Wonder Koreans visit Ateneo

Unlike the usual foreign visitors who come here to see the beauty of the Philippines, these student volunteers were exposed to the not-so-attractive aspects of the country as well.

"I want nobody, nobody but you!” Clap, clap, and point. (Admit it — you sang and even did the dance in your head.)

I don’t blame you. This song by the Korean girl group Wonder Girls has been invading radio stations and noontime shows. And once somebody starts singing or humming it — it’s quite hard to get it off your head. The dance steps aren’t very hard to follow, too!

But this past week, our knowledge and consciousness of the Korean world transcended beyond what we once could only watch in YouTube or Korean drama DVDs, as the Ateneo School of Government welcomed 10 student volunteers from Korea University.

These students are Kang Dong In, Won Sung Jun, Kim Woo Young, Kwon Yong Geun, Shin Hye Jin, Lee Kyong Eun, Choi Jong Min, Kim Jang Won, Kim Jong Kwan, and Lee Jae Yong, accompanied by their teacher, Shin Young Ran.

Now, their names may sound confusing for us, but these aren’t just ordinary Korean students — these are some of the best of Korea University, which is one of the top three universities in the whole of Korea. Yet these young people actually sacrificed a small part of their summer vacation to come here to the Philippines for nine days to work as volunteers in different NGOs.

This partnership was initiated by Prof. Kim Byung Ki, acting dean of the Korea University Graduate School of International Studies, andHarvey Keh, director of the Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship Program of the Ateneo School of Government. It is the first joint project between these two institutions that aims to provide training and practical experience for students in a global context.

CONTRIBUTION OF FILPINOS TO KOREAN HISTORY

Prof. Kim always stressed that Koreans should realize the big contibution of the Filipino people to their history as a democratic country.

During the Korean War, the Filipino soldiers fought side by side with the Koreans to fight for democracy and freedom against those who wanted to push for communism.

Now, as the Koreans have reached the First World, it is now time to pay back the generosity of the Filipino by volunteering their time, resources and talents towards helping uplift our country.

The students were assigned to different organizations within the network, specifically Gawad Kalinga, Pathways to Higher Education, Ateneo Center for Educational Development, Science and Technology Innovations for the Base of the Pyramid in Southeast Asia (iBoP Asia) and Affiliated Network for Social Accountability (ANSA).

Despite being a relatively close neighbour country, Korea has left the Philippines lagging behind in many aspects. So, it may have been quite a shock for them to learn about the poor state of our public education, the rampant corruption in our government, the brain drain phenomenon, among many other things.

But of course, we didn’t want to depress them too much—it is after all, their summer vacation. We treated them to lots of Filipino food, toured them around Metro Manila’s different malls, and took them out for karaoke and some drinks.

Last Sunday, we even let them witness the fierce collegiate rivalry of the blue and green: all of them got the chance to experience the Ateneo-La Salle basketball game at the Araneta Coliseum.

Incidentally, this was touted as the best game the Blue Eagles played this whole season, finishing with a lead of 18 points over the Archers.) We’ve never had such a huge and convincing lead before, so we reckon that our Korean volunteers brought some good luck to the team.

It was a privilege for us to work with such intelligent, well-traveled and engaging young Korean individuals. Aside from teaching us so many things about their home country, they made us realize a thing or two about our own culture that we sometimes tend to overlook.

More importantly, they serve as excellent examples of what it means to do more than what is expected of you. If young Koreans could come all the way here to visit and interact with public school students and their parents, experience living in Payatas, and help research and organize events for the betterment of the Philippine society—then all the more should we, young Filipinos, step up and do the same. No matter how globalized the world becomes, this is still our nation, and our nation is our business. It is we Filipinos who should be at the forefront of change. So to our Korean volunteers, maraming salamat and we hope to see you again soon!

No, they may not be the Wonder Girls, but our Korean friends had just about the same impact on us as the song ‘Nobody’—they’re going to be hard to forget.

Arriane Serafico graduated with honors from the Ateneo de Manila University-Loyola Schools and now works at the Ateneo School of Government.

She is also a big fan of Korean telenovelas.