[Opinion]Longing for a Society of Love

`tak tak tak`

A loud symphony of sound coming from a company of hammers rings throughout the country. From August 6 – 10, the sound continued to ring throughout the country in places like South Chungchungdo Ahsan City, Dogo-myon, Kumsanri, six cities in all. A project of the International Habitat for Humanity’s `Building Houses of Love Campaign`, the `Jimmy Carter Special Construction Enterprise 2001` was held in Korea.

The places where houses of love were built include 80 houses in Ahsan`s `Harmony Village` and others in Kyoungsan, Taebaek, Chinju, Kunsan, Paju, with a total of 136 houses. 4000 volunteers helped to build the rows of cozy, two-storied wooden houses. These houses were allotted to people without housing after a rigorous 10 day selection process.

They say that of the world’s woes, the worst is homelessness. Even the most rich and powerful nations in the world have not completely solved the problem of homelessness. Although the rate of home ownership in Korea is said to be over 90 percent, the actual ratio is much lower. Moreover, countless families live in inhabitable housing while many others have to make do with renting half-basement rooms that always floods after a rain.

Family is precious. Love begins and grows in the family. If, however, housing problems do not get resolved, the family becomes unstable, and when the family becomes unstable, society suffers. Housing is, therefore, a fundamental factor in the nation’s stability.

Beginning 25 years ago on a small city farm in the American South, `Habitat for Humanity` spread worldwide to 79 countries and built over 100, 000 houses. The campaign is a cooperative effort that draws on the help of private individuals, church organizations, and other various community organizations, who help build houses for marginalized neighbors who can never own houses at their income level. It is an effort that puts love into action. It is also a campaign that relieves the discord between classes, neighborhoods, nation, and people.

Furthermore, the person who moves into the new home has to participate in 500 hours of construction work and, although there is a long-term interest-free period, he or she reimburses the cost over a gradual period, becoming a real homeowner. The mutual labor builds community consciousness, and has the larger value of maintaining the growth of local leadership.

Watching the volunteers hard at work and sweating under the hot sun over the past week, I once again felt the sacredness of work. The volunteers are families who decided to spend their vacation time helping the project, college group members, soldiers, church volunteers, and even mothers who had left their babies to neighbors’ care. There were opportunities to meet a Korean American high school student who stood with a leg in a cast helping with translations, reform school students receiving job training, and 70 year old veterans of the Korean War from 26 countries. What drew them here? They understand the profound secret of love, that the more they give of their own strength, the more it will increase.

The most moving thing about Habitat for Humanity is the resident induction ceremony. Every time you see a resident receiving the house keys and the Bible, breaking into tears and embracing the volunteers, you realize what an enormous power love is. Watching this scene, I was grateful for being one of the volunteers. They say that the economy is bad and that people are becoming heartless. May be that is why self-centered sentiments such as `me first, my family first, my company first` are so prevalent. It`s a frustrating world. Something like Habitat for Humanity that can help our neighbors become happier and put love into action is the right spark for releasing the frustration in our society.

I sincerely hope that this project will take down the walls in our hearts, help reawaken community consciousness and East-West harmony, creating a society that overflows with compassion. I also eagerly look forward to Habitat spreading to the North and breaking through the current block in trust between South and North Korea.

Lee Kyoung Hwae (Professor, Yonsei University, Jimmy Carter Special Construction Enterprise 2001 General Director)