[Sponsored Report] Hyundai Motor celebrates 10 years of service

Happy Move Global Youth Volunteers participants play with children in India. The program celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2017. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Happy Move Global Youth Volunteers is a volunteer group comprised of university students. It was established in 2008 by Hyundai Motor as a global social contribution project and assigns 500 volunteers to places in need worldwide throughout the year.

Last year, Happy Move Global Youth Volunteers celebrated its 10th anniversary. In that time, about 10,000 volunteers have been assigned to 21 countries and were provided opportunities to become global leaders.

Members have visited 21 countries over the past decade to build and renovate 728 homes, 151 classrooms and 221 sanitation facilities, as well as teach 43,845 local children. Also, the group has also restored 500,000 square meters (124 acres) of desertified land in Inner Mongolia and planted 39,400 mangrove trees to help restore the marine ecosystem on Haenam Island.

From January to February, a volunteer group will spend two weeks with locals and students in 4 countries including Vietnam, India, Indonesia and China, for cultural exchange. The volunteers will help the places they visit by constructing public facilities, schools and houses, preserving world heritage spots, providing education about environmental protection and restoring marine ecosystems.

This year, the company created a volunteer team made up of people from diverse social and economic backgrounds to promote social integration.

Volunteers are chosen based on their teamwork skills and enthusiasm along with their will to contribute. Additional points are given to the underprivileged - including welfare beneficiaries, children of parents who have died in traffic accidents and refugees from North Korea - to provide opportunities for growth through an overseas experience.

Additionally, Hyundai Motor operates DYM (Design Your Move), a Happy Move autonomous planning volunteer opportunity where volunteers can plan, operate and participate in their own activities. The purpose is to let participants continue their volunteer activities after their overseas volunteer experience.

BY KIM MIN-JI [kim.minji4@joongang.co.kr]