hankyoreh

A handwritten letter from an anonymous donor delivered to Eunpyeong District Office in Seoul on Mar. 12. (provided by Eunpyeong District Office).

Migrant workers, North Korean defectors, senior citizens, and other financially struggling groups have been contributing actively to donations and sharing campaigns to overcome the novel coronavirus outbreak. It’s a beautiful example of solidarity by the most vulnerable members of society helping to build collective immunity to the virus.

According to accounts from Eunpyeong District Office in Seoul on Mar. 16, a senior citizen visited the community center in the Bulgwang No. 2 neighborhood around 2:30 pm on Mar. 12. The individual handed an envelope containing 743,000 won (US$597.39) to a social services worker, explaining, “It may not be much, but I’ve saved this money 2,000 to 3,000 won at a time by cutting down on meals, and I want it to be used to fight the coronavirus.” Center employees asked the senior citizen several times for identification, but the donor quickly departed.

“This person left after passing along the money, insisting, ‘Don’t ask me any questions, it’s all such a bother,’” a district office employee recalled.

A handwritten letter left by the donor said, “Don’t ask any questions. Just use this for the coronavirus. It may not be that much to the ‘haves,’ but it’s a lot for struggling people like us. Please use it for the doctors who are having such a difficult time and the poor senior citizens.” The community center and residents’ association planned to embark on a weeklong campaign that day to raise funds from employees and residents to add to the senior citizens’ donation for use toward socially vulnerable populations.

Another senior citizen resident in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, provided the Miseong neighborhood’s community center with a donation of 40 masks and an envelope containing 3 million won (US$2,412). Inside the envelope was a handwritten letter reading, “I’m grateful for all the help I’ve been given, and I’m thankful to the medical staff who are struggling with the coronavirus.”

Migrant workers in Busan send messages of support to the city of Daegu. (provided by the Busan Migrants’ Forum)

Migrant residents in Busan have also been chipping in to help Daegu, the city that has seen the most infections. Busan Migrants’ Forum, an association of Busan migrant workers, female migrants, migrant activists, and migrant communities, held an emergency fundraising campaign among local migrants from Mar. 6 to 12 to support vulnerable populations and medical staff in Daegu. Migrants from the Philippines who are working in irregular positions as English instructors have also been making active contributions despite their own difficulties making a living as schools and after-school academies have been closed because of the virus. One migrant who had been seeking counseling with a human rights group over unpaid wages willingly contributed after hearing about the campaign. Contributions have also been made by unregistered migrants who are unable to buy official masks because of their ineligibility for health insurance enrollment.

A total of 5.24 million won (US$4,213) in donations from around 70 individuals and communities was passed along to the Daegu branch of the Republic of Korea Red Cross on Mar. 15. The migrants were reportedly apologetic over the small amount of the funds raised.

“They were happy to be able to lend their support through efforts by everyone to give the help that is most urgently needed in the places that are struggling most, transcending divisions of nationality and region, hatred and discrimination,” a Busan Migrants’ Forum official said.

A donation of money and masks made by an anonymous elderly donor to Gunsan, North Gyeongsang Province. (provided by the city of Gunsan)

North Korean defectors have also been donating masks. According to Deokjin Police Station in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, a North Korean defector in their 50s recently donated over 200 handmade masks to the station, asking for them to be shared with other defectors in the region who are unable to purchase their own. According to sources, the defector makes a living repairing clothing with a sewing machine, but has been struggling with a lack of work amid the coronavirus outbreak. The defector told the police station she would continue making cloth masks until the outbreak subsides.

By Kim Yeong-dong and Seo Hye-mi, staff reporters, and Park Im-keun, North Jeolla correspondent

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