<1984 Kookmin News>

Unforgettable people- Dr Hwal lan

Reminiscing back to the 60 years of my life, I come to a realization that the coincidental incidents of 20 years back, has completely changed the direction of my life. As a result of such days, I was gifted with the opportunity to meet great people like Dr Hwal lan Kim, who have provided me with an abundance of mental food.
The incident took place in the city of Daegu, when a thief robbed our house. Seeing that I cannot remember the exact details of the damages, I assume that the incident itself was not of much importance. However, the incident does play an important role in my life for the fact that it allowed me awaken my individual consciousness. Although I had lived my life relying on Christianity, the robbery made me think again about my neighbors. Through it, I realized that so many people in the Daegu city were starving and were in need. I had always been an ordinary wife and mother so focused on my house work, and the KWCTU was the first social work I participated in. The fact that the only way my country, my nation can survive is through temperance, fired me up onto my feet.

We started by preparing a building in which we rented, and used it as a place to educate the underprivileged children in our city. In the midst of all that in 1964, our family decided to move to the city of Seoul. At the time, we did not even know how to read our directions, but managed to find the courage to continue the temperance work there.
When I contacted the WCTU, I found out that they did not have a building to work in, nor had any workers to help run the organization. Having no friends or family in Seoul to discuss such issues with, there existed a speck of loneliness deep inside myself. That is when I decided to contact Dr Hwal lan Kim, a person whom I have only heard through others.

I made my way to the Ewha Women’s University foundation building and into the chairman’s office. There, I spent roughly 30 minutes debating about my beliefs: “A nation which strives for a life of luxury and extravagance will one day collapse. The only way our nation can live is through conservation and temperance; hence we must expand the influence of the temperance movement.”

Dr Hwal lan Kim sat quietly, carefully listening to each word I said. I had heard countless positive comments about her generous personality, and without a surprise she said: “I will help you as much as I can, so go do the temperance work with all your heart and life.” With these few words of encouragement, I gained so much courage as if I met one hundred rescue forces. She even added that I could approach her whenever I needed some advice or a person to debate such issues with. Hugging tightly onto the hope and excitement, I came home planning the next steps of the temperance movement, starting from the construction of the building itself.

During the progressing process, I visited Dr Hwal lan Kim on a very occasional basis in order to receive advice. Whenever I did so, Dr Hwal lan Kim responded respectfully and provided all the help she could. Like so, Dr Hwal lan Kim was a key contributor to the KWCTU, and even took on the role as the advisor. The fact that still makes me stop in awe is that she had never missed a single WCTU meeting or gathering. One time, Dr Hwal lan Kim had to choose between the WCTU meeting and an important governmental meeting. Surprisingly, she attended our WCTU meeting and said, “Why would I miss a meeting? I even sacrificed my marriage status in order to focus on the work of our nation.”

Another respectful memory of her is that during the first stages of construction of the current WCTU building in Seoul Dong-ja-dong, we had to sign the land contract and pay 2,000,000won. However, the donations we received were 1,900,000won and were short on money. Dr Hwal lan Kim generously donated 10,000won for the construction, which at the time was an enormous sum of money.

Dr Hwal lan Kim was someone who gave us so much emotional and material support. The fact that still stings me most is that she was not able to stay with us until the completion of the WCTU hall.