More Foreigners Volunteering
By Ines Min
Contributing Writer
Foreigners can now flex their community service muscles at the Seoul Volunteer Center, a nonprofit organization funded by the city government.
Since beginning to accept non-Korean citizens as volunteers on June 8, the center has seen an influx of 78 new volunteers.
The center began integrating foreigners after conducting a survey that found a large number of people to be interested in community service. The results showed that 30 percent of the 101 foreigners surveyed wanted to partake in social welfare programs.
Gabriela Corluka, an English teacher, began volunteering at the center two weeks ago.
``I wanted to break out of the foreign bubble, in a way,'' she said. The 23-year-old arrived here in late April and felt that volunteering would be a good way to see the country, have fun and meet other foreigners outside of school.
Corluka, a Canadian expatriate, described the experience as ``pretty positive.'' Other volunteers have come from all around the globe, including India, Pakistan and the United States. The center's is staffed predominantly by ethnic Koreans who have taken classes in English, so communication is rarely a problem.
``They were really nice and they really made the whole process simple and easy,'' Corluka said. She has already made friends among the other volunteers and has even piqued the interest of another friend to join.
``It's kind of a bunch of people that get together with the same intentions,'' she said. Although they do not receive any compensation, she said that staff members often take the volunteers out for lunch after activities.
Activities include helping the elderly with errands or odds-and-ends around the house, visiting orphanages to play with the children and teach English, and organizing environmental cleanups around the city. The Seoul Volunteer Center has smaller branch offices in each of the 25 administrative districts.
Kim Mun-jeong, an instructor at the main volunteer center in Namsan-dong, Seoul, said that the foreigners have been a welcome addition.
``The kids like them because they're new, which is fun for them,'' she said. Kim expects to have more than 100 non-citizen volunteers before the end of the year.
The center's next scheduled activity is a weekend camping trip to Seoraksan National Park, from Aug. 7 to 9. Volunteers and children will participate in educational activities such as fabric dying, cooking competitions and cleaning activities, both on and off the trail.
More information can be found online at www.volunteer.seoul.go.kr, through the ``For Foreigners'' link.