The Korea Herald

Visiting orphaned boys in Busan

Sept 14, 2011

Volunteers are to visit 500 kids at Boys Town Orphanage in Busan on Saturday. The group is to meet inside the city’s Jagalchi Station at 12:30 p.m. for the volunteer event to run to 3:30 p.m. Once there, the group will divide in two to spend time either with middle school and high school aged kids or with the younger children. Participants are also invited to bring candies to share with the kids...
Adoptees advised on finding families

Sept 14, 2011

An organization helping Korean overseas adoptees will hold a birth family search workshop in Seoul this weekend. Global Overseas Adoptees Link is organizing the session to help adoptees understand the birth family search procedure and decide if it is the right step for them to take. Organizers stressed that attending the workshop did not require the start of a birth search, but would just provi...
International protest for N.K. refugees

Sept 14, 2011

Human rights activists in Korea are to join an international protest to save North Korean refugees on Sept. 22. The event will see protesters take to the streets in 24 cities in 13 countries around the world. In Seoul, people will demonstrate for an end to China’s policy of forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees back to the country, where protesters say they face torture, imprisonment and ...
Korea Hands redecorates remote houses

Sept 14, 2011

Twenty college students have painted and wallpapered houses for people living on a remote Korean island. The members of Korea Hands, the state-organized volunteer group, redecorated homes on Bigeum Island in Sinan County in South Jeolla Province from Sept. 2-3. The team, led by Health and Welfare Minister Chin Soo-hee, redecorated five houses on a 250-resident island and checked the electricity...
DMZ Docs fest to provoke thoughts of peace in Paju

Sept 14, 2011

Nuclear weapons and energy, a controversial naval base, sex education and disability are just some of the issues to be tackled at Korea’s demilitarized zone this month. The DMZ Docs festival will show international films based on peace, coexistence and reconciliation in Paju from Sept. 22―28. The million Kazakhstani people used as human guinea pigs in nuclear weapons tests during the Soviet era...
Sick of city life? Why not WWOOF?

Sept 14, 2011

Volunteers escape to the country by helping out on organic farms GWANGCHEON, South Chungcheong Province ― While most people here enjoyed family celebrations over Chuseok, Anna Gennaro and Roberto Sella took the harvest festival literally by staying on a Korean farm. The Italian couple spent more than 10 days surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday getting back to nature by volunteering on an organ...
Saving sight between classes

Sept 8, 2011

Saving sight between classes Teen runs 180-member charity group across 14 schools in free time By Kirsty Taylor Sometimes it is hard to get taken seriously as a teenager, said high school student Kim Soo-yeon, but she needs people to listen to her to help save others’ sight. The 16-year-old Korea International School student and her team of 180 volunteers have spent weekends visiting optician...
Little Travellers raise cash in Seoul

Sept 7, 2011

Little Traveller dolls sold to benefit people with HIV/AIDS. A photo scavenger hunt in Seoul has raised 775,000 won to help people living with HIV/AIDS. The competition organized by Little Travellers Initiative saw 62 people form 16 teams to take on a variety of challenges and raise cash for the Hillcrest AIDS Center in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Participants were awarded poin...
Cake sale for cats and dogs

Sept 7, 2011

An animal welfare charity is seeking helpers to stage a bake sale during a theatrical production. The Korean Animal Protection Society is to host the sale during the run of “A Streetcar Named Desire” at the YMCA in Daegu. The charity which helps rescue and find homes for abandoned pets in Korea is to sell cakes at the shows on Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. and Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. Cash raised will go to the ...
Investing in Seoul’s environment

Sept 7, 2011

Volunteers stop for a picture during an event to clean the streets of Seoul. (Invest Korea) Volunteers joined forces to adopt a road in Seoul by cleaning streets in Yangjae on Saturday. The event saw employees of foreign-invested companies help keep the area around Yangjae IC tidy by picking up litter. Event organizer, Ross Geesman, a consultant at Invest Korea said: “The event was intended to ...
Mannam’s picnic on the Han

Sept 7, 2011

A Mad Hatter’s picnic is to be hosted on the banks of the Han River by Mannam volunteers. People of all nationalities are asked to come dressed with a touch of madness for the event at Yeouinaru Han River Park to run from 11:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17. Prizes will be awarded for the best outfits. There will also be a toy drive to help out three orphanages assisted by Mannam. Toys, ...
Helpers find happiness at Angel House

Sept 7, 2011

Saturday’s dinner of pizza and fried chicken was far from an ordinary evening meal for the residents of Angel House. A typical weekday dinner can be as simple as kimchi, rice and water. "They are really poor,” said volunteer coordinator Kiki Fastino. “They are always waiting until Saturday and Sunday because that is when they get nice cooking.” Fastino and her band of volunteers visit to help...
Books build dreams for Burmese refugees

Sept 7, 2011

Korean helps kids to brighter future with English libraries on Thai border For children born in Umpiem Mai refugee camp, it can be difficult to imagine a world outside the hilly settlement on the Thai-Burmese border. Some have never even seen a settlement outside the shacks their Burmese families have lived in since the camp opened in 1999. Now, one Korean man is giving these kids hope and a g...
Chance to sell soaps for hope in Seoul

Aug 31, 2011

Organizers are being sought to help a social enterprise benefiting North Korean refugees. The Soap for Hope charity makes and sells all-natural soaps and plows the profits back into projects for North Koreans living here. Soaps made by North Korean refugees. (Soap for Hope) “The soap project was started by North Koreans and church officials several years ago but they didn’t have a good marketi...
Free Korean classes from Seoul volunteers

Aug 31, 2011

Volunteers are set to teach foreigners the Korean language for free at a new season of classes in Seoul. Those interested in enrolling for the classes provided by Mannam volunteers can sign up at a registration day on Sept. 17 at 3 p.m. at Chongshin University, in Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu, near Isu Subway Station. Following a placement test, students will be allocated to classes according to thei...