2026

Oct - Nov

Spreading awareness through bracelets

Throughout October and November, we began distributing common&good bracelets as a way of introducing our organisation to a wider community. I personally shared them at W***, C*******, H** Hotel, and G***** Cafe, while fellow members distributed them within their own schools and social circles. What began as a small initiative gradually became a collective effort, with each member finding opportunities to introduce common&good to people beyond our existing network.

We chose bracelets because they were simple, wearable, and could travel beyond the moment of exchange. Unlike a poster or an online announcement, a bracelet could become part of someone's everyday routine, occasionally prompting conversations about our work. More importantly, wearing the same bracelet created a sense of belonging among members who were often separated by schools, cities, and even countries. It became a small, visible reminder that our individual efforts were part of something collective.

This made us think about the relationship between shared identity and collective action. Social identity theory suggests that a sense of belonging to a group can shape how individuals understand themselves and their responsibilities towards others. We began to see the bracelets not simply as promotional items, but as symbols of a community united by common values. Yet we also recognised that wearing the same symbol did not necessarily mean sharing the same commitment. The bracelet could represent our unity, but it was through the work we undertook together that such unity acquired meaning.

Oct 27th

Donation to Busan M**** Children's Home

tbc

Sep 1st

Donation to Nepal Flood (Children)

Following reports of severe flooding in Nepal, we at common&good contributed to relief efforts supporting children affected by the disaster. As we discussed the donation, we found ourselves thinking beyond the immediate destruction of homes and infrastructure to the less visible consequences of displacement, particularly the disruption of education, routines, and the sense of stability that children depend upon.

The experience prompted us to consider the distinction between vulnerability and exposure. A natural hazard does not affect everyone equally; its consequences are shaped by existing inequalities in housing, infrastructure, income, and access to public services. We began to recognise that while flooding might be a natural event, the extent of its human impact was also a reflection of social and economic structures. For children, even a temporary disruption could have consequences extending far beyond the immediate emergency.

We also questioned the limitations of responding only when a disaster attracted public attention. Emergency donations were important, but recovery often continued long after the headlines disappeared. This made us reflect on the difference between reacting to suffering and addressing the conditions that make communities vulnerable in the first place. We could not claim that our contribution resolved those deeper problems, but it encouraged us to think of solidarity not merely as a response to a moment of crisis, but as a commitment that should extend beyond it.

Our deepest condolences go to those who lost loved ones in the floods. May those who lost their lives rest in peace, and may their families and communities find strength and comfort in the days ahead.

Aug 27th

Donation to Busan M**** Children's Home

When we at common&good learned that children at Busan M***** Children's Home did not always have breakfast provided on weekends, we arranged to donate instant rice meals (컵반) and porridge (죽). We chose foods that were easy to prepare, required little time or equipment, and could be eaten without extensive preparation. It was a relatively simple response to a specific concern, yet the circumstances behind it stayed with us.

We began thinking about how much of everyday life depends on routines we rarely question. For many of us, breakfast is so ordinary that skipping it is often a matter of choice. Yet the difference between having breakfast on a weekday and going without it on a weekend revealed how access to something essential could depend on institutional schedules rather than individual needs. Hunger, after all, does not recognise the distinction between Saturday and Monday.

What troubled us was not simply the absence of a meal, but the fragility of an arrangement in which something so fundamental could become uncertain at regular intervals. We began to distinguish between providing food and ensuring food security. Our donation could help address an immediate gap, but it also raised a larger question about how systems of care could be organised around the continuity of human needs rather than the convenience of institutional routines. We hoped that one day, a child's access to breakfast would be too ordinary to require anyone's generosity.

Aug 11th-20th

Doll Drive 2

Following my visits to Tanzanian communities and experience translating children's letters, I became increasingly aware of the contrast between the limited access to toys in some communities and the abundance of unused stuffed animals in our own homes. For our second drive, we at common&good expanded our collection across five residential communities in Jeju, Busan, and Seoul, working with apartment management teams to gather unwanted plush toys and prepare them for reuse.

The initiative reflected the principles of the circular economy, which challenges the conventional model of producing, consuming, and discarding. We began to recognise that inequality was not always a question of insufficient resources, but sometimes of how existing resources were distributed and valued. Yet we also understood that redistribution required attention to quality, hygiene, and the preferences of those receiving the toys.

More than simply extending the lives of discarded belongings, this project showed us how environmental sustainability and social equity could reinforce one another. We were not creating new resources, but reconsidering the possibilities of those we already had.

Collection Locations

Shinhwa Villas, Jeju
Hillstate Tradium Apartment, Busan
Raemian Hillstate Apartment, Seoul
GS Heights Xi Apartment, Busan
Woosung Apartment, Busan

Total 118 plush toys collected

Aug 14th-16th

Second sale of Fair Trade Products

For our second fair trade sale, we at common&good introduced Guatemalan worry dolls and Tanzanian coffee. Though originating from different cultural traditions, both products encouraged us to think more critically about the relationship between consumption, production, and the distribution of economic value. The worry dolls reflected a Guatemalan tradition of sharing worries, while the coffee represented the labour and expertise involved in cultivation and trade.

This brought us to the concept of global value chains, in which the economic value generated by a product is often distributed unevenly between producers, intermediaries, and retailers. We began questioning why those closest to the process of production do not necessarily capture the greatest share of its financial rewards. Yet we also recognised that ethical consumption should not reduce producers to their economic circumstances. Their products deserved recognition for their quality, craftsmanship, and cultural significance.

Through this second sale, we came to see fair trade as more than a matter of charitable purchasing. It was about reconsidering whose contributions markets reward, whose they overlook, and how consumption might become a means of recognising value more fairly.

Jul 23-26

First sale of Fair Trade Products

For our first fair trade sale, we at common&good introduced Guatemalan worry dolls, small handmade figures traditionally associated with the practice of sharing one's worries before sleep. What interested us was how something so small could carry such personal and cultural meaning. Each doll represented not simply an object for sale, but a tradition shaped by generations of storytelling and craftsmanship.

Organising the sale also changed how we understood our own work. Until then, much of common&good's fundraising had relied on donations, where resources moved primarily in one direction. Fair trade introduced a different model, one based on exchange rather than giving. We began discussing the idea of reciprocity, recognising that economic relationships could create value for both parties without positioning one solely as the giver and the other as the recipient.

Within our team, this shift encouraged greater attention to sourcing, pricing, and the stories behind the products we sold. We were no longer thinking only about how much money we could raise, but also about the economic relationships our activities supported. The sale marked a small but meaningful change in common&good's approach: from redistributing resources towards questioning how value could be created and exchanged more equitably in the first place.

Jun 30th

Donation for Children affected by the Venezuelan Earthquake

Following reports of the earthquake affecting Venezuela, we at common&good contributed to relief efforts supporting children and families affected by the disaster. As we considered its consequences, we began thinking about how abruptly the ordinary structures of life could disappear. A classroom, a familiar street, or the security of one's home could become uncertain within moments. For children especially, the loss extended beyond physical belongings to the routines and relationships through which they understood their world.

The experience brought us to the concept of structural vulnerability, the idea that the consequences of a disaster are shaped not only by its physical intensity, but also by pre-existing social and economic conditions. An earthquake may be indiscriminate in its occurrence, but its effects are rarely distributed equally. We began questioning why some communities possess the resources to recover quickly while others face prolonged uncertainty, and how disasters can expose inequalities that existed long before the ground began to shake.

Yet we also recognised the limitations of viewing distant tragedies primarily through statistics or economic theories. Behind every figure was a life that could not be reduced to a measure of damage or loss. Our contribution was small relative to the scale of the disaster, but the experience reminded us that compassion should never depend on geographical proximity, nor should human suffering become merely an opportunity for reflection.

We extend our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones. May those who lost their lives rest in peace, and may their families and communities find strength and peace in the days ahead.

May 5th

Children's Day Donation to A***** House**

For another Children's Day, we at common&good returned to A******* House, a children's home we had supported on the same occasion in previous years. What had begun as a small annual donation had gradually become a tradition within our team. Yet returning to the same place made us reflect on whether consistency alone was enough to make our efforts meaningful.

Over the years, we had changed, and so had the children. Those who had once been excited by particular toys or treats might now have entirely different interests. We began to recognise that maintaining a relationship required more than repeating the same gesture. It demanded an awareness that the people involved were growing and changing, even when the occasion remained the same.

This reminded us of the distinction between transactional and relational approaches to community engagement. A transaction ends when something is delivered, whereas a relationship requires continuity, attentiveness, and a willingness to adapt. We began to understand that the value of returning each year lay not in the repetition itself, but in the responsibility to reconsider what that repetition meant. Perhaps genuine commitment was not about doing the same thing indefinitely, but about caring enough to ensure that what we did continued to matter.

Apr 10th-16th

Tanzania, Partnership with Jay's Kitchen

During our visit to Tanzania, we at common&good partnered with Jay's Kitchen to provide fried chicken and footballs to a local children's home. Sharing a meal and playing football together were seemingly ordinary activities, yet they reminded us how much of human connection develops through experiences that require neither elaborate planning nor a common language. The footballs quickly became something we could enjoy together, while the meal offered an opportunity to sit, talk, and spend time in one another's company.

The experience made us reconsider the distinction between material welfare and subjective well-being. Economic discussions of development often emphasise income, consumption, and access to essential goods, but these measures cannot fully capture the significance of recreation, friendship, and belonging. We began to appreciate that well-being was not simply a matter of what people possessed, but also of the experiences and relationships available to them.

Perhaps our most important realisation was that we had arrived thinking about what we could bring, without considering how much we might take away from the experience ourselves. The children were not merely recipients of our visit; they were participants in an exchange that shaped our understanding of community and connection. We left questioning the assumption that giving necessarily flows in one direction. Sometimes, what remains with us long after an encounter is not what we contributed, but what others unknowingly taught us.

Mar 31st-Apr 3rd

Doll Drive 1

In South Korea, claw machines seem to be everywhere. Children and adults alike slip a thousand or two thousand won into the machines mindlessly, watching with anticipation as the claw descends towards a stuffed animal. A fortunate few walk away with a prize, while most leave empty-handed, carrying little more than the disappointment of having almost won. Yet even the stuffed animals that are won are rarely things we truly need, or even things we particularly wanted in the first place. Maybe, what we are really paying for is not the toy itself, but the fleeting excitement of trying to win it. Once that excitement fades, the stuffed animal is often left on a shelf, tucked into a corner, or forgotten among the many others already scattered around the house.

I began to wonder about the strange imbalance in the value we attach to things. How could something that had once seemed worth spending money and effort on become so easily forgotten? And more importantly, how could an object that meant so little to one person mean so much to another? The more I thought about it, the more I realised that the value of an object is not necessarily determined by what it costs, or even by what it is, but by the meaning it holds for the person who receives it. A stuffed animal gathering dust in someone's bedroom might be the very thing another child has always wished to call their own.

That thought became the starting point of the doll drive. I wanted to find a way to give forgotten things a second chance at being cherished. Rather than allowing perfectly good toys to remain unused or eventually be thrown away, I hoped to connect them with children for whom they could become something genuinely precious. Because a stuffed animal that has become just another forgotten possession to one person might become another child's very first toy to call their own.

Total: 79 stuffed animals

Clean: 65 stuffed animals

Doll Drive Conclusion (as of Sep 2026)

Across two collection drives in April and August, we gathered a total of 197 stuffed animals, 79 in April and 118 in August.

We went through each one individually, checking its condition and setting aside those that were too damaged or stained to be donated. In the end, 156 stuffed animals were ready to find new homes. Each was cleaned, placed in an individual bag, and packed into boxes for delivery. Of these, 30 were distributed across communities in Zambia, another 30 were sent to a facility in Tanzania, and 20 were delivered to a children's home in Jeju, South Korea.

So far, 80 stuffed animals have reached new homes. The remaining 76 will be distributed in December alongside another project, once we have identified where they are most needed. Throughout the process, I kept thinking about how little the stuffed animals themselves had changed. They were the same toys that had once sat forgotten on someone's shelf or at the bottom of a cupboard. All we had done was collect, clean, and send them somewhere else. Yet something that had lost its value to one person could now mean the world to another.

Collecting 197 stuffed animals was never the point. I didn't want the success of the project to be measured simply by how many we gathered or how many boxes we shipped. What mattered was whether even one of those stuffed animals could become something a child would love, hold close, and call their own.

Weekly Zoom Online Lessons

Although most of my online lessons cover elementary-level English, mathematics, and science, teaching has reminded me that what feels simple to one person can be entirely unfamiliar to another. I have learned to be more patient, to explain the same concept in different ways, and to recognise the small victories that come with understanding something for the first time. More than the difficulty of the material, I have come to appreciate how much confidence and encouragement can shape a child's willingness to learn.

Monthly Donations

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