A new activist has joined MAP in 2024! Meet Kim Ye-hyeon, who has joined as a KOICA YP🥰
Q1. Please give a brief introduction of yourself!
Hello! I am Kim Ye-hyeon, and I have started working as a YP. I have just finished my first semester of a master’s program at a graduate school of international studies, and I started working as a YP in February. Since I came to learn and experience a lot, I hope we can create even better synergy together! Thank you :)
Q2. Please share why you applied to MAP 🙂
I have been interested in migration and refugee issues since my undergraduate years, but during my master’s program I felt a sense of crisis that I was approaching these issues only academically. I applied because I wanted to meet and communicate with refugees directly in the field and gain experience, and I was fortunate to get the opportunity to work here. Based on my experience at MAP, I want to become someone who can speak for refugees and advance their rights.
Q3.Please fill in the blank: “I want to be a ___ volunteer”
I want to be a passionate activist. When you work, you are bound to get tired, and I think passion is a major driving force. I want to be an activist who can keep working steadily for a long time with passion.
Q4.What do you think our society needs most right now to become a better society?
Empathy and understanding. I think many of our society’s problems arise because people do not think from the other person’s perspective and their range of understanding is narrow. Problems that could be resolved lightly by sharing our hearts and communicating through conversation seem to become tangled and complicated, and then turn into large social problems.
Q5.What gives you small but certain happiness?
When I have finished everything I need to do and, with a light heart, write in my diary, read a book or watch a movie! When I go out with my family or friends on a nice day!
Q6.Is there something you have never done but would like to try in order to discover yourself?
I would like to go on a backpacking trip alone. I like to see and feel good things together with others, so I usually travel with someone, but I want to make new discoveries by traveling alone!
Q6. Sometimes I look cool even to myself, whether or not others notice. When was the coolest moment in your life?
I think I feel cool when I take on things I feel I cannot do, and when I make a plan to achieve a goal and actually carry it out. The moment I felt coolest was after I graduated from university and decided to leave my first job: I tried various things, failed, and found my direction.
Q7. Finally, what change do you want to bring about through your work at MAP?
I want to hear the vivid voices of refugees in the field and learn about reality, and I want to gain a new perspective and go on to take part in more activities in the future!