From the 7th to 9th of May, under the auspice of K-Angel, ‘Love Sharing Campaign by College of Business Administration’ was held to inspire students of Kookmin University to become more actively involved in aiding those whose lives are threatened, and to promote increased awareness of global citizenship. K-Angel is public ambassador of Kookmin Business Administration and its main activities include organizing events, greeting foreign VIPs, preparing and handling the entrance and graduation ceremonies. For the very first time, K-Angel autonomously organized this event to inform KMU students about humanitarian activities of ‘Medecins Sans Frontieres’ and get the attention of as many students as possible to support the organization’s good cause. MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, is an international medical humanitarian Non-Governmental Organization comprised of locals, medical professionals, logistical experts, water and sanitation engineers and administrators who provide medical aids to people affected by war conflicts, epidemics, natural disasters and to those excluded from proper healthcare in developing countries. In other words, MSF offers help to people in need of medical care anywhere around the world especially where there is no medical care institution and where there is a health care system failure. Medecins Sans Frontieres was created in 1971, in the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War, by a small group of French doctors and journalists who believed that regardless of race, religion, creed or political affiliation, people in need of medical care have the rights to be treated. The organization now has over 30,000 people aiding in almost 70 different countries with 23 associations bound together as MSF International, based in Switzerland. K-Angel decided to hold this event in hopes of promoting and sharing common values among all Business College students and to raise visibility of Kookmin University’s diverse student activities through campus press and social networking sites.
The campaign was held in the Concert Hall from 12 noon to 6 pm for three days. MSF staffs and K-Angels set up a booth to induce more involvement and participation of KMU students. There were banners and pamphlets to introduce the organization and the students were also shown the actual medical aid kits that MSF deliver to those in need of immediate help. According to the campaign administrator, the organization asks for regular sponsorship rather than temporary ones because continuous concern is the most important thing for these people.
The campaign was successful. Many students, who empathized with the urgent need for help, learnt how to become sponsors through the MSF associations. When asked about becoming voluntary workers, the campaign administrator informed that there were strict restrictions on civilian volunteers because the regions they travel to are vulnerable to life-threatening situations. Despite the fact that most students are willing, it is true that becoming volunteers is not all that easy. The students, however, were able to sign petitions both offline and online to support the global campaign of ‘Improved Diagnosis and Treatment of Drug Tolerance Tuberculosis.’ The petition was handed to the World Health Organization on May 19th to show the students’ ardent support for the need of proper treatments for patients all around the world. Furthermore, by subscribing to MSF emails, the students were given the opportunity to take a deeper look at the situations of the people in need all over the world. Although it was not possible for all KMU students to actively participate in the campaign, it was definitely true that KMU students took one more step to become more conscious about global crisis and the importance of sharing.