The Aesthetics of Sharing: 'The Teresa Effect'

It refers to the mental, physical, and social changes that occur through activities of helping others. It describes how the immune function of the human body is greatly enhanced merely by witnessing or participating in volunteer work or acts of sharing.

It is an effect reminiscent of Sister Teresa, who lived a life of devoted service, love, and caring. Somehow, just standing near her, hearing her name, or seeing her from afar warms the heart. It is this very effect. The Teresa Effect indeed influences the body so that immune-enhancing substances such as IgA, which fight viruses in the body, are generated—to the extent that Harvard Medical School has published reports on this phenomenon.

Over the past year, the Community Chest has encountered numerous 'Mother Teresas' who spread the happiness virus to all.

An elderly couple, both receiving basic living assistance, who pledged to return their posthumous assets to society and donated 40 million won in jeonse deposit money; a man who was homeless but recently became a day laborer at a construction site and donated his first month's wages; an elderly person who collects waste paper and fills coin bottles to visit the Community Chest for the fourth consecutive year. Additionally, volunteers who carry briquettes for neighbors suffering from the cold winter, housewives using frozen hands to prepare kimchi, students who save their monthly allowance and donate piggy banks, and drivers who make night runs through toll gates yet donate at toll booths—they are none other than Korea's 'Mother Teresas.'

Thanks to the hands of love extending throughout every corner of the province, including these individuals, despite the economic hardship of 2011, the Community Chest recorded a provisional fundraising total of 26.57 billion won for 2011. All of this was made possible because, even in difficult economic circumstances, donors deeper and warmer than Mother Teresa herself showed concern and love for 'neighbors in greater need than themselves.'

It is said that 2012 is the Year of the Black Dragon, which arrives once every 60 years. Marketing announcing the start of a powerful year with the energy of the dragon is noticeable. However, on the other hand, media reports also convey the outlook that the domestic and international economy will face greater difficulties than last year. Rising unemployment, decreasing employment opportunities, soaring exchange rates, and the countless difficulties that marginalized neighbors will face alongside socioeconomic challenges are beyond description.

Yet we have the history and experience of overcoming the IMF crisis, so we can look toward the possibility of hope. Moreover, we are a people who have possessed the strength of the spirit of mutual aid from ancient times.

As the old saying goes, even a single bean is shared. The more difficult times become, the more precious is the practice of sharing what one has with neighbors, and the joy of the recipient will be doubled.

Sharing is consideration for others, but do not forget that the fundamental basis of sharing is for oneself. I hope that the 'Teresa Effect,' through which residents of Gyeonggi Province share happiness and receive it, will spread widely throughout the province, making the year of Imsin (壬辰年) a year in which all are happy together with their neighbors.