The weather is getting cold and the icy wind chilling our faces feels even colder with all the depressing news about the falling economy and hardships people are facing. But over the past month, Ewha has been holding various heartwarming volunteer activities to melt the cold and give a warm helping hand to those in need.
  As part of the event, titled “Ewha Making a Beautiful World 2008,” held by the Ewha Volunteer Service Center, a mentoring program connecting Ewha students to children of low income families was launched. This program, titled “Stories about Dreams Told by Mentors” is aimed at planting dreams in the minds of the young. In other events, Ewha faculty members collected 150 thousand won in a donation relay held last month and members of the Ewha community made kimchi and delivered it to 1,500 low income families in Seodaemun-gu.
  Those who have thoughts of helping others are participating in other activities as well. However, the people lending a helpful hand are still too few. In many recent surveys asking university students what they want to focus on during the vacation, social services have not usually even been part of the list. Studying foreign languages, traveling, earning money, and doing internships top the list.
  This has to change. If students remain indifferent to those in need and do not feel any responsibility to help them, we all will suffer from a colder and more cruel society in the long run.
  Student should come out of their comfortable shells and discover that there are many unprivileged people around us. We all feel like we have so much on our hands and that we need to help ourselves out first before turning to help others. However, most of us at Ewha have a home, a family and the money to at least attend a university, unlike many people who do not even have anyone to stand next to them.
 Visit a service center for lonely older citizens, a facility for children who have no parents, or a place for homeless people. Or volunteer at a nearby library, North Korean refugee school, or a church that will connect you with a volunteer service.
 After engaging in social services, many of us come home feeling grateful for how much we learned from volunteering. If your mind has even moved a little, make a move. Sign up for volunteer activities that might change the way you perceive your life.
 When the finals are over and the long winter break starts, you will be glad to have a plan for volunteer work that will melt your cold heart after the pains of the semester. End the year 2008 with a rosy smile. MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

저작권자 © Ewha Voice 무단전재 및 재배포 금지