Actor Moon Sori visited Kenya and delivered a message of hope.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Korea office (country director Lee Hyun-ji) said on Jan. 16 that it released an inauguration commentary video featuring actor Moon Sori, WFP goodwill ambassador, about her visit to Kenya and her reflections as an ambassador.
This video contains the in-depth commentary session held at Moon Sori's WFP goodwill ambassador inauguration on Dec. 17 last year, in which Moon Sori candidly shares how she first became involved with WFP, her on-site visit experiences in Kenya, and her feelings upon being appointed a WFP goodwill ambassador. In the roughly 23-minute video, she looks through a photobook of photos taken on site, vividly introducing the various WFP activities she saw and felt firsthand.
Moon Sori cited her experience boarding the United Nations humanitarian air service (UNHAS) operated by WFP for a visit to the Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya last Oct. as one of the most memorable moments. UNHAS, which connects humanitarian aid to areas difficult for commercial aircraft to reach, is a core WFP logistics tool that enables the movement of not only food but also medicines and relief personnel.
In a situation where plans changed due to landing delays caused by bad weather, Moon Sori said she felt through the journey "WFP's role of moving to connect food and hope to dangerous and remote areas in person."
At the Kakuma refugee camp, witnessing Moon Sori watch food distributions firsthand, she faced the reality of relief operations reduced to less than half the normal ration because of funding shortfalls. In a situation where even the most vulnerable refugee households do not receive enough food, Moon Sori said, "Seeing it with my own eyes made the urgency feel much greater than when I heard the numbers."
A meeting with a refugee woman surnamed Amina, who is raising six children alone, was also included in the video. Moon Sori recalled her feelings at the time, saying, "When I heard the words 'we cannot survive without the rice provided by Korea' amid a life sustained by one meal a day, all I could do was hold her hand."
The video also introduces development projects in Kenya focused on self-reliance and recovery. Moon Sori mentioned a support project for small-scale poultry farms in rural areas, saying that depending on local situations and characteristics, WFP does not stop at simply distributing food but "helps local residents produce their own food and sustain their livelihoods," and she shared seeing firsthand a site where they teach how to make bread rather than just giving bread.
It also introduced a program in Kibera, a slum in the capital Nairobi, that supports school meals and local jobs simultaneously through dry hydroponic facilities inside schools. This method of growing crops in limited spaces demonstrates WFP's approach to building sustainable food systems amid urban poverty and the climate crisis.
Moon Sori emphasized that "the world I knew from data was very different from the reality I saw and felt on the ground" during this visit. She added, "Meeting the people I met in Kenya and the WFP staff working there made clear to me why I must continue to talk about this work."
Finally, Moon Sori said she intends, as a WFP goodwill ambassador, to share the reality of hunger and the meaning of food with more people. She closed the session with the aspiration, "Even if small, I want to be of help," and "I hope this connection continues for a long time."
Meanwhile, videos related to Moon Sori's visit to Kenya will be released sequentially on the WFP Korea office's official YouTube channel. The inauguration commentary session video released this time is a feature-length video centered on vivid stories from the relief sites and the voice of goodwill ambassador Moon Sori, shedding deeper light on WFP's activities.
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