Soyou Comes Under Fire For Posting Photos Of Her Humanitarian Trip To Uganda With SBS’s Hope TV

Netizens say her posts are perpetuating negative stereotypes.

On My 24, former SISTAR member Soyou shared some photos of her time in Uganda filming a documentary with SBS’s Hope TV. The photos show her and others from SBS with children of Uganda and the caption “Please support the children.”

The posts sparked outrage among fans and others who claim that these types of posts are exploitative and misrepresentative of poverty in Africa. In an effort to educate Soyou and others, commenters referred to the work of Radi Aid, a campaign dedicated to changing the perception of poverty in Africa. Soyou herself chose to clear up any misunderstandings in a reply to one such commenter.

She explained that her intention was simply to “help these beautiful children”. She apologized for the misunderstanding, and urged the original commenter that we should all “share love and help where we can”. Most fans in the comments have come to her defense, maintaining that she posted these with a pure heart, to raise awareness and inspire support for these children.

After explaining herself and defending her character, Soyou has decided to leave the posts up; meanwhile fans are still divided on the very sensitive matter.