The Office of International Affairs (OIA) of Hanyang University (HYU) operated an emergency fundraising booth to raise money for the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria. The booth was held next to the HYU Lion Statue from March 8 to 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. While the booth was run by the OIA, the fundraising project was officially planned by the General Affairs Department.

The OIA held a meeting with seven Turkish students and one Syrian student to offer words of comfort and to discuss what the office could do for them. One of the ideas that came up from the meeting was operating the booth. As a result, the Office provided operating funds and promotion materials, such as a bulletin board on which people could attach notes of sympathy and love for Syria and Turkey.

A staff from the OIA said, “Because there was no official sponsor for Syria, a Syrian student and the office had to look for an NGO that qualified in terms of transparency.” While the Korean Embassy of the Republic of Turkey announced an official account and address through which to receive donations, the Syrian student had to carry out the promotion under the studentʼs personal name. To elaborate on the activeness of the students, she added that it was Turkish students who proposed the idea of the booth first, bought materials at their own expense, and held promotions through various social media platforms, such as Everytime.

The staff concluded by saying, “I want to emphasize that the students worked hard for this, and I was moved seeing how much they wanted to give a hand to their country. I hope that Syria and Turkey recover quickly and stabilize soon.”