Hello Friend, 

When you hear about North Korea, you think of socialism, dictatorship, food shortages, and poor living conditions.

But little is told about what happens to the citizens. What happened to me.

My name is Grace Jo. I escaped North Korea and the horrors of socialism.

Most Americans today don’t understand what socialism does to you. How it steals your humanity–starves your soul, your mind, your stomach of all that freedom provides.
 

That’s why I want to tell my story to students across America. 
 

Young Voice’s Dissident Project brings survivors of tyrannical socialist countries to high schools around the United States to tell their stories.

We are countering the mainstream narratives about how peaceful and successful socialism can be. Too many young people are taught to believe the United States is an evil, oppressive country and that capitalism is a failure. 

Friend, can you help sponsor a student for just $15, so they can hear my story—the story of a survivor? Click here to donate $15, $45, $90, or any amount >>>

I am starting to see more and more similarities between North Korea and America. 

College students and others now censor themselves to avoid public backlash over the tiniest of things.

This reminds me of how in North Korea, everyone must censor themselves because if they’re caught saying anything negative about the regime, they could be thrown in jail or even executed. While no one is getting executed in the United States, people are self-censoring, or else they get kicked out of prestigious organizations or canceled by online mobs. 

This is my story:
 

During the 90s, North Korea suffered one of the world’s worst famines.

During that time, I only ate about 1 meal a week—a little rice, maybe some vegetables. Sometimes even mice that we caught. 

In 1998, my grandmother and younger brothers all passed away because of starvation. The food situation was very bad. My younger brother and I were starved for 10 days straight. We only drank cold water because there was no food we could find.

My father was tortured and starved to death, he passed away when North Korean agents transferred him from a detention center to a jail, and his “crime” was that he left his country in search of food for his family. 

That was when my mother, sister, and I first escaped, and it turned into the first of many, as we were caught, repatriated, and escaped again. 

Some of my family escaped, but most were murdered by the regime. 

This is just a small part of my story, Friend. 

Coming to America changed my life. 
 

In North Korea, we are taught to avoid Americans. If we see them, we should try to kill them because they are our enemies.
 

But I’ve learned that that isn’t true. Americans are kind, generous, and caring.

That’s why I’m asking for your support, Friend. Can you help sponsor the Dissident Program, so I can share my story? Click any button to send your donation.
 

Donate $15 and sponsor 1 student>>>
Donate $45 and sponsor 3 students >>>
Donate $90 and sponsor 6 students>>>
Donate $300 and sponsor a classroom >>>
Donate $900 and sponsor 3 classrooms >>>
Donate $3,000 and sponsor a school >>>
Donate Any Amount >>>
 

Thank you, 


Grace Jo