Student Blog

During this time when social distancing is a matter of urgency, many APU students are left to grapple with much uncertainty and difficulty while a remarkable number of people lose their part-time jobs or must stay at home due to fear of infection. In the face of this crisis, many projects have been issued and developed by faculty and graduates to assist APU students who are currently in Beppu and Hiji. In this article, SPA would like to briefly introduce its original ideas, as well as how APU students can benefit.

1. APU Hands

APU Hands is an organization of APU faculty, staff, alumni, and other volunteers who spend their time and effort collecting donations and distributing aid to APU students, including food donations and part-time job support. APU Hands is also working on broadcasting video messages of support, as well as creating a project in which current students can consult with alumni online! APU Hands also updates their Facebook page with information about part-time jobs offered by the local government and alumni who have started their own businesses.
According to APU Hands, 307 individuals and organizations have generously donated a sum of 7,418,450 yen (as of October 31). APU Hands’ first delivery of food and supplies to students was held on May 2nd and reached approximately 380 students. As of the end of November 2020, APU Hands has been able to provide food and supplies donations such as rice, udon noodles, vegetables, soaps and masks to more than 4,000 students. Currently, APU is cooperating with local companies and utilizing its alumni network to help find possible part-time job opportunities for APU students who have been financially affected during this time. With the view to providing immediate and ongoing support to students by distributing goods such as food items and masks, APU Hands' is planning to offer food support until the end of March 2021. More information about APU Hands’ tenth food supply distribution can be found on Campus Terminal along with the registration form.

If you check the campus terminal you will see this posting. Please check information provided on Campus Terminal thoroughly.

Students are encouraged to wear masks and are asked not to come in large groups.

Food is arranged and allocated to students according to food restrictions.

An example pack of food items distributed by APU Hands.

2. Professor Lee Geun Hee

Professor Lee Geunhee has been with APU since 2012. Professor Lee is known for being in charge of a great variety of courses in the Marketing specialization and loves to spend his time with students. During the pandemic, Professor Lee came up with the idea of treating APU students to free meals for two weeks (May 17th–31st).
While speaking with SPA about the initial idea behind this special project, Professor Lee mentioned that APU professors and staff members donated a small amount of money after they were notified that APU Hands would start receiving donations for distributing food. However, after donating, Professor Lee felt the need to personally initiate something for students as well. Having heard that there were many students suffering from a shortage of food, Professor Lee decided to treat students to some good and decent meals after talking to his restaurant-owner friend.
Professor Lee’s main goal was to deliver the message to students that local people do care and will try to help students as much as they can, and he made clear that he did not expect to receive any messages or email from students who accepted meals. Furthermore, Professor Lee wanted students to offer their help to those in trouble whenever they could, and he was happy to actually receive several emails from students promising that they would.

As a message to all APU students, Professor Lee said: “A lot of people are experiencing troubles amid this pandemic situation. When you are in need of something, don't hesitate to search for help from anyone. There should be someone who will look after you. You cannot survive this hard time alone, so we do it together. After everyone feels safe and everything becomes stable, then you are prepared to offer your help to those who are in need. Please look at the bright side and try to be positive. There is still hope around you.”

We hope you find this article helpful as you look for assistance during this difficult time. As Professor Lee mentioned above, please do not hesitate to look for assistance when you are in need. Lastly, as current APU students, SPA is very thankful and grateful to APU Hands and Professor Lee, to the professors and alumni, and to every single person who has donated in support of APU students. Through this article, we want to show our greatest appreciation from the bottom of our hearts.

Ha Phan Ngoc DOAN

Hi! I’m Ha, class of 2021FA, majoring in IRPS (International Relations and Peace Studies). On campus, I was a Resident Assistant, Teaching Assistant, APU Student Ambassador and Student Staff at APU Library. I can’t wait to share with you all my experience as a SPA member!