The Wisconsin Magazine; 1324

[music] Were. (inaudible) need to talk about this (inaudible). I fully expect that they'll pass. And the only reason they won't pass is if people don't go and vote. Even though it can be emotionally draining sometimes I still We'd like to say we're changing the world a little bit. One child at a time. The Wisconsin Magazine

with Dave Iverson is a weekly presentation of Wisconsin Public Television. We have a full hour of documentary reports tonight ranging from the Korean countryside to the farmlands of Wisconsin. Stories about hope and about the future, about one kind of gambling - the lottery, and another kind of gambling - farming. You may think you've heard this first report 100 times before: a farm family down on its luck facing an uncertain future. The litany of hard times is a familiar one. And like any familiar story, the farm story is easy to sometimes tune out. But the report you're about to see is also about continuity, about endurance. Our first story tonight "Harvest of Hope" reported by Steve Jandecek photographed by Frank Boll. [music]

Here to announce a foreclosure sale. Mutual Life Insurance Company in New York. New York corporation [inaudible] [inaudible] The last few years have been painful ones for Sandra Simonson [inaudible] northeast border of section 35 all in Township 21, north range 6 west In 1984 Simonson's husband Glenn was killed in a freak farm accident. Then she lost her livestock and farm machinery. Today she's losing the land and her home. The amount bid at 86 thousand, even. Going once.

Going twice. [inaudible] back to the plaintiff. The amount of $86,000 [sobbing] [Music] This auction marks the end of a way of life for this 44 year old widow. [Weeping] It's time for some good things to happen. Glenn and Sandra Simonson were born and raised on farms in Taylor and Jackson County. Married in 1961, they raised five children and operated a 400-acre dairy farm. Their hardships began in 1971 when the barn burned down. When we were going to rebuild that barn, we had originally had 30 cows there. And when we had to rebuild, the financial institutions encouraged, even more than encouraged, said you need to build for 60. So we did. And then it was the next step was

to buy my father's farm, and then you run into needing more machinery. It was the era of expansion. In 1977 two of Simonsons' children were ill and medical bills mounted. Then there was the death of the hired man who fell from the silo. Mark Simonson was 12 years old at the time. My dad was about half way up the silo and we had a neighbor who was helping us, so [inaudible] I just about caught him and he just missed my dad and he just missed that neighbor, so it could have been four of us. In the fall of 1981 the Simonsons bought a couple of cattle, which were apparently infected with chlamydia. Soon the entire herd was infected. And that following year we lost 25, 26 adult cows. And our milk production dropped to around 12. That was only about the year we filed Chapter 11 reorganization. To pay the

bills and keep things running on the farm, Glenn Simonson took a job with the National Farmers Organization (NFO) 60 miles away. The job kept him away from the farm except for weekends. Then in July 1984 Glenn Simonson died in a tractor accident. [unclear] and popped out. [unclear] [unclear] caught the lugs in the tractor and [unclear] right up over top of [unclear] and pinned him to the steering post. Killed instantly. After her husband's death Sandra Simonson tried to continue farming but the bills continue to mount. Without the outside income from her husband's job there was no way to pay off debt. We definitely were accused of the poor management and I'm the first to say that yes we will accept part of that responsibility.

However, like I think I said to you before, don't take the whole load because there were many situations on our particular farm arrangement there that were not directly our fault. There were circumstances beyond our control. [unclear] gambling with the Mother Nature and it's a risky profession. The auction marked the end of three generations of family farming. Mark Simonson's grandfather farmed just over the hill from here. That's his family he was born and raised. And this is the farm he farmed. It's the farm my father was raised on. My grandfather moved back to the other farm then. So there's a long history of your family farming This area. This area, yeah. Up there used to be another farm which my uncle used to farm. Hard times have it family farmers all over the country and the Simonsons are proof that these hard

times are not always of the farmers own doing. accidents. How do feel I mean after today? Are you relieved that it's over and it's time to move on to another chapter? Yeh, relieved that it's over. Time to do something different. Doing something different is Sandor Simonson's way. On the day of the bank foreclosures she's treating the loss of the farm the same way she did when she lost her husband. She's having a funeral. It's been 962 days since Clint died. And today we're here to close a Really. [crying]

Next to her husband's grave Sandra Simonson is bearing a glass jar filled with soil. It is a symbolic gesture this funeral for the farm. Simonson says it is symbolic of the plight of the family farm. For her the grief over losing the farm is the same grief she felt for the loss of a loved one. ...gather hand in hand. The farm family

stays together. You bet we do. The grains of wheat Glen Simonson's grave characterize his struggle to save the family farm in the midst of her struggles Sandra Simonton says she has found a new calling. To save the farm family. And Lord walk with Sandra. Walk with Sandra as she goes forward with Project Hope as she ministers to other farm families that have lost their farms and their loved ones. Amen. In the months leading up to the auction Simonson thought about how she could help other farmers cope with stress, bankruptcy and beginning new lives. She created Project Hope short for help our people endure. And I am so thankful that we did what we did yesterday and walked through that. Because I have now walked that road and I now can be able to help others do a similar thing. Funded by Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin Project Hope

was designed as an emotional support group for farm families. Simonson now spends much of her time counseling others. One of the things I have struggled with is all the farmers that have the anger and the bitterness would have been buried inside of them. We buried ours in the ground and let it go so that we intern can move on. In her new work Simonson's job is to listen listen to the frustrations and anger of families threatened with losing a way of life. People need to talk about this. There is such a need for a listening ear. And that's one of the things that we want to do here with Project Hope. Because she has been so open about her own experiences Sandra Simonson seems to give other farmers the permission to talk about their troubles. Either it's hate or it's failure. There's no happy medium. You know [unclear] get in to a group like this. Harlan and Candy Johnson of Prairie farmer part of a support group Simonson works with. This group meets often to talk about the stresses the

farm crisis has put on the family. My oldest one will not take a class trip because hey I gotta ask mom and dad for $10 that maybe isn't on payday. He didn't go to confirmation [unclear] because it cost 33 dollars. That's when I tell the banker hey you know this is not worth it. And for us that were brought up you know my dad always said you work hard and someday that farm will be yours. And it's just up to the last two years that I've given up on that. No more. No more hard work. It just it doesn't make it anymore. All the hard work that Candy and Harlan Johnson put into their farm couldn't get them out of debt. They recently auctioned off their livestock and machinery. I talked to my youngest boy here last week and I says study hard in school because there ain't going to be no farm for you. It ain't peaches and cream anymore.

Support groups like this one are springing up all over Wisconsin and neighboring states. Here farmers can get together and talk and help each other out. Sharing their thoughts relieves tension and loneliness. This group for instance helped a friend make the difficult decision to quit farming. We were there right with him. Literally holding hands with them as they were packing as are getting ready to leave. So when they left they left a group of people that cared for em and loved them. And that's a little different than leaving with a whole neighborhood around you're watching and you're wondering what do they think? Exactly. Are they condemning us. Do they feel sad because they're leaving or what have you. Without the kind of support that family and friends provide the stresses on farmers during these tough

times can create a sense of isolation despair and helplessness. The result is a major increase in the incidence of suicide among farmers. We need to be addressing that issue of the thoughts of suicide because I had a man talk to me that told me his plan for his suicide. And the following 24 hours there were five men that came and told me their plan or a family member's plan for their suicide. And I'm struggling with how can we help give these men permission to talk about what's going on inside. Just like I named my farm Little View Dairy. Well I had a little view of making it maybe. Well it got darker. Right now some 39 states allow parimutuel betting 27 have state lotteries.

All of our neighboring states for example have some form of legalized gambling and the question of course now is Should Wisconsin follow suit. So before you vote next Tuesday here's one more look at the pros and cons of legalized gambling. The story is called Beyond bingo produced by Mark Weller and narrated by Art Hackett. Wherever you live in Wisconsin you'll vote on two questions next Tuesday. Here they are in their abbreviated form. Shall the constitution be revised to permit parimutuel on track betting but prohibiting state ownership or operation and shall the constitution be revised to permit the creation of a lottery to be operated by the state and requiring the proceeds to be used for property tax relief. It's these questions that could push Wisconsin past the bingo barrier. Well I have spent almost a decade studying this question and I have been convinced that I am prepared to vote for both issues. Representative Richard Shoemaker of Menominee sponsored the parimutuel Amendment. He also supports the

lottery. I think both programs can be put together in Wisconsin to the benefit of Wisconsin either for recreational activity or diversion from a day of these activity with a lottery and that that will serve our state well. I'll be voting against the referendums on gambling and I think other people should as well. Reverend Tim Cahill is chairman of the gambling issues taskforce of the Wisconsin conference of churches. Everybody has that kind of human gullibility to want to get rich without work. That's a given but whether the government should exploit that gullibility for its own financial gain. That is not a given. Gambling by definition offers few givens. The bettors usually lose the house usually wins. And in the case of the lottery the house is the state of Wisconsin. According to estimates from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau state government could make 59 million dollars a figure supporters feel is too conservative.

Considering our population, the activities around our border I firmly believe that a 150 million dollars is a figure we can honestly talk about. If you talk to those that are in the industry they want us to talk about 225 to 275 million dollars. Now we may get there over time but I think initially a 150 million dollars is a reasonable thinking. [unclear background noise] With big numbers like that being mentioned perhaps it's not surprising big numbers of Wisconsin residents seem to want to chance to place their bets at the track or try their luck in the lottery. A Milwaukee Journal survey shows 77 percent of those polled would vote for a state run lottery while 28 percent would vote against it. When asked about parimutuel betting specifically horse racing 59 percent voted yes while 30 percent voted no. The proponents seem to be winning by several lengths. I fully expect that they'll pass and the only reason they won't pass is if people don't go and vote and that the vocal minority that is out there now seems to get more people to the polls

that what the majority seems to be representing to date. That vocal minority is headed up by Reverend Cahill. At the Wisconsin conference of Churches which represents 14 major Protestant denominations in Wisconsin has sent letters to every one of its churches and has sent a bulletin insert for the Sunday bulletin that gives our side of the story and asks people to vote their conscience. Just knock on the doors, hand them the flyer and say I would like to give you this flyer on the gambling issues and I hope you'll vote against them. Cahill has mobilized volunteers around the state to go door to door in their neighborhoods to lobby against both referenda. We have to have 250,000 flyers that we hope to get under doors in the next week before the election. Hi. Looks like a mob approach. We hope you don't mind. We're distributing material for the gambling issue. We hope you'll read it and consider it help us bot it down. Thank you very much. Thank you. The opposition coalitions have been given a boost by newspaper

editorials throughout the state. Milwaukee's two daily papers the Journal and The Sentinel oppose gambling as do both the Madison newspapers the Capitol Times and the State Journal. Other papers like the La Crosse Tribune, the Wausaut daily and the Rhinelander Daily News have urged through their editorials to support the gambling referendum. But when the church groups have failed to get editorial support they've brought their message to the airwaves. On April 7th we vote on legalized gambling in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin conference of churchs is opposed to both the state lottery in parimutuel betting because we believe that state government should stay out of the gambling business. We hope that you will agree with us when you vote on April 7th. Pro gambling organizations like the Wisconsin horse Foundation have distributed bumper stickers and posters that read. Giddyup vote yup. And horse racing makes sense for Wisconsin with the word sense spelled with a C. Reverend Cahill argues that the only thing that makes sense is voting no on April 7th.

Case after case has shown that race tracks do nothing but draw criminals into the area and there have been so many scandals. It's just like my attitude is while it may not be wrong it's just why bring this headache upon the people of Wisconsin. We don't have gambling now. We don't have horse racing tracks we don't have organized crime running gambling operations. Why bring that all in. That concern is shared by Wisconsin's Attorney General Donald Hanaway. The fact of the matter is in our contact of law enforcement agencies in other states that have legalized either parimutual betting or lottery or both we find that there is an increase in crime. The attorney general has suggested that the state would need to spend between 8 and 10 million dollars to deal with crime problems that he says accompany gambling. Don Hanaway may have a problem. But only in his mind. Representative Shoemaker strongly disagrees that gambling automatically brings organized crime. Those that would argue that organized crime is going to invade the state and is going to corrupt our government

doesn't understand Wisconsin government and I'm most surprised attorney general of the state you can tell he's new to his job doesn't understand that we're not going to be corrupted. We're warning people that it could happen we want to have tight regulations if these amendments are approved to see that it doesn't happen and it could cost a lot of money and I think that both legislators and people ought to consider that when they vote. This is w o r t f m in Madison Wisconsin it's time for a public affair and this is Jeff Hansen. The topic for today is Should Wisconsin have a lottery and or parimutuel betting. And opponents of gambling have taken advantage whatever they can of media interest in the subject. Supporters on the other hand feeling confident of victory generally have not done much last minute campaigning. They take advantage of the old political adage that says when you're winning you keep your mouth shut. At this Madison talk show STATE SENATOR Jerome Van Sistine who's the primary sponsor of the lottery referendum declined to make a personal appearance. Instead he said his legislative aide Debra Jenkins. The proceeds of

the lottery will be used for as stated in the question property tax relief. Proceeds from the lottery will go to property tax relief. But opponents like to point out that the benefits to the typical Wisconsin property owner will be small. Assuming the lottery generates 59 million dollars the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance reports the taxes on a $75,000 home will decrease by only $36. You know there's a great public demand for property tax relief. But the public the public isn't going to get property tax relief. It's a false illusion and it's illusion that has been sown to a large degree a large degree sowed by the proponents themselves. Do you agree with that? I disagree wholeheartedly the proponents of the lottery have never said that the primary issue will be property tax relief. That being on the ballot isn't going to hurt your case though is it. Certainly not. Regardless of the amount linking the lottery to property tax assistance is certain

Whether it's a large amount or small amount most people are telling me whenever it is we're willing to take it in these hard times. Despite all these arguments for or against gambling images like this could eventually become part of the Wisconsin tradition. Both houses of the state legislature have already voted twice on these issues. Next Tuesday it's your turn. We believe that Wisconsin has a great tradition of protecting its citizens clean government and open government and this gambling legislation puts us in a league with other states who exploit their citizens trying to swindle them out of their hard earned cash. We don't feel that's the proper role of government and we think the voters will reject it. I fully expect people I've gotten to the point in their mind to give this a try give it a chance. And that's what they're going to vote for. If you would like to comment on this week's program write to the Wisconsin magazine

21 University Avenue Madison Wisconsin 5 3 7 0 6. In Milwaukee a little girl named Kyung Suk Chung is waiting for the surgery that will hopefully help her be able to walk again. Kyung came here from South Korea for the medical help she can't get in her own country. She was brought here by a group called Heal the children a national organization with a chapter in Milwaukee last December several members of the Milwaukee group traveled to South Korea to bring Kyung Suk and several other children back to Wisconsin. A crew from the Wisconsin magazine went along to document how those efforts changed the lives of both the children and those around them. Tonight's documentary report one child at a time produced and reported by Carol Larson. I think the world is small.

The kids are certainly the same. And then we'll go on a big plane together, all right? The reason that we bring them here is because we have hope for them. It's just a feeling that we just have to keep trying because there are more and more children out there that need care and we just have to keep reaching to help those children. The capital of South Korea called The Land Of The Morning Calm. Calm often broken by traffic and the rush of Western style modernization. [music]

[music] Like much of Korea Seoul was once reduced to rubble by a war that ended only 30 years ago. Bouncing back faster than any other developing nation Korea stands a contrasting mixture of the past, the present, and hopes for a better future. Contrast is a way of life. The old and the new. The East and the West. The rich and the poor. The modern and the traditional. Opposites always in pursuit of balance a philosophy depicted in the flag the T'aegukki symbol of the yin and the yang. The duality of the world always in motion always in balance. Korea is itself divided in two. To the north separated by a militarized zone is North Korea a dictator run and communist backed brother

still threatening unification. Seoul lies 30 miles south of the Korean DMZ. Defense is the priority. And soldiers a constant presence. Korea now has one of the world's largest military establishments as well as one of the fastest growth rates. But this too stands in contrast to other priorities. Contrast more apparent outside the city. In the countryside. The land is mostly mountains mostly rural and on an early December morning shrouded in fog. [speaking Korean] Korea's progress has crept into the countryside but slowly the signs of modern life plough the same fields alongside the more traditional means.

To the eyes of Americans life here is a stark contrast to their own. Provence a 7 hour drive south of Seoul and the home of Mr. Park and his family of 5. Mr. Park cannot work because he is paralyzed on one side nor can he pay for the medical help needed by his daughter. Several years ago it was discovered that 8 year old Sun-young suffered from a heart defect. If left untreated she would probably die by age 12. [translator]: There's no way to save his daughter's life because he doesn't have any money. There's no way to get you know the medical the benefit from our side. Desperate. There's no hope. In

Korea only the children of government workers are the employees of big companies have medical insurance. Social services are few and limited. By tradition the family takes care of itself. Tradition also directs that classmates are a child's second family throughout life. Sun-young's classmates from a small rural town of [unclear] tried to help her by raising money for a heart operation. [unclear] some money about 160 dollar. The translator Mr. Lim will add the money to other donations made to his organization the International Human Assistance Fund. The fund finds medical help for Korean children from charitable groups in and outside of Korea.

This is for the children. One of those groups is heal the children a U.S. organization that matches those who need help with those who can help. Sharon Cruzniak and Beth Peters are from the Milwaukee chapter of heal the children in Korea to meet with the different groups and agencies families and children looking for medical treatment from the U.S. Going on the airplane. This trip Sun-young will be one of several children Beth Peters and Sharon Cruzniak escort to the U.S. for medical care, medical services donated free of charge. We try to serve children according to the services that we have available in Wisconsin and those will be services in the area of cardiac surgery of orthopedic work helping children who have children with problems needing plastic surgery.

We know our limitations and we try to be as effective as we can. And we just hope that making a dent, chipping away sometimes it becomes overwhelming. But if you don't begin and take one child at a time you don't get anything done so. Hospitals for poor children and orphans do exist in Korea but they are few in contrast to what is needed. In Seoul this small hospital called Angel house is part of a privately run agency called the Eastern welfare society. One-sided. It's not bilateral. At Eastern welfare Sharon Cruzniak and Beth Peters screen referrals, orphan children with medical needs beyond what the welfare society can provide. ...before her treatment is complete.

Anyway because we'll do the lip first and then the palette. Neither Sharon Cruzniak or Beth Peters are nurses though Sharon is a part time medical lab assistant. Beth is a part time home economics teacher. Both have adopted children from Korea. I think we have a great hope more than anything else. And the hope would be that in working with children who have medical problems we are enhancing their lives giving their lives greater value and then when they return to their homes and their families they can live a more normal healthy comfortable happy life. Hope balanced by reality. One of the pitfalls of helping a child is having to choose which child. This baby may need too much too soon for heal the children's program to provide. It pains me to have to say no to a child. If it

were if I were led by my heart I would like to take every single one of them. Bringing a sick child to the United States also includes a barrage of paperwork. A minimum of 21 government forms must be completed and approved for each child leaving Korea a process that can steal valuable time. Since 1984 the Milwaukee chapter of heal children has brought 46 kids to the U.S. 10 from Korea where the road through the red tape has been at least smoothed by those who travel it frequently. We have 2000 over 2000 children On your waiting list? On a waiting list. How many children of you already worked with? Harriet Hodges is the volunteer head of the international human assistance fund working with Mr. Lim to help children with heart problems.

The wife of a career army man Harriet Hodges has spent much of her life in Asia. This year Sun-young becomes one in a long line of children she has sent to the U.S. for surgery. A line it started in 1972 with the daughter of a cook at the Army base. I never intended to have a program. It was forced on me. Well the children came as you saw It's just very difficult to turn them down. Their mothers might mean saving their lives. Although very subtle there's no question this is this is Harriet Hodge's efforts have made her program one of the most successful of its kind. Balancing what is needed in Korea with what is available in the U.S.. States can have free open heart surgery if they can afford to do it in Korea. Don't they do heart surgery now? Yes, they do heart

surgery now but they are not as advanced and most of these cases are a little bit are complicated. Number 1. Number 2 the people that I'm working with just don't have the money. The situation is the same for 5 year old [unclear] and his parents from a mountain village called [unclear] 5 hours drive southwest of Seoul. They have come to international human assistance with a heart surgery [unclear] needs But his parents cannot afford. Two years ago Mr. Lim says it was a meter man who came to read the electrical first recognized the seriousness of the boy's symptoms. International human assistance will provide the plane ticket to the United States.

The children will arrange for the hospital. Family will take care of him while he's in the United States. They must balance placing their child in the hands of strangers with the hope of saving his life. You can imagine how that mother felt that she was sending her child to a foreign country to somebody she doesn't even know who is going to operate. Never talk to them. come back. You know that takes a lot of courage. On the plane from Seoul Beth Peters sits next to a four year old [unclear] the third child going to Milwaukee

for surgery along with Sun-young and Ja-suk. Basic question how are you holding up after all of this? I'm hanging in there. Does it feel like after 10 1/2 hours and nine children on a plane? It's tiring. The other children being escorted to the states include several babies for an adoption agency. Several children for the Los Angeles chapter of heal the children and several for the Chicago chapter. The trip takes about 30 hours from Seoul to Los Angeles to the Milwaukee airport where friends and family are anxiously waiting. Among the crowd at the airport is Rebecca Peterson the third member and founder of Milwaukee's chapter of Heal the children. We do say it's a labor of love and and labor the more we want to. We could send doctors over there I suppose and some doctors do go over there.

It's costly to do that too. Sometimes it's easier to just put that little child on a plane with a free escort and do the surgery and then return the child home quickly. Rebecca Peterson brought the first child in 1984 and played foster mother to the little Ji-son, one of Harriet Hodges kids. As with one child soon led to another. Even though it can be emotionally draining sometimes I think we like to say we're changing the world a little bit one child at a time. [clapping] Everyone is here safely and

in the arms of everybody they should be with I guess. In the midst of families reuniting and new families being formed. Rebecca Peterson takes note of one of the children bound for Illinois. [background talking] She is My-young a very sick little girl and an example of the risk taken in this effort. One week after the flight My-young died on the operating table. Several weeks after her arrival Kyung-suk is examined at an orthopedic clinic in Waukesha where Dr. Alfred Critter has volunteered to see to her care. Kyung-suk was abandoned at birth and tossed between orphanages and foster homes. Her leg muscles are atrophied and her feet rounded out instead of arched. The hips are very straight which is typical in a child that hasn't walked. Certainly the feet can be corrected. But again you wouldn't correct the feet until you

know what the cause of her problems are. Diagnosis treatment and recovery could take a year or more. During that time Kyung will be staying with Judy Kinney and her family. [family talking in background] [family talking in background] It's been quite a little hard in the fact that we have another person here constantly talking and needing attention. I was really excited to think that with her not having a family that we could do this for. She's a real lovable little thing. She's really easy to love. Kyung-suk's treatment will take time. The other children's problems are more immediate. The problem with our children today is number 1

there's a big hole in the wall connecting the two ventricles the left ventricle and the right ventricle. Dr David Freidburg of St. Joseph Hospital in Milwaukee. Number 2 that there is narrowing and an abnormality of this valve with a lot of muscle buildup right below it. Dr. Freidburg has also volunteered his services as cardiologist studying the children's heart defects. Well it's one of the more serious of the open heart operations as a matter of fact I would say in many respects it's one of the more difficult ones because you are really redoing the internal architecture of the heart. You can see it now way to its way to the heart squeezes down there. You'll notice that not only did we fill the pulmonary artery we also filled the aorta. Because of the whole blood without oxygen pumps through their bodies. To repair the

problem entails filling in the hole and scraping out the built up tissue. Medical expertise balanced by risk. The same procedure was used with the little girl who died in Chicago. I had confidence in the doctors. I had confidence in the hospital. But nevertheless I kept thinking this is really serious far more serious than I really realized. Two weeks after arriving in the U.S. Ja-suk undergoes open heart surgery. The surgeon and anesthesiologist have donated their time and abilities for the operation. The hospital will pay for the needed staff and care. The operation itself will take four and a half hours. The surgery went as hoped. Ja-suk has turned from blue to a healthy pink.

Sharon Cruzniak is with him. He was immediately changed as soon as he came back from surgery. He said his color was great. When I saw him I was so suprised. Look at his fingers, they're just fine. Remember how his cheeks were flushed purple. It's fine now, aren't you? A few days later it is Sun-young's turn. For Sun-young the operation is the same but there are complications. The night after her surgery her chest was opened again due to a blood clot. A long week later Sun-young still running a slight fever is in recovery.

It's been kind of a fearful time for. everyone. When my husband ended up spending the night in the hospital and it wasn't a normal thing it was like 5 percent of the blood clot. Patti and her husband Steve volunteered to be Sun-young's foster parents while she's in Milwaukee.. [foster mom comforting Sun-young] In a few weeks if Sun-young's recovery is further along she will return home to Korea, a fact foster parents must balance against newly formed attachments. It's a mix of emotions and sometimes it's a rollercoaster type of thing. I think that when you deal with children and particularly children with medical problems the emotions run so deep. [background talking] Beth Peters has played foster parent to 35 of children from Ethiopia

Mexico Guatemala and Korea all in addition to her own biological children and adopted daughters. Most of the children who come here come from poverty, poverty to which they will return after their treatment is complete. People say have said to me how can you send a child back to that kind of living condition. To me that's a very judge mental type of question because who are we to say what type of loving care that child is provided with just because we have a lot of these so-called creature comforts that that really isn't a better way of life than what they have. It was like giving up my own child when I put her on the plane. It was very very difficult. A foster mother's conflict wanting to give to a child and then having to give her up. Rebecca Peterson is watching a meeting videotaped in Korea with Ji-son. was the first child helped by Milwaukee's heal the children in 1984 and Peterson's

first foster child. I kept thinking of the time that she was in our house and she [unclear] and she had no energy at all and now she's with her mom. Obviously, her mom just dores her. Glad that we could help a lot of joyous wrong few days after Ji-Sun's was reunited with her parents after open heart surgery. The first time Ji-Sun's scar from her surgery I was surprised and nervous. I didn't realize this scar was a result of a new life. [unclear] never forget your warm love for Ji-Sun. Goodbye. God bless your family. Sincerely [unclear]. He's going to be able to play with the kids in his neighborhood and at school. What I bet he never did before. Now he's in to karate. I mean so he's going to ready he's parents are going to be

excited. I wish I could see their faces. In a few days Sharon Cruzniak will put Jae Suk on a plane for Korea after seven weeks and open heart surgery after becoming part of their family and a playmate to her adopted son Brian. I think when he goes home I don't think it's going to hit everybody right away. I think in a couple of days it's going to be more sad for us. So we count off the days and and then he says bye and then he goes [makes airplane motion with hand]. Like that. [kids dancing in living room] [kids dancing in living room] Deb and Steve Patte [spelling?] will put Sun-young on the plane home. Now well on her way to recovery. It really has been special to see a child from another country where the kids were concerned about the fact that she didn't speak English. It's been special and hasn't been a problem.

I'm sure that when she gets on the plane and goes home we won't remember any problems at all. We'll remember a sweet loving little little girl that became part of our family very quickly and will probably say to ourselves we can't wait to get another child. The third child Kyung- suk won't be leaving with the other two children. Instead she will begin a long series of operations first on her feet and then her legs in the hope that someday she will stand upright balanced and able to walk on her own. Her foster mother Judy Kinny [unsure of last name]. We're prepared to keep her as long as it takes. Even if it's a year or two. She fits right into the family. Just her attitude towards us lets us know that she appreciates us. And it makes it really makes us feel good that we're helping her. Gather together this afternoon to celebrate the fullest meaning of life

for something very special has taken place. At St. Joseph's Hospital in Milwaukee the staff that took care of them throws a going away party or Sun- young and Jae-suk. People with experience in the sophisticated world of science and high technology have been combined with the spirit of love and self-sacrifice. When this happens when the best of both worlds is meshed together then there are barriers which cannot be transcended. [airport intercom] [people talking on plane]

[people talking on plane] The families leave but in a few weeks some families will return to the Milwaukee airport as three more children arrive from Korea and later a child from Africa and more will come as more hospitals and homes are able to take them. It is an effort always in motion and ever at balance. Life is fragile and that each of us can make a difference. [speaking Korean]

Tom Turnquist photographed and edited our documentary report tonight. Kerman Eckes was the location sound recordist. And that's our Wisconsin magazine for this week. I'm Dave Iverson thank you for joining us. Good night. Next time on the Wisconsin magazine... I feel better when I'm tan. I look ugly when I'm white. Tanning. Americans have long touted the psychological benefits of the elusive Golden Tan. We're young and invincible we're never going to [unclear]. Now many are paying the price for their sun baked enthusiasm with the ever rising rate of skin cancer. So if you had a misspent youth then you were out fishing instead of being at school and later have more leisure then you're going to pay for it some time. The dangers of fun in the sun. Next time on the Wisconsin magazine.