Child Protection Japan Project #13568

School of Fun for Children in Fukushima

by Academy Camp

Project Report | Sep 16, 2015
Academy Camp 2015 Summer "Door to the World"

By Kenji Saito | Representative Director

Cultural interchange was a theme of the camp

Please find a Japanese version of this report here.

The second camp this summer was held near Lake Inawashiro through Aug.16-18, and was for junior-high and high school students in Fukushima. The theme of the camp was "Door to the World", and there also participated high-school, university-undergraduate and graduate students from Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan, Rwanda, and who are from Japan but have had some kind of international relationships.

Activities in the camp included experiencing cultural differences of tastes, camp light (instead of campfire), basic training for becoming a conflict worker, Zombie Soccer (a variation of blind soccer) facilitated by World Yuru Sports Association, thinking scientifically about radiation exposures, and an improvisation workshop by improvisation performers 6-dim+.

In the camp, separate missions were given to members (junior-high and high school students) and leaders (undergraduate and graduate students), which were kept secret from each other : members to somehow make leaders speechless, and leaders to support members learning. Overall, leaders did a good job, but members also often surprised leaders, especially with the experiences they shared with leaders on 3.11 disaster and thereafter. Surely, the camp helped both of them opening their doors to the new world.

GIVING OPPORTUNITY - 30% MATCHING ON SEP. 16

Starting at 9am EDT (10pm JST) on September 16, 2015, GlobalGiving will be matching online donations at 30% until the $70,000 in matching runs out. Academy Camp has been and always will be the camp we build together. Please do not miss this wonderful giving opportunity!

Sunset expressed in "camp light"

Dialogue on the table

Walking forward, blindfolded

Umm... monkeys?

Picking up a line, as they improvise

Links:

Academy Camp facebook page in English

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Sep 15, 2015
Academy Camp 2015 Summer "Wings for the Future"

By Keito Hamatsu | a high-school-student sub leader

Jumping rope in the morning

Please find a Japanese version of this report here. This is a report on the camp held near Lake Inawashiro through Aug.13-15.

This summer, I participated in both terms 1 and 2 of Academy Camp. For the term 1, I was a sub leader, and this is a report about it.

The term 1 was a camp only for elementary-school-student members. It was a camp with a wide range of age groups, from the first to sixth graders. The theme of the term 1 camp was "Wings for the Future".

We did dodgebee, a talk about universe, Game de Education by students from Future University Hakodate, cheerleading, camp light (instead of camp fire), and cooked udon noodle. A diverse of programs I did purely enjoy myself :).

I saw the members throwing the dodgebee discs with all their might, being eager to know more about the universe, smiling at last while they were presenting cheer leading although the boys weren't quite
enthusiastic at first, and helping one another while they made udon noodle together. Through all these, I could see changes or growth of the members, or I don't really know how to put it, but I saw something really pleased me and vibrated me. I don't think in daily lives people could grow like this in such a short time like three days.

I'm not really confident in saying that I have left something for the members, or helped them learning. But I'm sure that they are bigger, stronger and more thoughtful of the surrounding people than I saw them on the first day. There are tons of things I want to write, and I know that I cannot communicate them well. I know I've mentioned little about my own reflection. But anyway! I'm really glad that we've finished the camp without any big accidents.

I hope that the members who participated in this camp are now able to think a step forward, even outside the camp.

Struck-out game

Imagining extraterrestrial life

Playing a 3D game researching students made

Cheerleading practice with HOPES Girls

Cutting udon noodles

Links:

Academy Camp facebook page in English

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Jul 15, 2015
Curry Project and Food Education

By Sumika Ogawara | A student volunteer

Let's eat together

Please find a Japanese version of this report here.

In Academy Camp, we always meet different kinds of people with whom we do not usually spend time together in our daily lives, from elementary school students to high school students and even adults. I feel necessity of eating together because of this diversity.

Recently, I have been hearing these phrases from children in Fukushima: "I stuff my face with food at lunch time at school because I have no time," "I eat alone at home," etc. It looks as if they are busy and lack time in which they can eat in a relaxed environment. In "Curry Project", we would like to provide time in which everyone gather for eating, and share fun space and feelings.

I have conducted programs in Academy Camp in which we cook and eat. One thing those programs have had in common is that children and adults join and eat together. By doing so, I hope that everyone realizes again the fun and good tastes of dining. Especially, I remember the camp in Iwaki City, Fukushima prefecture at the end of 2014, where each group of children cooked the local cuisine of their choice, and enjoyed the food they made with confidence.

It is fun to eat among the circle of friends to begin with, but in addition, I hope that people will get interested and have questions in "eating" that has become too normal for them, through encountering ingredients they have not been aware of and talking about dining. In the Curry Project the other day, we ate while trying to guess the ingredients in the curry. That is an example of what I am aiming at: getting people interested in the foods they are eating, not just eating.

In later Academy Camp activities, we will consider focusing on foodstuff from Fukushima, and I hope that we can learn together everything about the local eating culture.

PARTNER REWARDS BONUS DAY : 50% Matching on July 15

GlobalGiving is offering a bonus day on July 15, 2015, starting from 9:00:01 EDT until the funds run out or 23:59:59 the same day. USD 115,000 (US) and GBP 8,500 (UK) matching funds are available, and each donation will be matched 50% for Academy Camp. Please consider giving your support for children in Fukushima and Academy Camp including the Fukushima Dragon Boat Academy on this great opportunity in which you can boost the impact of your contributions!

Let's cook together

Her first cutting of an apple

Curry that we made

Sumika Ogawara

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