Q1. Please give a brief introduction of yourself.
Hello. I am Lee Min-gyeong, a volunteer for the first half of 2023. I worked at a company for more than 20 years and left last year. I no longer wanted to pursue financial reward and wanted to do something useful for society, so I wanted to work at a civic organization.
Q2. Please tell us why you joined MAP and what you do.
I have always been interested in environmental issues and international relief organizations. While looking for related organizations, I thought it would be necessary to first gain relevant experience and understand how the work is done, so I applied to be a MAP volunteer. The most direct motive was the film “The Swimmers,” which I watched earlier this year. It made me feel more deeply how serious the refugee problem is and how hard their situation is. I came to know about MAP by chance and wanted to work with it.
My current work is related to the childcare and medical cost support program for refugee children. Refugees often have unstable jobs and nobody to look after their children while they work, so they have difficulty raising them, and many cannot send their children to daycare because they have no financial means. I monitor the households of children who already receive support by visiting their homes, and for new children I interview families on the waiting list, select the households to be supported, and help them.
Q3. Please fill in the blank: “I want to be a ___ volunteer.”
I want to be an empathetic volunteer. Interviewing families for the new support round, I felt that financial support matters for refugees, but emotional support also matters: having somewhere to speak about their stories and hardships. They came to Korea with great difficulty, yet Korea is not a society that welcomes refugees either, so they seem to struggle psychologically as well. I want to empathize with that pain, at least in my heart, and be helpful to refugees.
Q4. What do you think our society needs most right now to become a better society?
It hurts me that people are divided into camps and language of hatred is everywhere. I think we need hearts that understand and empathize with the difficulties of minorities.
Q5. Finally, what kind of “change” do you want to bring about through your work at MAP?
When the people around me heard that I, who had only worked at a company for more than 20 years, was now volunteering at MAP, they started to pay more attention to the refugee issue. I want to contribute to changing awareness of the refugee issue. I also feel that I am personally learning a great deal while working with the other activists at MAP. Change is truly a good thing.
