Osan City and Hanshin University Launch Volunteer Corps for Multicultural Families

Osan City in Gyeonggi Province held the launching ceremony for a volunteer corps on the 11th, jointly organized with Hanshin University (President Chae Soo-il) at the City Hall situation room.

The volunteer corps launched on this day was formed with Hanshin University students participating together in the "Love Storybook Reading" project for children of multicultural families that Osan City had been promoting.

The launching ceremony proceeded with the oath-taking and certificate presentation of 10 Hanshin University student volunteers who volunteered to serve as mentors to children of multicultural families, introduction of the "Love Storybook Reading" project to be implemented as a partnership between Osan City and Hanshin University, and on-site lectures.

The "Love Storybook Reading" project is an initiative in which instructors visit homes once a week on behalf of early-stage immigrant mothers who cannot read Korean storybooks, reading storybooks to the children in place of their mothers. The service has been supported since last year and is expected to be further activated through the volunteer corps that held its launching ceremony on this day.

The volunteer corps will be operated in two teams of five members each, providing supplementary lessons once a week to target families. Through bi-monthly meetings for case sharing and feedback, plans are underway to strengthen connections with target families.

Kwak Sang-wook, mayor of Osan City, who attended the launching ceremony, said in his remarks, "I thank the Hanshin University student volunteers for sharing the difficulties of our multicultural family neighbors and donating their talents to society," and added, "I hope that such partnerships will serve as a model for other local governments and become a meaningful case contributing to the expansion of the foundation for basic learning among multicultural children."

Additionally, Baek Ji-hyun, a student who recited the volunteer oath as a student representative, expressed the significance of participation in the project, saying, "I hope that our small love will be well delivered to the target children and create a happy society where we live together."

Meanwhile, the "Love Storybook Reading" project is scheduled to be implemented from mid-month targeting 32 multicultural children.