Last winter vacation I participated in a world volunteering program, The Real Philippine, which aims at helping the poor and building a daycare center in Bagong-Sliangan. Bagong-Sliangan is the poorest village in the Philippines, where people live in absolute poverty. Our program’s goal is to make a better living environment for the inhabitants of this village.

Bagong-Sliangan has very terrible living conditions. The city was built by the government because of floods. Most of the people are very poor. I saw the real poverty there. In Korea, I grew up in an affluent family and never experienced poverty or hunger. So I hadn’t any idea about a life of poverty.

I witnessed real poverty there and it greatly influenced my life. First, I understood their harsh living conditions. I lived in a ‘home-stay’ house and this experience really opened my eyes. My home-stay family provided me with hot meals and fresh fruits. But I knew that they are too poor to eat every meal and I also knew that it is a very hard for them to drink fresh water. I knew their situation but I had no idea what to do about it at that time. Now I sympathize with their situation and really want to help them.

Secondly, I learned about the problems of the Philippines during this volunteer period. Millions of children are denied a proper education, because their parents are too poor to send them to school. Consequently, they have no knowledge and skill to earn money. So they earn their living by doing manual labor. I met Teo who is a construction worker, he had been a college student but he quit school in order to support his family. I really want to help Teo and his family.

Finally, I realized the importance of world aid. Korea should increase its economic aid to developing countries to help them become a member of the international society, because Korea overcame the aftermath of war through world-aid. Before volunteering, I didn’t understand the importance of global-aid, but now I keenly feel the necessity of helping poor countries.

It was my first time working as a laborer on a construction site. My skill of shoveling, carrying sand bags and mixing cement was not very good, but I tried hard, and was satisfied with my efforts. My team members and I wanted to help raise these peoples’ living conditions by constructing a daycare center.

I was glad I could help them, and I learned a lot from my experience. I encourage you to join a world volunteering program. It will teach you many things. Through this kind of program, you can see the wide world, and it could provide a variety of experiences for your future.

Seo Young-Su(Junior, Dept. of English Language and Literature)

sys7698@naver.com