I was given the opportunity to take part and collaborate with an organization called Miyagi Recovery Assistance Center of Miyagi. Their organization was founded four days after the March 11th, 2011 Earthquake that devastated the Tohoku Region and have organized efforts in the Miyagi Prefecture, the Fukushima Prefecture and the Iwate Prefecture to assist with recovery efforts and to provide emotional/psychological support to the children who have been affected by the disaster.
Many children were affected psychologically by the aftermath of the 2011 Disaster. As an attempt to re-instill hope and happiness in the lives of children in Japan, their organization began organizing this International Cultural Exchange English Camp from 2012, involving 100 elementary school children and 30 volunteers from across the world. Up until the year of 2016, we held camps in Miyagi, Tokyo, Saitama and Kanagawa. Thanks to the continued support we’ve gotten from across Japan, we now hold camps in Fukushima, Shizuoka, Aichi and Osaka as well. Hundreds of children participate in our camps every year, and a portion of the money raised annually is used to continue hosting these camps. (We also invite 10 children from the regions affected by the disaster free of charge) We continue to host these events for many reasons:
1. To invite children who live in temporary housing or have been forced to relocate from their homes due to the natural disaster to our camps for free
2. To hold international exchange events in elementary schools
3. To remind the community of the reality concerning natural disasters in Japan
4. To encourage cultural exchange and internationalization
It was a great experience to be part of their amazing programs and for this reason, when I heard that they were short of volunteers during that time, I reached out and decided to visit the beautiful place of Hiroshima to give a helping hand. We did many exciting activities including exchanging name cards, playing with water gun, bonfire and many more. Before we started the day, we had a meeting with other Japanese and international volunteer leaders. After the discussion and prepping up, we ended the meeting hand stacking our hands.
We started off with checking the number of kids and gathering all of them inside the camp's gym.
We also learned from the presentation slides prepared by the camp's staff as part of safety and protocols. We also were notified of the insects to be aware and careful for when we have activities outside.
After the orientation, we did our first activity of exchanging name cards with other kids and groups. This helped to break the ice among the volunteers and also the staffs and kids. After the said activity, we had our lunch together.
Afterwards, we head over to the next activity which was the water gun activity. All the kids had a blast and all of us were really wet, indeed.
We also had a bonfire with kids and danced with some English songs too.
After the bonfire activity, we had a scary and spooky night with kids wherein we wore some scary outfits. Haha. I think I did an excellent job on this one. 😂
After all the activities that we took part in, we made sure that the room was tidy and that the bed sheet, mattress and pillows were properly arranged.
After all the activities that we took part in, we made sure that the room was tidy and that the bed sheet, mattress and pillows were properly arranged.
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