Volunteers take a step further to provide athletes and visitors to the Olympics with better experience
Arirang News
2018-02-20
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They're called the PyeongChang 2018 Passion Crew.
Thousands of volunteers from around the world are making the Games even more special for the athletes, fans and media in PyeongChang.
Our Lee Ji-won has more on these exceptional individuals,... who are carrying on a long tradition of Olympic volunteering.
More than 20-thousand official and unofficial volunteers are helping participants and spectators all around the host cities.
And in this year's Olympics, the organizing committee and the host cities went a step further to make things more convenient.
Information centers are nothing new, but "roaming information centers," like these volunteers, are.
Each with a purple bag containing maps of the Olympic park and schedules for the buses, they take turns fanning out from the information center to bring visitors the information they need so they don't have to come all the way to the center.
"It was really nice to find someone who could help us right away at the site. I felt saved."
The volunteers get extra training to deal with on-site issues,... so they say they feel a great sense of responsibility in their jobs.
"We are out here on our own, and people change their routes right away based on the information we give them. So we need to be quick and accurate. It was hard at first but our sense of responsibility and pride in our country has driven us to do better everyday."
The "Gender Equality Support Centre" is another new service at PyeongChang 2018.
Previous global sporting events have had problems with sexual assault. Instead of concealing these cases, the PyeongChang organizing committee and the host province were determined to address the issue properly.
When a victim comes to one of the four centers, they get professional counseling and short-term therapy.
The centers also connect victims to the police and larger facilities where they can get legal recourse and medical treatment if they choose to.
"This service is intended to make the Games a clean and healthy sporting event for all. We've gotten a lot of attention worldwide. We hope this center becomes an Olympic legacy that helps improve women's rights around the world."
Local and private organizations have also taken extra steps to help visitors.
The 'Helping Hands Center' at Gangneung Station helps visitors with small and big requests in 10 different languages including Russian, Spanish and even sign language.
Though the group usually provides disaster relief and community services, they are willing to serve wherever they can be of help.
"We want to help in any way we can. And there is a great need for translation services at the Olympics. A lot of peple have thanked us for what we've been able to do here."
Despite the cold weather and their tiring schedule, thousands of volunteers are hard at work in every corner of the host cities with the same goal -- providing people with a better experience... and contributing to the successful hosting the
Thousands of volunteers from around the world are making the Games even more special for the athletes, fans and media in PyeongChang.
Our Lee Ji-won has more on these exceptional individuals,... who are carrying on a long tradition of Olympic volunteering.
More than 20-thousand official and unofficial volunteers are helping participants and spectators all around the host cities.
And in this year's Olympics, the organizing committee and the host cities went a step further to make things more convenient.
Information centers are nothing new, but "roaming information centers," like these volunteers, are.
Each with a purple bag containing maps of the Olympic park and schedules for the buses, they take turns fanning out from the information center to bring visitors the information they need so they don't have to come all the way to the center.
"It was really nice to find someone who could help us right away at the site. I felt saved."
The volunteers get extra training to deal with on-site issues,... so they say they feel a great sense of responsibility in their jobs.
"We are out here on our own, and people change their routes right away based on the information we give them. So we need to be quick and accurate. It was hard at first but our sense of responsibility and pride in our country has driven us to do better everyday."
The "Gender Equality Support Centre" is another new service at PyeongChang 2018.
Previous global sporting events have had problems with sexual assault. Instead of concealing these cases, the PyeongChang organizing committee and the host province were determined to address the issue properly.
When a victim comes to one of the four centers, they get professional counseling and short-term therapy.
The centers also connect victims to the police and larger facilities where they can get legal recourse and medical treatment if they choose to.
"This service is intended to make the Games a clean and healthy sporting event for all. We've gotten a lot of attention worldwide. We hope this center becomes an Olympic legacy that helps improve women's rights around the world."
Local and private organizations have also taken extra steps to help visitors.
The 'Helping Hands Center' at Gangneung Station helps visitors with small and big requests in 10 different languages including Russian, Spanish and even sign language.
Though the group usually provides disaster relief and community services, they are willing to serve wherever they can be of help.
"We want to help in any way we can. And there is a great need for translation services at the Olympics. A lot of peple have thanked us for what we've been able to do here."
Despite the cold weather and their tiring schedule, thousands of volunteers are hard at work in every corner of the host cities with the same goal -- providing people with a better experience... and contributing to the successful hosting the
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