School of Fun for Children in Fukushima

Please find a Japanese version of this report here.

For the past three summers and three winters, Academy Camp has brought wide opportunities for playing and learning in an extreme fashion to children living in Fukushima, thanks to all your support. To express our appreciations, this report introduces some of the changes our participants found in themselves through our camps.

DEVELOPED POSITIVE ATTITUDES

"Now I want to give everything a try," says a junior-high school girl from Koriyama City, after participating in our camps in Taiwan, Tokyo and Inawashiro. She is not the only one who feels that they have developed positive attitudes through a variety of activities in our camps. Another girl from Koriyama, an elementary school student, says "I don't hesitate to challenge anything anymore." Indeed, in the camp to "create cool Fukushima" held in Tokyo, although she was the youngest participant, she did not hesitate to express her wonderful ideas against university students or adults.

BECAME BETTER COMMUNICATORS

"I'm getting better at finding the good in others," says another junior-high school girl from Koriyama, who has learned to view her friends and family from different angles. Communication and collaboration with others are just fun part of our activities, through which we all develop communication and team-building skills. A junior-high school girl from Iwaki City may have thought that she had a difficulty working with others, but now says "I'm getting better at communicating with people." A boy from Koriyama, a junior-high school student, tells us that he has come to appreciate all the things he had taken for granted in the past. He says "I've grown up to thank everything," because every encounter in the camps has been unique and precious.

GETTING READY TO CHANGE THE WORLD 

We have been doing all these because we would like to bring the power to change the world to children who must inherit this world where difficulties have been left. A high school girl from Koriyama tells that she has changed her viewpoints for thinking. She now wants to learn how to determine and publish correct information not only in Japan but in the whole world. She says "My new goal is to teach the world about today's Fukushima."

We need your help so that she can reach her goal. We need your help so that all children like her can reach their goals.

MATCHING OPPORTUNITIES

GlobalGiving UK (globalgiving.co.uk) is offering a bonus week through March 3 - 10, 2014, with 50% matching and bonuses for top two projects that raise most funds and for the top project with most individual donors. If you live in UK, please consider donating from our UK project page during the period.

GlobalGiving (globalgiving.org) is offering a Japan Matching on March 10 (from 11:00am EST / 0:00 on March 11 JST)  with 100% matching until $100,000 matching funds run out. This will be a special occasion, in which you can double the impact of your support! We would really appreciate your considerations.

Links:

• Academy Camp's facebook page in English