Most of us who live in a community and form a society want to live in a good environment. To live in a better world, we should make an effort to make our world more liveable, healthier and sustainable. The first step to achieve these goals is that we have a personal responsibility to our community and we should take action to provide a service to our neighbors and to preserve the environment around the globe. The members of Rotaract, one of the service clubs at Chonnam National University (CNU), have already started to change the world step by step by volunteering and thinking about how to make our university more eco-friendly.
Rotaract, which is a compound of the words ‘Rotary’ and ‘Action,’ is not just a community service club. It aims to promote world understanding and peace and to develop leadership of young people. The first club around the world was the North Charlotte Rotaract Club in North Carolina. As of October, there are 203,298 members in 10,698 clubs in 180 countries. In Korea, there are many clubs that consist of only university students or both local office workers and students, but currently, the clubs are mainly based on universities, there are more than 8,000 members in 230 clubs.
CNU Rotaract mainly conducts environmental beautification activities every week at Gwangju Neighborhood Park and CNU areas such as Bongji, Yongji, and the Grand Stadium. The club members are involved in various social services to help the community. For example, they have cooperated with the East Gwangju Sharing Happiness Volunteer Corps to carry out the Dong-gu Wall Paint Project together. They have also cooperated with the Buk-gu Volunteer Corps and have done community services such as COVID-19 vaccination services, Chuseok holiday food events, etc.
Among these extracurricular activities, which were carried out last year by the club, a missing child prevention campaign and a language barrier-free project generated a strong response. They visited Gwangju Family Land on Children's Day and conducted a campaign to prevent missing children while observing the quarantine rules. Also, they have collaborated with the SK Corp. University Student Volunteer Group to conduct a language barrier-free subtitle production project.
Their regular activities include regular meetings, school cleaning services, and visits to community centers. President of the CNU Rotaract Kim Su-beom (Junior, School of Chemical Engineering) shared his opinion about the difficulties of Rotaract, but also the best experiences, “It is a pity that the number of activities has decreased due to COVID-19. The toy library project, which we previously conducted with the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation, was suspended due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, we are faithfully working with the purpose of ‘service’ through volunteer activities.” Another club member Jung Min-gyo (Freshman, Dept. of Public Administration) said, “I thought that our club activities were rewarding and enjoyable. While volunteering in different places, such as children's centers, children's parks and community centers, I feel I have grown up. Those activities make me more mature and learn the joy of living together by caring for our neighbors.”
Someone might offer us a helping hand when we were in trouble. Volunteering gives us opportunities to return his/her favor to the community. And when we do that, we can contribute to create a virtuous cycle of action for a better world. Rotaract members have become a part of the cycle by joining the club.
By Em Milana, Tribune Reporter