Student supporters for Korea University Center for Students with Disabilities (KUCSD), also known as Mohae, aim to raise awareness for the disabled community. With Mohae meaning “sun shining in the corner” in Korean, Mohae student supporters shed light on various issues concerning the disabled community within and beyond Korea University (KU). They are advocates for helping the student body gain a deeper understanding of what should be done to achieve a barrier-free campus, and eventually garner more interest in these issues.

Who is Mohae?

Mohae works to apprise a wider student body of the ongoing challenges faced by the disabled community in KU by running various campaigns and student-led initiatives. These activities include hosting a snack event on Disabled Day, posting card news on Mohae’s Instagram (@kumohae_ official), and holding a booth during the KU May Festival Week. Mohae also held a social media event, where Instagram followers could participate in a quiz testing their knowledge of a barrier-free campus and could win prizes after submission.

Recruiting new student supporters twice a year – every June and December – Mohae awards students who have completed one year of service with a Certificate of Completion and an Excellence Unit Award. Mohae is a perfect fit for KU students who wish to impact those around them and help better society. Anyone interested in being a part of Mohae can do so through filling out an application form available on Korea University Portal to Information Depository (KUPID).

To gain more insight about Mohae, The Granite Tower (GT) interviewed the head of Mohae’s student supporters, Heo Kanghoon (’21, Health Policy and Management).

GT: What does Mohae mean to you?

Heo: For me, Mohae provides a platform to look at the world from a new perspective. Oftentimes, if one does not experience hardships firsthand, it might be hard to understand and recognize the difficulties faced by a disabled student. I think that Mohae trains my ability to put myself in other people’s shoes, as its activities provide me with an opportunity to acknowledge the discomfort experienced by a handicapped person. In my opinion, the significance of Mohae’s activities is to share what I felt with many other students at KU and make them feel the same way.

GT: What is the most memorable experience you had as a Mohae student supporter?

Heo: Personally, it has to be the Dream Market held during the KU May Festival Week (The Granite Tower Festival) this year. It holds significance as we were unable to hold offline campaigns for roughly two years. We planned the event from scratch, as it was the first in-person school event for many of us. After many discussions, we decided to hold a booth offering various activities: making dalgona candy, taking a quiz testing your awareness of the handicapped community, learning simple sign language, and ending off with taking Polaroid pictures for those who participated. Despite how hectic the first day of the KU May Festival Week was, we managed to achieve great results thanks to the hard work put in by the student supporters! We received a donation of 1000 Korean Republic Won (KRW) for every activity a student participated in, and we managed to raise 441,000 KRW on Day One, and approximately four times that amount by the end of the festival week. I think that this experience was unforgettable because of how much our hard work paid off.

GT: Please introduce Mohae’s plans for the second semester.

Heo: We are considering a collaboration with student supporters for the disabled in Yonsei University during the Ko-Yon games, but plans are not finalized as of now. The KU-Message campaign will also take place in November, where we aspire to heighten disability awareness among KU students and help them gain an accurate understanding of disabilities in general. In addition, we hope to reach out to more KU students with the help of other school-based clubs. We also plan to be active on social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube to achieve better publicity and social media presence.

GT: Who should apply to be a student supporter at Mohae? Are there any requirements for application?

Heo: Anyone who is interested in becoming a part of Mohae supporters is welcome. We look for individuals that are not only interested in becoming a student supporter, but are also actively involved in creating a barrier-free campus at KU through different initiatives. These experiences, coupled with the drive to be of help to the disabled, help us in recruiting new student supporters through interviews.

GT: Is there anything you wish to say to those who are interested in becoming a student supporter, or anyone who might read this article?

Heo: We are a very open-minded and welcoming group. Anyone interested in creating a barrier-free campus at KU is encouraged to apply. Even if you do not have experience, you are welcome as long as you show your passion for contributing to a better society.

There are many disabled students around us at KU. However, due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, we have been stuck in the perils of online lectures and it has been hard for us to meet those disabled students in person and gain feedback regarding the discomforts they face when traveling around campus. As we are not directly experiencing this inconvenience ourselves, there are instances where we do not pay attention to which parts of the campus are barrier-free. Hence, Mohae strives to promote relevant information to make such issues more well-known.