Renovating the Home of a Single Parent Family

“Grandma, I want to live in a warm house too…”

Dharma Teacher Wolgwang, the director of the Ansan JTS Multicultural Center, has been thinking about what little Yeona had said when she visited the center. Yeona is a 7-year-old child of a Vietnamese single parent family that lives in a tiny room with no heating.

The small room used to be a small warehouse of about 110 sq ft, and it is directly connected to a hair salon. The concrete floor had no heating system, so Yeona was always sick from having to sleep on a temporary bed with an electric pad. The tiny room with no space to play in was a bad environment for a little 7-year-old girl.

Dharma Teacher Wolgwang tried to help Yeona’s family by temporarily putting up some bubble wrap on the door and windows and hanging up old curtains to prevent cold drafts from coming in. But it was still very cold due to chills coming up from the concrete floor. She tried to think of a way to resolve this problem. Then one day, she received news that volunteers from the Seoul Facilities Corporation wanted to help renovate the living environment of those who were in need of help. Yeona’s family was the first to come to Dharma Teacher Wolgwang’s mind.

A Hanul-MacGyver volunteer team from the Seoul Facilities Corporation went out to survey the situation of Yeona’s house and decided that their house must be fixed as soon as possible. They worked together with volunteers from the Ansan JTS Multicultural Center to help plan and prepare for the renovation work.

Finally, It’s D-day.

At around 8:30 AM, 10 volunteers arrived at the center and divided into three teams: Yeona’s house team, Myanmar temple team, and the Multicultural Center electronics facilities team.

First, the volunteers worked on cleaning everything that was scattered around Yeona’s house, fixing the heating panel, and laying the flooring. Then, they applied foam wallpaper to the dirty walls and gave the old door a fresh coat of paint. Auxiliary windows with handles replaced the old windows to completely prevent cold drafts from coming in. The auxiliary windows can be removed to provide ventilation in the summer.

This is how the 110 sq ft room was transformed into a warm and cozy space for Yeona’s family with the help of the Hanul-MacGyver volunteer team from the Seoul Facilities Corporation.

After renovation – New floor work and foam wall paper

It was the moment that 7-year-old Yeona’s dream came true: to sleep in a warm place. She always used to cry when she had to go back to her cold home after visiting the center.

The electrical installation team at the Ansan JTS Multicultural Center inspected the installation of the electric wires, outlet work, and electric resistance measurement work. With their help, the Multicultural Center will now be able to use electricity without any problems The Myanmar temple team worked on preventing cold drafts from coming into the temple.

After all the work was done, the volunteers gave Yeona school supplies and showered her with words of encouragement while sharing some snacks. Yeona really enjoyed herself, and she was smiling brightly the entire time. When her neighbors came over, she talked to them in a voice full of excitement.

The Hanul-MacGyver Volunteer team had also worked at the Sujata Academy in India back in March 2018. Using their experience of volunteering at India, they were able to successfully complete their job including electrical work at Yeona’s house, the Myanmar temple, and the Ansan JTS Multicultural Center.

The chief of the volunteer team was happy and proud of their work. “The 4th Hanul Volunteer Team! We came to help the multicultural families of the Ansan JTS Multicultural Center. I feel very happy to see the multicultural families smiling brightly.”