Dankook’s Overseas Volunteer Corps have returned from volunteering in Cambodia and Mongolia.
Thirty-five members of the Jukjeon campus Overseas Volunteer Corps, led by Moon-seok Seo, visited the Tatok School in Siem Reap, Cambodia for 11 days starting June 24th to volunteer. During this time, the group taught students math, science, and art, helped prepare meals, and helped with the maintenance of school facilities. Volunteers also held performances, demonstrating traditional Korean dance, taekwondo, and K-Pop dance to spread awareness of K-culture. The act of volunteering and sharing was especially meaningful for DKU graduate school student Ket Chanthon in giving back to the Cambodian community.
Meanwhile, thirty members of the Cheonan campus Overseas Volunteer Corps, led by Ki-hong Kim, also took part in volunteer work at School #9 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for 9 days starting June 24th. School #9 is a large school in Mongolia where more than 3,000 students from elementary, middle, and high school study. The volunteer corps took part in projects, such as teaching Korean language, science, art, and physical education, as well as building maintenance and painting murals. They also offered health education information while visiting the University of Mongolia and engaged in cultural exchanges.
“This trip made me thankful for what I have while instilling perseverance in me that I believe will give me the strength to not give up when faced with hardships,” said Min-ji Lee (Senior, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) who was a part of the delegation to Cambodia.
“I can still see the excited faces on the children who were learning science for the first time with us,” said Su-rin Cho (Junior, Department of Materials Science and Engineering) who volunteered in Mongolia. “Working together with other volunteers in various areas has been the driving force behind my own personal growth.”
Dankook University has carried out domestic and overseas volunteer work since the volunteer corps was first founded in 2007. Since then, over 2,400 students and faculty members have taken part in volunteering overseas in countries such as Mongolia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, and Laos in line with the university’s guiding principles in education to practice ‘Truth and Service.’
