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The road of life, as drawn by Hyundai Motor
The roads in Korea are about 110 thousand km long in total, and there are about two thousand vehicles that
run on these roads every day. In fact, Korea is one of the countries with the highest traffic concentrations
in the world; consequently, the rate of accidents involving wild animals is high as well. Hyundai Motor,
aspiring for happy roads and a safe drive, has been interested in the problems related to road accidents. We have been supporting the "Korea Road Kill Prevention Association", which was established in 2013 to deal with various road kill problems. The Association has been the first of its kind in Korea. Various initiatives were taken ranging from acquiring ecological paths for wild animals, road kill prevention promotions and wild life rescue activities in association with the wild animal rescue center. Hyundai Motor has, in partnership with the Association, also taken fundamental ecological protection initiatives like the acorn protection campaign. In particular, December 5 marked the kickoff of the "Road Kill Prevention Wall-painting" drive. Let's take a glance at the scenes.
The wall painting activity gets started with dressing up in appropriate costumes. The participants were busy preparing their costumes,
hats and gloves to prevent the paint splashing on their clothes. Some people even checked on other people to see if they wore costumes
properly. Before they got down with the painting, they learned about the wall painting method ? everything from the basic sketch to the
painting process- from a specialist. They learnt that wall painting entails quite a complex process from the start to the last stage of
coating. The participants all carefully listened to the specialist to complete a perfect wall painting.
Before they started with the wall painting, they cleaned up the wall. Traces of the previous painting were faintly visible on the office
wall, and this had to be erased by scraping it off. Operation Committee Member Lee Jong-sul (Hyundai Motor's Press Metal Technology
Division 1) gave a big smile and said, "I think I can draw an awesome wall-painting if I apply my skills enough."
The sketch was drawn finally, and the paint combination and background coloring got started. The theme for the wall painting was various
wildlife animals living in forests, ecological paths and vehicles. The objective was to improve the regional environment, while raising
awareness on the problems related to road kills. The participants found the right colors with the help of the specialist. Then, they
started to fill the walls with colors. "The surrounding looks bright already even though we have only finished the sketch part," said
Chief Oh Kang-taek of KoRoad Chungbuk Region Office's Administration Department. He seemed very happy seeing the dramatic change to the
walls that used to be plain.
As the old painting got new colors, the street looked different. The participants all worked together in drawing the big wall
painting and it seemed like they went back to their childhood. "I once got the third prize in the drawing competition back in
elementary school", said Senior Manager Han Hyung-man of Hyundai Motor Safety Environment Center, showing his pride. Then, his
colleagues said, "Let's see who draws the best," and the event spot soon got filled with laughter.
When the background of the wall painting got finished, the participants went for lunch. They discussed how they got to be aware of
the road kill problems, and encouraged each other. After a warm up session, they resumed the painting. By the morning, the background
was fully done since everyone put in great efforts without taking rest. The once empty wall was now filled up with sky, mountains and
clouds, and people that passed by the street had their eyes on the wall.
"The rabbit looks so cute! How cool!" When the forest was completed, rabbits, squirrels and other wild animals came to life in the
wall painting. In addition, the wall painting had the road and vehicles. When the coloring on the rabbits was done, a child who was
watching the wall painting exclaimed in a cute voice, making every participant happy. The seniors passing by the street lauded the
effort saying, "even the street looks brighter." The participants were encouraged by the compliments and they put more efforts into
the painting.
When everyone shared their efforts together, the wall painting started to get finished at a rapid pace. As was intended by the original
sketch, the wall painting under the theme "road kill" appeared. The drawing came into life with even more special meaning for the
participants because they put much effort into it. "I hope that the road kill prevention wall painting initiative with Hyundai Motor
continues so that more people will get to think about road kills", said Lee Seul-la, a member of the Korea Road Kill Prevention
Association, who had been giving sophisticated brushing touches. She said she was interested in wild animals and road kills, but
it was her first time participation in voluntary service. She looked forward to the road kill prevention wall painting project held
jointly by Hyundai Motor and the Association.
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