Reaching out to the needy
Korean volunteer group
Faces uncertain future
As funds dry up
KAZUHIKO KAJIKI
Staff writer
Kang Soobong has spent much of his life helping people in need. Now, however, It is he who could use some help.
Kang is president of the Korea Volunteers Association, a group of North and South Korean and Japanese volunteers who provide assistance to the elderly and disabled in Osaka’s a Ikuno Ward. About a quarter of the ward’s 145,000 residents are foreigners, mostly Koreans. In its six years of operation, the association has come to be seen as a valuable asset to the community.
The problem is, the association must vacate its current office by the end of August due to new ownership. Most of the association’s funds were depleted through volunteer efforts in the aftermath of the Great Hansin Earthquake in 1995.Kang, who supplements his income by teaching calligraphy, has spent his family’s savings to keep the association afloat. Even with donations, he can barely afford to financially assist his volunteers, let alone rent anew office.
Q:Why did you start your volunteer activities?
A:Since I was a child, I looked after my disabled younger brother, Also, I kept company with my family’s landlord, who was elderly and bind. It was quite natural for me the help disabled and elderly people since they taught me a lot. Moreover, I suffered from rheumatism in my high-school days, so I understood the feelings of the weak.
Even though public nursing-care insurance was introduced in April, many elderly Koreans in Ikuno Ward don’t receive adequate care. I think our activities are indispensable to them. Owners of nearby shops often provide food and other items to help us because they appreciate what we have done.
Q:What is the current situation for elderly victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake?
A:Although a H temporary housing has already closed down and residents now live public housing, their anxieties still remain. Those who lived in temporary housing to the end were mainly elderly people who had few relatives. They could not rebuild their daily lives without assistance from others.
The central and local governments promoted reconstruction of social infrastructure in the area, but victims still suffer from the earthquake’s aftereffects.
Ironicaliy, these victims tend to think the temporary housing was better than their current housing because they were able to keep in closer contact with their neighbors. Now, they feel lonely, separated by steel doors and concrete wally.
Our members often bring these elderly victims letters from junior high-school students. Confact with others helps lessen the loneliness among elderly quake victims.
We also brought students to visit them during their summer and winter breaks, and both looked really happy???
Q:What is your dream?
A:Someday I would like build a retirement home near the border of North and South Korea. Fifty years has passed since the Korean War broke out.
Many people whose fan lies were broken up by the war are now elderly and, in some cases, need nursing care. I’ve heard that the public welfare systems in North and South Korea cannot provide enough care for the elderly. The old-folk’s home could help people find their relatives and provide nursing care.
You may think it is Just a dream since the association is suffering from severe financial problems, but even if it seems impossible, I want to keep the hope alive.
Our association is unique in that its members are a mixture of North and South Koreans and Japanese. And we are recognized by both the Korean Residents Union in Japan, or Mindan, which has ties with South Korea, and the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chosen Soren, which has ties with North Korean. When it comes to social welfare, whether someone is North or South Korean is not an issue.
Although I have not found an answer to our problems, I will never give up. As long as there are people who need our nssistance, I have no choice but to continue our volunteer activities
