Sengil Island, a small island in Wando County, Jeollanam-do, with a population of about 800 people. On the 23rd of last month, a "Special Appreciation Award Ceremony" was held at the Sengil Regional Children's Center. The recipients of the appreciation certificates from the head of Sengil-myeon included five college student volunteers, including Han Jin-seok (33), who graduated from Kyunghee University College of Korean Medicine this year. Sengil-myeon Chief Chae Jong-dae said, "Educational volunteers come to this place without any private academies, every vacation, to teach children and play with them," and "Since Han graduated from school this time and has volunteered for a long time, the residents of the township decided to give him a special appreciation certificate."
Mr. Han has been visiting Saengil-do and volunteering in education every summer and winter vacation for the past 11 years. In 2014, while attending Seoul National University’s Department of Social Welfare, he was inspired by a senior to participate in island volunteer activities. The Saengil-myeon office has been recruiting college student education volunteers since 2004 to support about 30 elementary, middle, and high school students on the island.
Mr. Han would stay at the birthday island for a week each time he visited, teaching children Korean, English, and Math. Then suddenly, he thought, "It would be great if friends with various talents, such as art, could come along too." From that moment, he became a "Birthday Island Ambassador," promoting volunteer work at the island to his friends.
Mr. Han, who graduated from Seoul National University in 2016, completed his military service in 2018 and then entered Kyunghee University College of Korean Medicine the following year. From that point on, he gathered medical and Korean medicine students friends to find islands together. Each team consisted of 5 to 6 people, and three teams stayed on the island for one week each. In the early days, many college students came only once or twice and then stopped, but Mr. Han's acquaintance team
There is one elementary school and one middle school in Saengil-don. The high school must go to the mainland. There are no private academies. Saengyeong Elementary School has 23 students, and Geumil Middle School Saengil Branch has 7 students, who gather at the Children's Center after school to study together. One teacher from the center is responsible for supervising all the students' studies. For these children, the vacation when college students, including Mr. Han, come is a 'special intensive course' period. Medical and dental students also teach the children not only study skills but also stretching exercises that are good for shoulder and back health.
Visits from college students brought significant changes to the children, even affecting their birthdays. In the island village, there weren't many places to play, so many children became addicted to smartphone games. However, during school breaks, college student older brothers and sisters would teach them all day, which reduced their smartphone usage and gave them a sense of achievement in studying. It is said that even after the college students left, the number of children who would sit at their desks after school increased.
Mr. Han maintained regular contact with high school students and also provided "college entrance consultation." He recommended which schools and departments to apply to and taught them how to write self-introduction letters. When he was serving in the military in Cheorwon County, Gangwon Province, he asked his friends to do volunteer work on his behalf. Feeling sorry for not being able to go himself, he sent money for textbooks and school supplies to the children's center account.
While organizing it, most of them have consistently come to the birthday party.
Mr. Han said, "It takes two days to travel back and forth, so although there were many difficult days over the 11 years, I thought I couldn't miss the promise I made with my children." He added, "After visiting the birthday site, I think of my children studying hard, which helps me stay focused on my daily life."
On the 19th of last month, Mr. Han graduated from Kyunghee University and is about to start working at a Han Korean Medicine Clinic in Seoul. Now that there are no more vacations, it's hard to visit the birthday shrine like when he was a student. Still, he plans to make small donations or visit the birthday shrine briefly during his vacations. "Now that I am a Korean medicine doctor, I can also do medical volunteer work. Haha."
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It's been a while, and it feels so good.
