The Lee Tae-seok Foundation established the Lee Tae-seok Elementary School to carry on the legacy of the late priest Father Lee Tae-seok, who was recognized as Sudan’s Schweitzer. According to the Foundation’s Chairman, Goo Soo-hwan, the Lee Tae-sok Foundation has taken over Lachok Elementary School in a Tonj lepers’ village that was closed due to the withdrawal of government funding. The school was renamed Lee Tae-seok Elementary School and began normal operations on December 19th, 2022. This school plans to enroll 34 kindergarteners and 100 elementary school students, and currently employs 5 teachers and 3 staff members.

Chairman Goo remarked, “I am so emotional and incredibly happy to see desks in classrooms and young students in uniforms.” Then, he remarked, “After seeing the children’s smiles, I thought it was an excellent choice.” He thanked the local employees of the Foundation and the students of the late Father Lee for their contributions to the school’s successful opening.

The Foundation’s local administrator, Taban Bol Diing was a student of the late Father Lee, with whom Chairman Goo was acquainted during the filming of the movie Buhwal (Resurrection). He used to work for an international NGO, and due to his special connections with the late Father Lee, he took responsibility for the management of the school. He painted the classrooms with other Lee Tae-seok Foundation scholars and worked hard to equip the school with desks and furniture. When he learned that there was a shortage of teachers, he volunteered to teach third and fourth graders, demonstrating his affection for the school. Additionally, the school intends to construct facilities to run distance-learning between Sudan and South Korea, allowing students to study diverse subjects such as art and science.

Chairman Goo added, “It was the sincere love of the supporters that made the impossible possible, a feat that no one could have imagined,” and he pledged to fill the school with love and happiness, saying, “The Lee Tae-seok Foundation is doing its best to spread the late Father Lee’s spirit through education, and we plan to establish a Lee Tae-seok School in South Korea next year.”

The Lee Tae-seok Foundation also supports 46 scholars with tuition and living expenses so that the students of the late Father Lee can grow to become respectable South Sudanese leaders. The Foundation revealed the photos and letters which the scholars sent, expressing their gratitude to the supporters of the Foundation. 

<A letter from Peter Ayiei Bol> 

Hi Munhee Heo and the director of Dr. Lee Tae Seok Foundation. 

Greetings to you over there and wishing you happy Christmas and New Year in advance from your beloved students at the university of Bahr El Ghazal.

We’re very glad for the tremendous support the Foundation is giving us and we hope to end this year joyfully.

We promise that we will work in collaboration with the Foundation for the welfare of the vulnerable people of Lachok and the globe in the near future to come.

Chairman Goo said that he feels most gratified by the students’ radiant smiles. He added that, when students thank him for allowing them to concentrate on their study, he feels happy and it gives him an opportunity to reflect on his life. He remarked that he learns from the students in Sudan what a truly happy life is. Goo concluded, “I would like to send my sincere thanks to all the supporters of the Foundation, who planted hope in the youths of a country ravaged by war and poverty. I hope that the heartwarming stories of Father Lee’s students come to you all as a Christmas gift.”