COLLEGE STUDENTS DONATE TALENT IN RURAL AREAS

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College students majoring in architecture are out to donate their talent in rural areas struggling with labor shortages. Even the COVID-19 pandemic did not stop their willingness to help others in need.

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​Wallpaper is carefully glued onto the wall. The previously dull interior of this community center has now brightened up.

[Soundbite] SIN SU-GYEONG(SOPHOMORE, JEONBUK NAT'L UNIVERSITY) : "It's most rewarding when I see the changes, the before and after."

With every stroke of the brush, the grayish wall transforms into a blue sea. Young volunteers inject new life into the old, shabby walls with their drawings.

[Soundbite] JO MIN-BEOM(SOPHOMORE, JEONBUK NAT'L UNIVERSITY) : "The town elders praise us, calling us artists. Those kind words give us more energy."

Here in the front yard of a farm house, students are digging up the ground to bury a drain pipe. Sweating profusely in the sweltering heat, they are proud of their work.

[Soundbite] JU GWANG-DON(FACULTY STAFF, JEONBUK NAT'L UNIVERSITY) : "I decided to take part because it's my area of interest, serves a good cause and doesn't affect my work."

Students and staff members of a university engineering faculty have been donating their talent this way, visiting rural towns for the 10th year. They help repair homes and public facilities such as water and sewage pipes. They draw murals, create flower paths and much more.

[Soundbite] KIM BOK-MAN(TOWN RESIDENT) : "The students are wonderful. I'm a father myself and I'm proud of their service."

Even a crisis as serious as the COVID-19 pandemic is not stopping them from showing their love for their neighbors.