired. Also, there were 6 soldiers who traveled all the way up to the summit and down back to the starting point to protect us from possible annimal attack, like mountain buffaloes. A $200 fee was not that expensive considering all the benefits associated with our trip.

[At the base camp after the first day hike]

We left the starting point at 10:30AM and we hiked until 2:30PM. It was a 4-hour hike. The first-day hike was through a rain forest. It was all wet and muddy. We had to wear rubber-made rain boots. Uncomfortable for the hiking, but there was no choice. Even soldiers were wearing the same rain boots. We hiked 1,200 meters in height from 2,500 m to 3,700 m. Tiring, but we were able to sustain it.

We stayed at the base camp that had only a roof cover and a wooden floor without any walls. We slept in the tents though. We arrived at the camp the mid afternoon, but we could not proceed. We had to be acclimatized to the altitude. I crawled into a tiny tent around 7PM and I rested. I had to preserve my energy. All night, there were all kinds of noises, but my intentional resting helped.

On the second day (December 24th), we woke up at 5AM and began the summit hike at 6AM with the guide and only one porter. We left all our luggage at the base camp. The summit hike was for 800 meters. Our goal was to reach the summit in 3-4 hours.

[Mt. Mekenro located in DR Congo]

We first had to go through another rain forest of a little more steep hills than the one we passed through the first day. We became more used to the hike, but it was still challenging to us. After the rain forest, we had to cross a jungle without any pathways. It was the toughest segment for me. We somehow had to manage to cross and hike up the jungle, following the guide and porter.

[This is part of the jungle we had to pass through.]

After the jungle came a steep hill with an almost 75 degree. It was more or less crawling and scrambling for us. It was above the tree line so there were no longer big trees, but only bushes and grasses. The mountain wind was blowing from our left to right. It was so strong carrying the mist of the clouds. Our left sides were all freezing. We had to hike the hill for almost an hour. It was a really challenging segment. Yurim gave up at this point because she could not handle the breathing. We could not continue more than 15 steps at a time. Each time we had to stop and control our breathing before we took the next steps. Bohye also felt like giving up at this segment, but she moved on and in fact reached the summit the earliest of us all. Hooray!!!

[Bohye was agonizing the hike in the jungle.]

All of sudden we started seeing black rocks that turned from magma when the mountain was a still active volcano. It was clear that we were getting close to the summit. The soldiers were way ahead of us, despite the rifles and machine guns they carried. They were encouraging us, saying that we were almost there. We made the final push little by little, but steadily.

At last, we reached the summit. Hallelujah!!!

We could not see anything, though, because we were in the clouds. But we were thrilled enough to be able to stand on top of the mountain Karisimbi or Rwanda. Yahoo!!!

[On top of Mr. Karisimbi]

We hugged the soldiers who traveled all the way up for us and also prayed for them as well as for the nation Rwanda. There was nothing other than a tower and it was extremely cold with a strong wind. So after taking a few photos, we had to depart the summit to get back down to the base camp.

The guide, Vincent, could not make it to the top, either. He said his lung could not sustain the height. So Deo, one of the porters, was with us all the way up along with the soldiers. He not only hiked with us but also carried a hot water container and other stuff for us. He never went out of breath and was helping the hike team members. It was amazing to us all.

The process of coming back down was also challenging primarily because of the steep hill and the jungle. But we had the excitement of the summit climb that kept us walking. It took us 2 hour 45 minutes to get back to the base camp. It was 12:45PM. We had to pack up and leave the base camp by no later than 1:30PM.

The final walk took us another 2 hour 45 minutes. It was not as difficult as the climb, but it was still not easy because our legs were aching and moreover it started hailing/raining after one hour of hike. The wet and muddy pathway became even wetter and muddier. Yikes!!!

[Bohye, George and me together at the summit. Omar later reached the top after Yurim gave up 200 meters before the summit.]

Instead of buying one, I borrowed a pair of rain boots and it was a mistake. They were apparently too old to be used for the hike. They did not have any traction and I kept slipping. After surviving 20-30 times of near slipping, I finally slipped and fell down in the muddy water. Ooooops and oooouch!!! I got all wet and dirty... Yikes.... But we had to move on.

By the time we arrived at the starting point, we were all exhausted and barely dragging our legs to the vehicle. It was 4:30PM and all in all it was 10 hours and 30 minutes since we began the day's hike at 6:00AM. The hike alone was approximately 9 hours and 30 minutes. It looked like a miracle that we were still in one piece.

[On the way down. Yurim with soldiers]

We thanked the Lord for His grace upon our journey. We thanked Him because it did not rain while we were hiking up. It would have been almost impossible to hike up with the rain boots that did not have any traction. We thanked Him also that no one was injured. We also thanked Him that most of us made it to the summit and that we even saw the snow at the summit. His creation was indeed marvelous all the way up and down. Praise the Creator God!!! - Jeffrey

Maputo, Mozambique (October 2010)

[A gorgeious sunrise that I luckily took at 5Am on one morning. It took only seconds for the sun to rise.]

[Cathedral that stands lofty downtown.... The Iron House designed by Mr. Eiffel, but unlivable because of the heat and humidity since it is made only of steel. Now it is a heritage center.]

[Central Railway Station that is 100 years old. The War Memorial Statue with a woman holding a snake that she caught using a hot portige soup. But commemorates the solidies who fought at The World War I.]

[Southern Sun Hotel where we stayed ... It is facing the Indian Ocean and the scenery was panoramic.]

Kristin and I traveled to Maputo, Mozambique taking advantage of Jeffrey's trip to attend the OI Africa CEO conference held in Maputo.

We arrived on Saturday (October 16th), very late, and the next morning we discovered that we slept right at the beach. It was a pleasant surprise! Ahhh... the soothing sounds of the breaking waves.

We took the city tour on Sunday: Central Railway Station, The Iron House (designed by Mr. Eiffel who designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris, The War Memorial (interesting a woman statue holding a snake), Visit to the Central Market (We bought a lot of cashewnuts), Botanical Gardens, Cathedral. several ministry buildings.

There are three-wheeler vehicle that you can ride to take a look around the city. They are called "Tuk-Tuk." We were planning to ride it, but ours had a bad engine so we ended up using a taxi. And I forgot to take a photo.

On Monday and Tuesday, we were originally planning to visit Swaziland, but we ended up cancelling it because the costs were too high for a marginal benefit, in light of the border fees to pay to entere the Swaziland and reentrance visa fee to Mozambique, and transportation fees. So we ended up deferring it until later, hopefully.

So we relaxed quite a bit on both days, but we enjoyed the famous seafood of Mozambique every dinner. We went to Sagres, Costa do Sol and Spicy Thai. They all were wonderful! I ate a lot of delicious seafood so that I may not miss them for quite some time.

One morning at 5AM, I caught the moment of the sun rising over the horizon. As usual, it was a breath-taking and gorgeous. So here they are.

We were grateful for the opportunity to see and experience another African country. - Jeffrey

Accra, Ghana (September 2010)

[At the memorial center for Dr. Kwame Nkrumae, the first president of Ghana who led the country as part of the Pan-African vision.]

I participated in a week-long Opportunity International Africa conference that took place in Accra, Ghana, in September 2010. I had an opportunity to look around in the city of Accra, the capital city of Ghana on Friday and Saturday.

Ghana is called "the Gateway to West Africa." It is the transportation hub to many neighboring countries. It borders with Togo (East), Burkina Faso (North) and Ivory Coast (West). All neighboring countries are Francophone, but Ghana is Anglophone along with Liberia and Nigeria.

[Huge bamboo trees]

Ghanians, as they are called, are very friendly and warm people. Ghana is a safe country with political stability. But the country's weather is hot and humid since it is close to the equator and facing the Atlantic Ocean to the south.

Together with other conference participants, I walked around the Makalo Market located in the center of Accra. It has everything you need, literally. It is huge and you can be easily lost if you do not know the way around. We also visited an Art Center where you can buy many traditional souvenirs. It was full of small shops where very aggressive solicitation was rampant. We also visited the Memorian Center for Dr. Kwame Nkrumae, the first president of Ghana. He was a visionary who saw the Pan-African vision and actually shared resources to help other neighboring countries attain the state independence, such as Guinea.

On Saturday, we visited the city's Botanical Garden that was built by the British colonists 110 years ago. We saw very interesting trees, plants, flowers and vegetables.

[A ficus tree emptied by a parasyte tree. This photo was taken inside the tree towards the top.]

More than anything else, I was able to enjoy a variety of dilicious seafood that is rare delicacy in Rwanda.

Overall, it was short but sweet. - Jeffrey

Woonlim Sanbang...(May 2010)

Huh Ryun was also called Sochi. This name, Sochi, was given by his master/teacher Choosa Kim Junghee. Choosa was one of the most famous caligrapher and painter in the Korean history. Choosa was comparing him to Daechi of China who was renowned as a painter at that time. It was a great honor for Sochi. He was one of the King's painters working at the King's palace.

After Choosa died, Sochi came down to his home town at Jindo Island and established Woolim-gak (Woolim means Cloud and Woods literally. Woolim Sanbang means Clouds and Woods and Mountain Place.) He painted, wrote and enjoyed the beauty of the nature. He showed great talents in three areas: painting, poem and caligraphy. I could see his great talent by looking at some of his work at the Exhibition Center.

Huh Ryun's artistic talent did not stop with himself. His DNA continued with his son Huh Hyung (Midang) and Midang's two sons Huh Geon (Namnong) and Huh Rim (Rimin). Noteworthy is Namnong Huh Geon. Sochi's Woolim-gak was sold by one of his grand children for mony, but Namnong bought the property back and restored the buildings as shown in the painting. Then he has donated it all to the government. Now it is one of the national treasures. Namnong made great efforts to teaching and built a memorial center, called Namnong Memorial Center, and donated it to the Mokpo City.

Huh Ryun's heritage continued beyond third generations. Huh Rim artistic greatness was short-lived because he died at 27, but before he died his paintings gained a lot of recognition from Korea as well as Japan. Huh Rim's son Huh In carried on the family's articstic DNA under Namnong's teaching. Now Huh Rim's two sons are continuing with painting.

All in all, Huh Ryun's artistic talent is flowing into five generations, probably very rare even from the world's point of view. Great achievement and great art work. I felt awesome at the talent, dedication, great work. - Jeffrey