Chunsil Jung, Director of St. Teresa Clinic, Wins 37th Asan Award for 25 Years of Medical Volunteer Work in Africa

Asan Foundation Holds the 37th Asan Awards Ceremony

Chunsil Jung, the 59-year-old director of St. Teresa Clinic in Kenya, who has dedicated herself to providing medical care to approximately 800,000 local residents through clinics and hospitals in Kenya and Malawi over the past 25 years, has been awarded the 37th Asan Award. The prize for the Asan Award is 300 million won.

At the 37th Asan Awards Ceremony held on the 25th at the auditorium of the Asan Life Sciences Institute, Seoul Asan Medical Center, Songpa-gu, Seoul, (from left) Mongjun Chung, Chairman of the Asan Foundation, Chunsil Jung, Director of St. Teresa Clinic (Asan Award), Woonghan Kim, Professor at Seoul National University College of Medicine (Medical Service Award), and the couple Okran Kim and Hyunil Kim (Social Service Award) are taking a commemorative photo. Asan Social Welfare Foundation

The Asan Social Welfare Foundation announced this at the 37th Asan Awards Ceremony held on the 25th at the auditorium of the Asan Life Sciences Research Institute, Seoul Asan Medical Center, Songpa-gu, Seoul. The Medical Volunteer Award was presented to Woonghan Kim, a 62-year-old professor at Seoul National University College of Medicine, who has performed free heart surgeries for 844 children with congenital heart disease in 17 countries-including China, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and Ethiopia-over the past 26 years, and has trained over 3,000 local medical professionals.

The Social Service Award was given to the couple Hyunil Kim (59) and Okran Kim (53), who have supported the self-reliance of marginalized neighbors for 27 years by running the 'Baha Meal House' free meal center for the homeless and the 'Blue Whale Recovery Center,' an institution for the rehabilitation of isolated and reclusive youth. The prize for both the Medical Volunteer Award and the Social Service Award is 200 million won each.

Additionally, the foundation awarded 20 million won each to 15 recipients in the categories of Welfare Practice, Volunteer Service, and Filial Piety & Family for their dedication to underprivileged neighbors and families. In total, 1 billion won in prize money was awarded to 18 recipients (including organizations) across six categories.

Jung, the recipient of the Asan Award, made her perpetual vows as a nun in the United Kingdom in 1995 with the conviction to help the poor and the sick. After qualifying as a nurse in 1999, she began her life in Africa in 2000.

In Kenya, she led the establishment and operation of St. Teresa Clinic in impoverished areas with no medical facilities. In Malawi, as the head of Mtengo Wanthenga Hospital, she established medical and administrative systems and provided high-quality medical services. She also engaged in medical volunteer work and relief activities for residents of marginalized regions, bringing hope to their lives. Furthermore, she is personally leading every step-from fundraising to design and construction-of a new clinic being built in the rural area of Kangoya, Kenya.

Professor Kim, the recipient of the Medical Volunteer Award, has performed free heart surgeries for 844 children with congenital heart disease in 17 countries with poor medical environments, starting with China in 1999 and including Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and Ethiopia. Believing that true aid is helping local medical staff become capable of saving patients themselves, he has also trained more than 3,000 local medical professionals.

He has incorporated a global health program into the regular medical school curriculum so that medical students can study social responsibility, and he is nurturing experts from diverse fields such as nursing, engineering, and public health as medical doctors. In addition, to combat social prejudice against children with congenital heart disease, he has consistently hiked with them since 2016, and in 2024, he successfully reached the Annapurna Base Camp in the Himalayas with teenagers who overcame congenital heart disease.

The couple Hyunil Kim and Okran Kim, recipients of the Social Service Award, began living with homeless youth in 1998 while running a newspaper distribution center in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon. For the past 27 years, they have extended a helping hand to the homeless and isolated or reclusive young people. In 2009, Hyunil Kim started by delivering cup noodles to the homeless, and as more people gathered, he opened the 'Baha Meal House' free meal center. Okran Kim, having witnessed the depression and social withdrawal among the young people visiting the center, recognized the urgent need for their emotional recovery and led the establishment of the 'Blue Whale Recovery Center' in 2019, helping youth escape isolation and return to healthy daily lives.

At the ceremony, Mongjun Chung, Chairman of the Asan Social Welfare Foundation, stated, "Thanks to the noble efforts of the awardees, who have quietly devoted themselves to supporting underprivileged neighbors and families out of the public eye, our society has become warmer, and we have gained hope instead of despair. Helping marginalized people live together in our society is the responsibility of all of us. The Asan Foundation will also do its best, however modest, to help those in need in our society together with you."

Meanwhile, the Asan Social Welfare Foundation established the Asan Award in 1989 to encourage individuals and organizations who have devoted themselves to helping the underprivileged or practicing filial piety. The 37th awardees were selected through a comprehensive review of candidates' achievements by a judging and operating committee composed of experts from various fields.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.