Volunteer Activities in Mongolia

Global Volunteering of White-Horse Volunteers

  White-Horse volunteers went to Mongolia to volunteer this summer vacation. White-Horse volunteers were in Cambodia last winter vacation. Let’s take a look at some of the experiences that White-Horse volunteers have been enjoying during their vacations.

1. White-Horse Volunteers

  White-Horse volunteers is a representative volunteer organization in CNU. White-Horse volunteers consist not only of students, but all members of CNU. White-Horse volunteers aim to mature and develop as holistic humans as well as cultivate their leadership skills. Also, they try to lead in community service by solving the community’s problems, and improving the quality of local residents’ lives. White-Horse volunteers do various types of volunteer works, including global volunteering. There are 5 main categories of volunteering. First, is volunteering for the community. It includes the restoration of flood and snow damage, protection of the environment, and public information campaigns. Second, is volunteering for local residents. It includes supports for senior citizens who live alone, disabled people, children in poverty and youths. Third, are various group activities to improve the image of CNU. These include campaigns, flash mobs and fund-raising.  Forth, is volunteering at rural communities, which includes customized donations for education. Fifth, is support from social welfare organizations and facilities

2. Volunteer Work at Mongolia

  A CP reporter interviewed a member of the White-Horse volunteers who had been to Mongolia volunteering. She is Kim Hyeon-Ju, a sophomore in the Consumer Life Information Department. She participated in the global volunteering program for the first time through White-Horse volunteers.

Q: What Activities Did You Do in Mongolia?

  A: I did educational and performance service activities for 15 days for local students. Educational service activities included art, Korean, sports and music. We provided music activities every day. We could interact with local students from the university in Mongolia. The performance service programs included pantomime, K-POP&B-boying, Taekwondo, A cappella and Samulnori. We had two performances.

Q: What Was The Hardest Thing during the Volunteer Activities? 

  A: A group life was hard for me. We slept in sleeping bags in a classroom and had to plan meals by ourselves. The restroom and classroom facilities were inferior to what I am used to in Korea. It was never easy to prepare the amount of three meals for 30 people at 5:30 every morning. We did many things like education volunteering, preparing performances, painting the school and preparing meals all day long for 15 days. Therefore, we were exhausted and sensitive. Because of this, it was easy to get trivial misunderstandings with each other. After adapting to life in Mongolia, we discussed and resolved our misunderstandings with each other. After that, we could understand each other and volunteer happily even though we were tired. With this experience, I realized the importance of communication in group life. Therefore, the time that people were sensitive before they had time to communicate with each other was the most difficult thing for me.

Q: What Was Your Most Memorable Experience in Mongolia? 

  A: The experience when I rode a horse for 2 hours remained in my memory. That was my first time to ride a horse. It was very impressive to enjoy the scenery of Mongolia while crossing a river, and climbing a mountain on a horse. Although it was very cold because of hail and rain on that day. I could feel that I was really in Mongolia when I saw landscapes that I couldn’t see in Korea. ‘chu chu’ is a command that orders the horses to run. The memory of 30 people saying “chu chu” while riding their horses was very cute.


Q: What Do You Want to Say to Other Students Who Want to Try Next Global Volunteering?

  A: Global volunteering needs much more effort than we think. 30 students need to prepare education plans and performance plans by themselves. Also, they have to solve food, clothing and shelter problems by themselves. Therefore, they must take care of trivialities besides volunteering.  I hope that students who can work sincerely with a group will apply for global volunteering. The schedule in Mongolia was tough but it gave me many memories. I usually lived alone after entering university. However, I built up good memories while talking and playing with many people every day in Mongolia. I was very reassured because I felt like I had 30 family members. It was a new experience that I couldn’t get from other clubs or international activities so I hope many students will try global volunteering.

3. Ways to Try Global Volunteering with White-Horse Volunteers

  Any enrolled student of CNU can apply for global volunteering, including foreign students. There is information like application deadline and available countries to volunteer on CNU’s website. The best time to apply is at the beginning of the semester. According to interest, the application time can be closed early or extended. To apply for global volunteering, access the integrated information system of CNU(http://cnuis.cnu.ac.kr) and enter the page, student or working support. And enter career program and click application of career program. Then, the application for global volunteering will be on the screen. Download the application and apply it to the page. After the deadline for the application, document examination and interviews are executed. In the document examination, filling out the application form, including the autograph, explaining motivation and showing sincerity are important in evaluation. Anyone can ask related questions to Student Affairs (821-5052, 5056).

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