Karolina Christine Mora, a Cal State Long Beach international studies alumna, was killed in a car accident with two of her colleagues while driving to a high school event in Texas on May 14. She was 26.
Mora was traveling as a representative for Liberty in North Korea, a non-profit organization devoted to North Korean human rights and humanitarian crises, to spread awareness of the oppressed country’s lack of freedom and extreme poverty and what students can do to help, according to the LINK website.
“She was always helping people,” said Karolina’s father, James Mora. “She was going to the heart of the countries, visiting villages and staying with people in their homes, not hotels,” he said. “I don’t think she ever saw a hotel on these types of trips.”
Friends and colleagues described Mora as a selfless person who was passionate about making a difference for people in need. Upon graduation from CSULB, she traveled to Guatemala to help abused women, and to Korea to teach English. She had joined LINK earlier this year.
“She’s always been interested in human issues and development and culture,” said Mora’s best friend and LINK colleague, Andrea Sattui.
“She wanted to inspire our generation to make important changes,” said Sattui. “She was my other half…my best friend.”
Aside from Mora’s genuine care for people, her father and best friend both said she had a love for rainbows, which reflect Mora, who will be remembered for more than just her big heart.
“Karolina was a happy person,” CSULB international studies alumna Kimberly Conchado said. “She exuded brightness in the way that she held herself.”
Conchado said that her smile was a familiar comfort seen on campus and in classes all the time.
“She was making wonderful friends, traveling and spreading this message of empowerment and hope,” she said. “Knowing what she was working on during her last weeks makes me feel so proud of her.”
Karolina is survived by her parents, James and Monica Mora, and her four younger siblings: Sergio, Spencer, James and Isabella.
The family held a memorial on May 18, and the funeral was held yesterday. Contributions to the three affected families can be made online at: fundraise.libertyinnorthkorea.org/fundraise?fcid=318507.