Former Scholar Turns Stumbling Blocks Into Stepping-Stones

By Janis Young

Young-Woo Kang knows about obstacles. As a teenager, he lost his eyesight, his mother, and his sister within just a few years.

Growing up in Korea as an orphan, he faced suspicion and ostracism because of his blindness, which traditionally limited his occupation to fortunetelling or massage.

Kang, however, chose a very different course. He fought to take college entrance exams and was the first blind student in Korea to study at prestigious Yonsei University, graduating with honors.

After receiving a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship to attend the University of Pittsburgh, Kang overcame regulations preventing disabled people from studying abroad and became the first blind person from Korea to earn a doctorate.

Knocking down obstacles became an intrinsic part of Kang's life. Strong allies in his struggles included his wife, Kyoung, who served as his teacher and later a teacher of the blind, and Rotary. While at Yonsei University, he met William Powell, a blind Rotarian from Wesleyville, Pennsylvania, USA, who helped him obtain the Foundation scholarship in 1972-73 and later invited him to join Rotary.

"William Powell was with me all the way through," Kang says. "When I could not eliminate obstacles, he found a way around them." After receiving his doctorate in special education, Kang and his wife moved to Indiana, where he joined the Rotary Club of Munster. Today, he is a member of the Rotary Club of Washington D.C.

While in Indiana, Kang realized how U.S. policies and resources assisted disabled people, leading him to establish the Education and Rehabilitation Exchange Foundation to bring similar measures to Korea. He worked with fellow Rotarian Kwan Sik Min, Korea's minister of education, to help change laws and attitudes and empower people with disabilities.

Now a U.S. citizen, Kang is a member of the National Council on Disability, vice chair of the World Committee on Disability, and commemorative chair and senior adviser for the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute.

He has written several books, and his autobiography, A Light in My Heart, was made into a feature film in Korea. In October 2006, U.S. first lady Laura Bush invited him to speak at the White House as a role model during National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

In his Rotary club, Kang focuses on Matching Grant projects. The most recent one connects his club with District 3650 in Korea to bring Mongolian children with congenital heart disorders to Seoul for lifesaving surgeries.

"Rotary has been an integral part of my life," Kang says. "I can't talk about my experiences without talking about Rotary."