ⓒ 2019 WATV

ASEZ University Student Volunteer Group performs volunteer services without a break, whether during semesters or vacations. During the winter vacation in January 2019, more than 420 Korean members of ASEZ went to 67 cities in 36 countries, and carried out activities to preserve the environment and improve welfare, in partnership with people from all walks of life such as local university students, church members, local citizens, environment/welfare experts, and public institutions and university personnel.

Service for others

Regardless of race and culture, everybody wants to ensure a fundamental human right to live in a safe and clean environment, free from the threat of crime. However, the earth, which is a home to life, is suffering from extreme climate change, and the crime rate does not seem to decline even in the most affluent 21st century.

That is why the volunteer services of ASEZ began. They designate certain parts of cities as Mother’s Streets, to attract citizens’ participation in cleanups and give an impression that the whole world will become clean when our villages, mountains, and rivers get clean. As part of Reduce Crime Together campaign, they make efforts to reduce crime rates by holding seminars and character education. The ASEZ university students cleaned up streets and campuses with the locals and encouraged them to work on reducing crimes together in various cities such as Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, Chamberi in Spain, El Paso in the U.S., Esmeraldas in Ecuador, Brisbane in Australia, and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. In cooperation with municipalities, they visited schools and orphanages in need of help to serve as temporary teachers and provided a helping hand at food banks in Lome in Togo, Panaji in India, Columbus in the U.S., and so on.

“I’m grateful to ASEZ for cleaning our environment and raising environmental awareness. If anyone is inspired to do the same, seeing them, I believe change has already occurred,” said Councilor Zahid Badroodien, City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member.

ⓒ 2019 WATV

Communication for change, and harmony for happiness

ASEZ held seminars and meetings to establish networks with governments, public institutions, and universities as well as local residents. It was from the belief that positive impacts of volunteer activities can be maximized when everyone can cooperate organically through communication among civil society and people from all walks of life. In Peru, the local members held the ASEZ Global Forum for Implementation of UN SDGs 2019, which was attended by Korean ASEZ members and influential figures from many fields such as the Deputy Attorney General, the Deputy Minister of Environment, a Supreme Court Justice, the President of National University of San Marcos, and the Secretary-General of United Nations Information Centers. In the Philippines, they visited the National Police to discuss the roles of ASEZ and future cooperation with military and police personnel including the Undersecretary for National Defense.

ASEZ held 27 seminars and 84 meetings this winter. The members signed MOUs and formed partnerships with distinguished institutions such as Kumasi City Council in Ghana, Azcapotzalco City in Mexico, and MES College of Arts and Commerce in India, in order to cultivate conditions for the environmental preservation and welfare improvement activities of ASEZ to be carried out regularly, rather than to become one-time event. Korean culture experience events prepared by the university students formed an emotional bond with the locals and raised expectations for exchanges and cooperation.

“The environmental problems are not limited to certain cities or countries. That’s why everyone needs to make efforts with concern. I’m thankful to the university students who’ve come from afar to take the lead in protecting the environment in Argentina,” said Monica Lopez from the Environment and Climate Change Secretariat in Cordoba, Argentina, promising to give full support.

ASEZ, a global university student volunteer group, has been established to resolve the problems of mankind and bring positive changes to the world through communication and harmony. The members, who worked hard with the global family, carrying out volunteer services around the world, are returning to campus for the new semester. They are determined to make the earth created by God and human society safe and beautiful, starting from their campuses.

ⓒ 2019 WATV

ⓒ 2019 WATV