SNU Rainwater Research Center and SUMMIT 237 Announce the Completion of Hye Ryun Ko Kindergarten in Port Vila, Vanuatu
- MOU Agreement on Vanuatu’s Water Resource Utilization and Public Health Improvement


▲ Groundbreaking Ceremony for Rainwater-for-Drinking Facility at Hye Ryun Ko Kindergarten in Port Vila, Vanuatu

 
SNU College of Engineering announced on 22^nd that SNU Rainwater Research Center (Director Moo Young Han) proceeded its rainwater-for-drinking pilot project in Vanuatu to celebrate World Water Day. This project was run with SUMMIT 237 (Board President Gwangsu Ryu) and the Vanuatu government. The groundbreaking ceremony for rainwater-for-drinking facilities at kindergarten took place on March 20^th.
 
This installation of rainwater-for-drinking facilities will provide fresh water to around 150 students attending Hye Ryun Ko Kindergarten. The Hye Ryun Ko Kindergarten, a national kindergarten located in Port Vila, the capital city of Vanuatu, was built with compensations for the lost daughter, Hye Ryun, of Mr. Gye Suk Ko from Korea; Ko lost his daughter in the Gyeongju Mauna Resort Gymnasium collapse.
 
Participants of the ceremony included President Tallis Obed Moses of Vanuatu, Research Professor Hyunju Park of SNU Institute of Engineering Research, Dong Woo Kim (Head of New Zealand Branch) of SUMMIT 237, etc.
 
President Tallis Obed Moses stated, “I thank the SNU Rainwater Research Center and SUMMIT 237 for providing fresh drinking water to our Vanuatu children. Children at the kindergarten shall be able to study and play joyfully whilst preventing illness by drinking clean water to one day become leaders of Vanuatu.”
 
Professor Han commented, “As the slogan of this year’s World Water Day is ‘Leaving No One Behind,’ I hope that this could give hope to those who are suffering from water shortage. This is only a kick-off to providing rainwater-for-drinking facilities to various districts of Vanuatu, which all suffer from the lack of drinking water.”
 
Meanwhile, SNU Rainwater Research Center reported its plan to launch a program to provide water purification facilities to many countries in the southern Pacific that equally suffer from drinking water shortage. Vanuatu marked the start of this program.
 

[Additional Photo]


▲ Professor Han Explaining the Significance of Rainwater for Drinking Project at the MOU Signing Ceremony