Volunteering in South Korea

I lived in a small town and was lucky enough to befriend a woman who worked for the local volunteer center. After talking with her about my interest in getting more involved with the community, she helped me establish an expat volunteer group called HAPPY (Helping and Promoting Progress in Yeongju....cheesy, I know). I was able then to rally any and all interested expats to join. With the language and cultural barriers, we were able to simply join in for already-planned events with other volunteer groups, such as picking apples and peaches at orchards, serving food to the elderly, and harvesting cabbage fields.

It was great to get involved even on a small level. I know a lot of the other expats appreciated being able to interact more with the local community, and it helped show that we were more than just a bunch of spoiled English teachers taking advantage of the locals, partying, feeling entitled, etc...

We even got featured in a traveling documentary!

In terms of larger organizations, I didn't have much luck there without being more proficient in Korean.

Not sure how helpful that was, but it was a very positive experience.

Amy