Volunteering in Korea – IWO workcamp week 1

I’m so glad to have joined Yeongwol (Korea) workcamp in summer. Yeongwol province is 2-hour drive away from Seoul, located in the middle of South Korea. It has lots of rivers and mountains and much of its area remains uncontaminated. Our volunteers are from worldwide and we all love youth work. For more information of volunteer projects in Korea, visit IWO.

On the first week we stayed in Yeongwol Big Tree Local Children Centre and we worked with local leaders and centre manager to organise wonderful educational activities.

Beautiful surroundings of the centre:

library with lots of English books

Yeongwol Big Tree Centre (Classrooms)

greenhouse

very tamed and good companion to kids

cute big dog

Cabbage at the farm for kimchi and lunch in the canteen

fruits growing in the farm of the centre

It’s quite humid and hot during summer, so we always drank lots of cold water and had lots of ice-cream. Luckily there was air conditioning inside the building and it was cool during night. We slept on the floor with mat or sleeping bag and it’s how Koreans do traditionally.

Both the centre and volunteers had prepared a lot of exciting activities for the kids and these are the highlights of the programme:

 

Ice breaking games

 

Water fight in the streams near the centre

 

International food and culture fair-

Kids enjoyed learning the history, language and culture of different places (Germany, Taiwan, Spain, Albania, Hong Kong, France, Poland and Russia) and tasted wide range of delicious traditional food, including soup, pasta, tea, chocolate, etc. They also played some outdoor games and learned Tai Chi. It’s said to be one of their favourite activities!

international fair – Germany

France Booth

Chinese costume wearing in International Fair

I prepared Chinese five-spice eggs and tofu for the guests and kids and the food was gone in seconds!

Hong Kong Fair

 

Farm work – picking fruit

Look at the fresh produce of aronia berry!

 

A day trip to Gangneung (beach, winter Olympics museum and aquarium)

Gangneung Green City Experience Center

Kids were playing curling really hard

Also, there was 4D experience of skiing in the center which is worth trying.

Lunch time

The side dishes were mainly veggies including oyster mushrooms and pancakes which are good news for vegetarians. We had bibimbab and traditional Korean tea as well.

Located next to Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Exhibition Centre, we also spent some time in Gyeongpo Aquarium and took dozens of cool pictures.

Enjoy more slow motions of jelly fish here: 

Have a look at my Slow motion video on My instagram 

First encounter of soft and tiny creatures – touched starfish and some sea animals never seen before!

Swimming and bathing at Gangneung Beach

 

Farewell

Time to write to each other about our thoughts and say goodbye

Our kids got big prizes for being outstanding and brave in the workcamp

Last but not least, tasty meals prepared by centre staff and ice lolly

The staff from the centre prepared us tasty lunch and dinner, and used fresh local veggies from their farm. Kimchi was available every meal which was great for those for like spicy food 🙂

P.S. We had a relaxing weekend and that’s why we got ready for the workcamp at Yeongwol Youth Centre the second week!

We had great dessert bingsu in cafe called Sulbing. The chocolate one with brownie, the traditional one with bean powder and mochi and the melon one with milk ice. I’m so impressed with the shape and taste!

Click Sulbing dessert cafe website for the full menu.

Hang out in Yeongwol city at night – carnival and games

This is the first week so far. For the details of the second week, please visit here.