My exploration of Baraka and its community started with a volunteering experience at my club, SMILE. What started as a weekly, two-hour volunteering session quickly unfolded into something much bigger.

You see, when I first walked into the library, I was ready to teach—packed with red pens and a lesson plan to help the children stay on top of their Korean curriculum. But little did I realize that over the course of two years, I had learned more than I had given.

I was slowly being absorbed into Musawer and Rihan’s world, learning every corner and neighbor in the back alley of Itaewon. As a Christian, I believed I would never step foot in the Mosque—or any other religious establishment other than the church (its somewhat forbidden in my family; my Grandfather was a priest and my mom, a Deaconess)—but here I was, collecting free meal coupons alongside the two boys during Ramadan. Their ways of seeing the world—balancing home cultures with new routines, celebrating different holidays side by side—taught me more about openness and adaptability than any workshop or class ever could.

Turns out, Musawer and Rihan were my teachers of life, and the biggest lessons come when you least expect them.