17-year-old Preaches Diversity

The book titled “Tales of a Small World” consisting of 16 fairytales from six countries is designed to help children attending a newly opened multicultural educational institution Jiguchon International School.

Ban Hwi-eun, 17, was one of two Asian students in her class in Australia when she was seven. At first, she felt like an outsider as she was outwardly different from the majority of her classmates.

But she remembers she was never bullied, estranged or treated unfairly by her peers or teachers. Rather her school cared more about helping her learn the language and hang out with her friends.

After moving from one country to another and back to Korea, her experience is becoming an asset on how to see this society going multicultural.

Ban joined a multicultural volunteer group called Global Sarang Nanum or G4W to help immigrant workers and biracial children when she was 11.

She has recently released a book titled “Tales of a Small World,” which consists of 16 fairytales from six countries - China, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, the Philippines and Mongolia. Written in Korean and English, the book is designed for children attending a newly opened multicultural educational institution Jiguchon International School. Located in Oryu-dong, Seoul, the school was launched two years ago to offer education for multiracial children who could not adjust to other schools.

“I want to help them understand each other’s culture through fairytales,” she said in an interview with The Korea Times.

Ban, an 11th grader attending the Asia Pacific International School in Seoul, interviewed foreign workers, migrant wives and other foreign residents living in Korea to collect stories about their homelands. Then she translated them into English.

She said her experiences in the United States, Canada and Australia have inspired her to better help those in need. The school...