ASEZ Global Sharing and Volunteering for Winter 2023
Creating a Future Together Across Borders
As the borders that were tightly closed due to COVID-19 were opened one by one, the global activities of ASEZ, the World Mission Society Church of God University Student Volunteer Group, regained vitality. On vacation, ASEZ members in Korea flew to 28 countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia, India, the U.K., Belgium, Peru, Argentina, and Uganda, from January 11 and provided customized volunteer services for three weeks and extended partnership.
Even during the pandemic, ASEZ members in Korea had actively worked online and offline through the Seminar on Human Rights Day and the Environment Day Campaign and so on. This winter, they directly communicated with overseas members and visited government agencies, organizations, and universities of each country to build a cooperative system with them. Those who visited Leuven in Belgium had a meeting with the Mayor to promote ASEZ and explore the role of university students for a better future. In the U.K., they introduced the Reduce Crime Together [RCT] programs to the Chairman of Epsom and Ewell Borough Council. Councilor Clive Woodbridge participated in the street cleanup and expressed his support for ASEZ activities. The members who went to Manila in the Philippines held an RCT seminar at National University, and formed a consensus towards a crime-free world with college students.
ASEZ members also actively carried out RCT School, a crime prevention character education program for children and adolescents in various places, being welcomed by local education officials. In Pune, India, they held RCT School classes at Barrister Vitthalrao Gadgil Prathamik School and Narayan Rao Genba Moze School in the presence of the principals. The Department of Education in Pune presented a certificate of appreciation to ASEZ, expressing gratitude for their efforts to hold crime preventive education for young students with Mother’s love. The RCT School was also held at Flora A. Ylagan High School in Quezon City and Irineo L. Santiago National High School in General Santos, the Philippines.
Flora A. Ylagan High School delivered a certificate of appreciation to ASEZ, and signed an MOU with ASEZ to request constant help for students’ character development. The ASEZ members carried out cleanups in various cities and helped with raising the local citizens’ environmental awareness. In Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, which many tourists visit for its magnificent scenery, they received a certificate of appreciation from the National Solid Waste Management Department for the cleanup along the Tanjung Lipat Beach; and in Madrid, Spain, they cleaned the campus with students from Complutense University.
In Tigre, a suburb of Buenos Aires, Argentina, they cooperated with the municipality to paint murals to create a bright city atmosphere. ASEZ’s mural painting is an environmental improvement activity that aims to prevent crime by brightening the city atmosphere. Julio Cesar Zamora, the Mayor of Tigre, praised ASEZ and presented a plaque of appreciation, saying, “Today, ASEZ painted a mural for peace and a future for a better world.”
In various places of the world, ASEZ members showed directions for change and encouraged more people to participate in them as if they were bursting their condensed energy. Local members, who had carried out street cleanups and forums in accordance with the COVID-19 prevention guidelines in each country, also actively participated in the activities along with the Korean members.
Park Min-ji from Kyung-in Women’s University in Korea visited Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia and said, “It was my first time to clean up the beach. It wasn’t easy to pick up wet trash full of sand. Seeing the local members happily volunteering even though they were having a hard time, I realized that this is how they volunteer with Mother’s love.”
Alessandra Costa from University of the Philippines, an ASEZ member in Quezon City, participated in the mural painting for the first time and revealed her strong ambition for serving the community with a sense of ownership. She said, “I felt a bond that goes beyond language and culture while volunteering with Korean university students. ASEZ not only recognizes social issues, but also takes action to improve communities. I’m happy to see the changes I’m making in this way.”
