Legacy of 'Champion of Homeless' lives on
Underprivileged people eat lunch at the restaurant of the Joseph Clinic in this photo taken last November. They are invited for free lunch every Thursday. / Courtesy of Joseph Clinic
Joseph Clinic treats, feeds, nourishes poorest people
The late Sunwoo Kyung-shik, the founder of the Joseph Clinic. He passed away from stomach cancer on April 18, 2008. / Courtesy of Joseph Clinic
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Hundreds of doctors and volunteers at the Joseph Clinic in the urban slum of Yeongdeungpo in Seoul are striving to keep the late founder’s spirit alive by serving the extremely poor people there wholeheartedly.
While alive, Sunwoo Kyung-shik, the founder of the clinic, was called “the Champion of the Homeless” or “the Albert Schweitzer of Korea” for his sacrifice and endless endeavor to reach out to the people most in need with free medical services.
Even after he passed away in 2008 at age of 61 after his years-long fight against stomach cancer, his legacy still lives on. Staffers and volunteers have expanded the free social services into food, haircuts, counseling and even musical therapy to meet the diverse needs of the urban poor.
Providing the full package of free services for the poor was the late founder’s unfulfilled dream. While alive, Sunwoo wanted to feed his poor patients with three proper meals so that they could feel full. But he died before his dream came true.
The caring people have been a source of inspiration to Sister Jacqueline Mouchnino from the Sisters of Charity of Nevers based in Seongbuk-gu.
Mouchnino, one of 600 volunteers at the clinic, said she was amazed at the caring community she discovered while volunteering at the clinic from April 2007.
“I was particularly impressed by the doctors who came to this clinic in the evening every week after finishing their day-job to provide free medical services for the homeless here,” the French nun said last Wednesday.
“They must be very tired after work, but none of them look tired nor stressed out when they see their patients here. Over the past six years or so, I felt that when someone desperately needs help from others, people here are united and try to help them out together.”
Byun Soo-man, left, and Sister Jacqueline Mouchnino are volunteers for the Joseph Clinic.
Sister Mouchnino attends Joseph Clinic every Wednesday to lend a helping hand at the busy Pharmacy Division on the second floor of the building.
“At the clinic here, I came to understand in person the harsh reality facing these very poor people,” she said.
The French volunteer worked for a few years with the late Dr. Sunwoo. The clinic was established in the summer of 1987 in Sillim-dong, Seoul where the urban poor used to reside and was then relocated to its current site in the late 1990s.
Byun Soo-man, another volunteer having worked with the clinic from 2001, said the late Sunwoo chose Yeongdeungpo as his new mission location because the urban poor population here sharply rose in the 1990s.
The 75-year-old said he admired the late founder after he came to know him in person and this prompted him to be a dedicated volunteer.
“After cancer was detected in his stomach, Sunwoo had a hard time fighting the cancer as it caused him to feel intense pain. I was told that he couldn’t sleep at night because he couldn’t lie down because of pain and he wished to die early, saying only death would end that pain,” he said.
“He became so thin as his days were numbered. But he treated his patients at the clinic until April 15, three days before he died.”
Byun sobered while telling the last moment he saw the great man at the clinic.
“I asked him if he was ok because he looked so pale and weary. He said he was fine. He walked down the stairs after work. I saw his outer looked so big because he became thinner as he fought the cancer,” he said.
Kang Kum-yong, a retired doctor, asks health questions to a homeless patient at the Joseph Clinic last Tuesday. Kang, 74, comes to the clinic every Tuesday to provide free medical services for the urban poor. He is one of 80 doctor volunteers at the clinic. / Korea Times
‘Jjokbang-chon’
The neighborhood of Joseph Clinic is “Jjokbang-chon” referring to an enclave of the poorest people living in 3-square-meter-sized single rooms. More than 200 households there are the urban poor. They pay 200,000 won monthly for a room.
Although living in extremely adverse conditions, few of them displayed fear or anxiety about their lives probably because the clinic is there to meet their basic needs. It feeds them, treats them and offers counseling services to help them get back on their feet.
On Wednesday, tens of people waiting on the line outside the clinic entered the three-story building as a volunteer opened its front gate at 7 p.m.
Another volunteer on the first floor gave them a piece of bread one after another. Some asked for two, a call accepted by the gray-haired volunteer.
After the free bread service was over, another group of people wearing backpacks and unwashed clothes came in and went up the second or third floor for free medical services following the stair near the front gate.
“Those who wear backpacks are the homeless as they put their pillows and other items necessary for sleep in them,” said Byun.
Volunteer doctors check their health status. Retired doctors see patients from 1 to 5 p.m., whereas doctors who have their own hospitals or employed doctors come to the clinic at 7 p.m. for two-hour free medical services after their day-job ends.
Dental care is one of the most popular services at the clinic because elderly patients having gum disease get free dentures.
Byun said most of the clinic users are those who have no family to depend on, or make their living by selling garbage paper they collect. Therefore without the clinic they would find it difficult to get proper medical treatment.
“Not only people living in this area but also people from other cities come to the clinic for free medical services. People from distant locations were told of this clinic as word has spread over the past 26 years,” he said.
On Thursday, the first floor of the building turns into a restaurant with volunteers providing free meals for the poor. But the clinic still provides free medical services.
Free meals at the clinic every Thursday were introduced to feed people who otherwise would go starving as the nearest Thomas’ Home, a small restaurant providing free lunches for the poor in the neighborhood, is closed every Thursday.
Clinic goes to Philippines
Helping poor people overseas was also on the wish list that the late founder wanted to do through the clinic. After travelling to the Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam and Pyongyang while alive, he set up a donation team to help people in those regions, but Sunwoo still felt that was not enough.
The Joseph Clinic opened its first overseas branch in Melabon City, in the northwestern part of Manila in the Philippines in January. Father Choi Young-sik Matthias, the former president of the Catholic Medical Center in southern Seoul, is in charge of the clinic.
Those who wish to donate for the Joseph Clinic in the Philippines are welcome to send money to
Kookmin Bank, 364301-04-150303, Joseph Clinic
Uri Bank, 1005-201-940450, Joseph Clinic