culture

Orphans are cheerfully growing up to be pillars of the country without knowing the sadness of having lost parents at the Pyongyang Orphanage located at the best place on the picturesque banks of the Taedong River.

Giving full play to their talents

Wow, what a clever boy! Does Yu Song have such conceiving abilities? I was wrong to think that he has a bad brain as he has a poor memory as compared with other children...

This was what senior teacher Cha Song Rim thought at the sight of the boy using a construction toy to make a model of a tank in the intelligence-promoting play room.

The teacher then inwardly decided to put him to the handicrafts group.

Thus, Yu Song, who had been sent to the orphanage after being orphaned unexpectedly in December last year, began to develop his talent at the group.

At the orphanage's skills show held on April 15, Yu Song presented vivid models of a pursuit fighter jet, a shield and a terraced house of Kyongru-dong he made with construction toys to win the admiration of the orphanage’s teachers and other employees.

Thanks to the sincere efforts of the teachers who find out and develop potential natural aptitudes of the orphans in time, the children are giving full play to their talents at various groups including those of vocal music, oungum, piano, calligraphy, dribbling and paduk.

Choe Kum Song, who had correctly drawn the strokes of Korean letters with a stick during the hour of outdoor play, joined the calligraphy group to practise the art under the instruction of teacher Jon Yu Gyong.

Choe Ja Yong and Choe Son Nam are learning two or three skills including singing, janggu playing and drawing.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un instructed that the children should be trained well so that they could become famous scientists, sportspersons, artistes, soldiers and heroes. The teachers of the orphanage are working guided by his instruction.

‘They eat all day’

“It’s no exaggeration to say that our orphans ‘eat all day’,” Choe Song Ran, headmistress of the orphanage, said smilingly.

In the morning, the orphans drink honeyed water first and have foods of enough calories at each meal according to the timetable and between meals they eat fruits, including watermelon, melon and strawberry, according to seasons and a variety of confectionery. And they are provided with even Jonghyang compound bacteria drink lest they should have indigestion.

Some of the children, however, do not eat well, worrying teachers.

Teacher Pak Jong Chong persuaded a boy, saying, “Chang Guk, if you eat so little, you will remain small and get weak and you will be unable to become a football player as you want.” Then she said there appears such a child as they are always supplied with delicious foods according to the timetable.

Under the loving care of the Workers’ Party of Korea, orphans’ growth rate is above the standard one.

Photo albums of orphans

Each of the orphans has a thick photo album.

The albums contain photos of children sitting at tables groaning with delicacies such as fish, duck eggs, dried persimmons and dairy products, those holding “Haebaragi” school things in their arms after receiving them, girls with “Cosmos” hairpins on their heads, kids relishing meals and those playing cheerfully. They squeal with laughter whenever they see the photos.

After leaving the orphanage, they go to primary school for orphans bringing the albums with them.

Each page of the albums tells the benevolence of the motherly Party showing warmer love for the orphans than the affection of their parents.

Everyone looks at the albums in wide-eyed wonder.

The albums, filled with photos of the orphans’ happy looks, which have nothing to do with the words orphan and sorrow, will serve as a mirror of their precious memories and a record telling about the love of the Party in the distant future, the headmistress said.