There is a group of young adults who help promote the local residents’ awareness on environmental protection and preserve the terrestrial ecosystem through the ‘Green Earth’ campaign, which focuses on street and park clean-up activities within urban cities. They are ASEZ WAO, a young adult worker volunteer group from the World Mission Society Church of God (General Pastor Kim Joo-cheol, hereinafter referred to as the Church of God). On July 30th, a total of 128 participants, including ASEZ WAO members, colleagues and acquaintances cleaned sections of the QC Bike Park in Payatas, amounting to 0.6km.
An ASEZ WAO official said, “Climate change is a serious problem that destroys the ecosystem and threatens the survival of mankind. It is important for young people around the world to pay attention to this problem and protect the earth,” He added, “I hope more people will participate in environmental clean-up activities to save the earth.”
The Quezon City Hall welcomed the young adults’ volunteer work, and provided trash bags and garbage trucks to support the activity. The Department of Sanitation and Cleanup Works of Quezon City (DSQC) provided a garbage truck, garbage sacks along with some cleaning materials. The Payatas Barangay also supported the clean-up activity with an ambulance, garbage truck and patrol car. Payatas Barangay Captain Manny N. Guarin, who participated in the clean-up activity said, “We are happy to be part of this advocacy of ASEZ WAO to […] protect the environment.” Head of Special Operations of the DSQC Jonathan C. Enguerra encouraged the volunteers saying, “[…] it is our duty and responsibility as part of the city government to encourage volunteers like you to continuously participate in these types of initiatives.” Team Leader of Special Operations of the DSQC Noli S. Rogas expressed his gratitude to the World Mission Society Church of God saying that the Quezon City government will always be there to provide support when needed.
Through the clean-up activity, which took place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., over 100 sacks of garbage were gathered. The garbage collected included various types of disposable cups, straws, plastic recyclables, waste vinyl, and masks, etc. Volunteers continued to clean, having the same bright smile on their faces. Jun Ho Shin (Daejeon, South Korea) expressed his sense of achievement saying, “I was able to realize that when we carry out these volunteer activities, being united as one like the name ASEZ WAO suggests, we can make the world a better and cleaner place for people to live in.” Moreover, Jane Resono (Quezon City, Philippines) said, “It’s rainy season now in the Philippines—it rained very hard here and all our clothes are wet, which led to us having a difficult time picking up litter. However, with all the Korean ASEZ WAO members and the Philippines ASEZ WAO members coming together and cleaning the area led this day to be enjoyable and worthwhile”
ASEZ WAO has been practicing environmental activities such as, “Green Earth (Street and Park clean-up),” “Blue Ocean (River and Sea Purification),” and “No More GPGP (Plastic Reduction)” in various parts of Metro Manila, including Santa Mesa, Valenzuela, Caloocan, LPPCHEA, and Manila Bay as well as other parts of the country such as Mindanao, Luzon, and Visayas. Earlier this month, as part of the ‘Mother’s Forest (Tree-planting Worldwide)’ campaign, 40 Palawan cherry tree seedlings supported by the City Hall were planted in collaboration with Imus City Hall, Cavite. Prior to that, in April, ASEZ WAO helped improve the environment of the Las Piñas National High School located in Las Piñas by painting murals.
Additionally, as part of the ‘Green Workplace (Environment Protection within the Workplace)’ project, ASEZ WAO continuously carries out various online and offline challenges in workplaces such as, ‘Use Public Transportation,’ ‘Ride a Bicycle,’ ‘Use a Handkerchief’. During the COVID-19 pandemic, through the ‘Heart to Heart Relay,’ volunteers expressed gratitude and cheered the officials and medical staff at Valenzuela General Hospital, Philippine General Hospital and Mandaluyong Medical Center.
These types of ASEZ WAO activities are active through the world. ASEZ WAO, which contains the meaning of ‘Save the Earth from A to Z, We are One Family’ works in various fields such as education support, welfare promotion, emergency relief, and cultural exchange for the sustainable development of mankind and the earth. In response to the volunteer activities carried out, ASEZ WAO has received various awards locally and internationally, including the Certificate of Appreciation from the Governor of Leyte, Philippines, the Presidential Volunteer Award (Gold Award), the Plaque of Appreciation from the Governor of Junin, Peru, the Citation from the Mayor of Torrance, California, the Certificate of Appreciation from the Mayor of Port Phillip, Australia, the Green World and Green Apple Award, which are international environmental awards, as well as the Certificate of Appreciation from the International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL).
The Church of God, to which ASEZ WAO belongs, is a worldwide church with 3.5 million saints in more than 7,500 regions in 175 countries. According to the teachings of the Bible, the Church of God believes in ‘God the Father’ and ‘God the Mother,’ and keeps the Passover of the New Covenant, which Jesus Christ first established 2,000 years ago for the salvation of mankind. It has received more than 3,800 awards from governments and institutions of countries all over the world, including South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Brazil for its humanitarian activities in various fields.
