By John Redmond
Seoul Survivors, a rugby football club comprising of Korean expats raised 4.1 million won at a fundraiser event at Scrooge Pub in Itaewon Sunday with proceeds going to help raise funds for orphanages on the Korean Peninsula.
In a fundraising event based on the Australian concept known as “Movember” (a portmanteau of the words moustache and November), men are sponsored to grow a moustache through the month of November. The original aim back in Adelaide in 1999, was to raise awareness of men’s health issues but it has since been adapted to highlight a number of social concerns.
In cooperation with Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF), Seoul Survivors intend to donate funds to Seondeokwon Girls’ Orphanage and to assist in a delivery of school materials to an elementary school in Rason, North Korea, early next year.
The HSF is a German think tank with an office here in Seoul. The motto, “In the service of Democracy, Peace and Development,” describes the work of the organization. With numerous development projects and fosterage of international exchange of opinion, the foundation supports international understanding.
The orphanage, founded in 1965, is the Seoul Survivors’ chosen community project as it provides a refuge for some of Korea’s most vulnerable citizens.
When questioned about recent tensions between the two Korea’s following the North’s shelling of Yeonpyoeng Island that killed two marines and two civilians, Kurt Taogaga, one of the organizers, hinted that there is still time for calm, and that the planned trip to the North might still go ahead.
“That trip isn’t till March, so there’s still scope for change to happen,” he said.
“Also, money is not going to North Korea. All school materials will be purchased in China.”
The evening was attended by some 50 people with 20 participating in growing moustaches.
Of the 4.1 million won raised, 700,000 won was generated on the night with raffles and donations from sponsors.
For example, bottles of wine were donated by Tiwi Trade, an international importer of wines based in Itaewon.
The Seoul Survivors are an expat rugby club that was formed in Seoul in 1978.
In the early 1980s, the Survivors had tours to Japan (with the Kobe club and later the Fukuoka Monkeys) and Hong Kong .
According to the website, the Survivors were fundamentally an expat club. It was after the Olympics, when a lot of players left and soccer became very strong among the Britishs, French and Germans, that the Survivors really began to pick up with army players.
Last year, the club raised 4 million won for the orphanages.
For more information, contact www.survivorsrfc.com.