In South Korea, there are people seen on the streets everyday but never given serious consideration. Soon Ja is one of them. My parents told me a story about Soon Ja when I was fourteen. Soon Ja is an old lady who picks up waste paper and trash in our street every single day. From the day I knew about Soonja, I began to notice Soon Ja walking down the street collecting waste paper and trash from the entrances of buildings. I was astonished and ashamed to realize that, despite her constant presence, I had never truly seen her.
I wondered why she was doing such hard work. Why would someone want to collect trash and used cardboard when no one asked her to do so? Out of curiosity, I decided to observe her. She went to almost every building on the street, gathering cardboard paper and trash and putting them in a cart that she pulled with her own hands. Watching her made me want to help, as it seemed very overwhelming for her to carry all the papers and trash in a hand-pulled cart taller than her height. Her small frame made the cart filled with paper seem more immense. The scene almost looked like a little girl carrying a tall building. Yet, her smile was the most distinctive feature. She smiled at everyone walking down the street and asked how they were feeling. People passing her were mostly exhausted office workers, but as soon as they passed her by, some sort of liveliness and vitality spreaded over their faces. She was the warmest neighbor they met at the beginning of the day. She was lighting up the street where there was no sign of brightness.
She even climbed up the hill with her load but never showed any signs of difficulty. I couldn’t imagine myself doing the same without giving up and complaining after just a few minutes. I started to wonder what motivated her to do such work without frustration.
Following her usual path one day, I came across a recycling station I hadn’t known existed. There she was recycling all the trash and talking to the officer of the station. However, what genuinely surprised me was that there were more people like Soon Ja in that station. They were all recycling trash thoroughly and carrying a cart just like Soon Ja. Later, I saw the officer paying each person with money that seemed very trivial. I found out that they only get paid a thousand Korean won, which is less than one dollar, for 10kg of trash. The cart that Soon Ja carried seemed to have weighed more than 40kg just by looking at it. Soon Ja was carrying almost 300 kg of trash every week while earning only about 20 dollars.
One day, I noticed the street in front of my house being extremely disorganized and dirty. There was trash everywhere in the street— below the trees, next to the door, and even on driveways. It was hazardous and unseemly. Then I realized the reason for the mess was Soon Ja’s absence. It was then when I realized the significant impact of this small, old lady. It was not the statistics which showed Soon Ja cleaned up 300 kg of trash every week and more than one ton of trash every month that made her a hero, but her perseverance which proved her diligence, sincerity, and positivity that qualified her to become the hero.
Through Soon Ja’s hard work, not only were pedestrians energized by her smile, but shop owners in the buildings benefited as well since Soon Ja helped them throw away trash and recycle for the environment. She was the true hero of the community and became my own hero as well. She became my inspiration to volunteer for others even though that means I go through all the hardship. Soon Ja did not collect trash for recognition, but for the sake of the community, and that eventually made the town especially more unique, valuable, and most importantly, optimistic.
Some might think that Soon Ja’s efforts are insignificant, that one individual cannot reduce trash in a country or even a town. They might view her work as worthless and ineffective. However, though Soon Ja cannot single-handedly save the Earth and solve environmental problems around the country, the combined efforts of people like Soon Ja can create a clean environment for local people and send a powerful message to the world: Always volunteer for others and bring positivity.
Still, in Korea, there are thousands of people like Soon Ja walking down streets of the local towns cleaning the streets and inspiring people. Without those heroes, our daily lives wouldn’t be as they are today. Therefore, it is most important to respect our genuine heroes and keep remembering that we should not take any of their work for granted.
By: Jinyang Kim
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