The 5785th Worldwide Cleanup Campaign, St Kilda Beach, ASEZ WAO

ASEZ WAO is the young adult worker volunteer group from the World Mission Society Church of God (General Pastor Kim Joo Cheol). ASEZ WAO held a cleaning campaign at St Kilda Beach with an aim to protect the marine ecosystem. This Melbourne event on the 26th May 2019 forms part of the global ‘Take Action Project’.

About 107 volunteers rolled up their sleeves and actively joined the event. These included MP David Southwick, Cr Tim Baxter, ASEZ WAO members’ work colleagues, friends, and families.

An official from ASEZ WAO said, “the members planned this event to clean and protect the local environment. We hope that all visitors to the area will be delighted to see clean streets alongside the beach. We will remain proactive in upcoming events for a better community”.

Volunteers cleaned along seashore

St Kilda Beach is a popular tourist attraction with high visitation. As much as people enjoy their time there, large amounts of rubbish are left behind in the city’s beauty.

The volunteers marched along 2kms of seashore, cleaning around shops, car parks, and in parks alongside the beach. They collected all kinds of rubbish such as paper cups, broken bikes, a mattress, cans, tissues, cigarette butts, boxes, and more.

On that day, in less than two hours, the volunteers collected rubbish filling 35 bags, weighing more than 180kgs in total. Port Phillip Council supported the work of the volunteers by picking up the assembled rubbish.

A Member of Parliament, David Southwick, who participated in the cleanup, encouraged the volunteers. He said, “there have been many talks and rallies about the environment. However, the most important thing is the extra step of taking action.” He thanked the members for their contribution in protecting the environment.

Councillor Tim Baxter showed deep gratitude towards the volunteers, saying, “the City of Port Phillip has number of gorgeous beaches and waterfront areas. Cleaning up the rubbish left behind is an amazing spirit of volunteerism.”

A participant (Yonno Jung, 23) said, “I am very happy to have had the opportunity to give something back to the community through this cleanup. I hope this act will raise awareness about the environment. And I believe it will encourage residents of the community to look after the area together.”

“I am very amazed at the hidden rubbish that we don’t usually see. It was not only fun, but also, a rewarding experience to see the place become clean” said Sophia (volunteer, 25)

ASEZ WAO’s ‘Take Action Project (TAP)’

This ASEZ WAO’s ‘Take Action Project (TAP)’ means ‘tapping on the shoulder’ and ‘taking action’. This means ‘to raise people’s awareness of the need for balanced human and earth/environmental development’ and ‘to take actions together and create change’.

To achieve this, the ASEZ WAO has implemented a 4-step roadmap.

The First Step, Promote Awareness, is to raise awareness through campaigns, seminars, forums etc. The Second Step is to conduct activities for humanity and earth/environment such as welfare, emergency relief, response to climate change, and ecosystem protection. The Third Step is to establish partnership by signing MOU with international organisations, governments, and other institutions. Finally, the Fourth Step is to bring about changes in individuals, businesses, cities, countries, and the whole world.

So far, the TAP project has been conducted over 240 times in countries including Australia, America, South Africa, Indonesia etc. There are more than 22,000 participants in the TAP project to promote UN’s SDGs in response to the climate change. This campaign will continue worldwide.

ASEZ WAO is an abbreviation of ‘Save the Earth from A to Z’ and ‘We Are One’. It is a global young adult worker volunteer group from the World Mission Society Church of God. They work to ‘become one, and save the world, from the beginning to the end’.

The volunteers intend to deliver happiness and hope to their neighbours and communities. They have received various awards for their heartfelt dedication. These include the Maharashtra State Government (India), Mayor of Quilicura (Chile), Mayor of Pilar (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Mayor of Torrens (California, USA), Christchurch City Council (New Zealand), and many more.