Childcare Support at Disaster-Stricken Tohoku

Worries and struggles for a childcare NPO, “Kirarin Kids (KK),” in Rikuzentakata City continue. But it seems that a time bomb started ticking, simply because they have only 2.5 more years to remain at the present location. They are under pressure to look for a new location despite their remarkable success these days.

They have been doing very well in offering many programs and attracting local mothers and children well, as I have reported previously, They now have seven major programs: (1) Kirarin Kids; (2) Kirarin Egg and Baby; (3) Kirarin Mama; (4) Kirarin Papa; (5) Kirarin Café; (6) Kirarin Miniature Farming; and (7) Kirarin Refresh. Besides, KK also provides highly valuable additional services, such as the Children’s Health Saloon in cooperation with the Hands, Play Cars brought by the UNICEF and the Toy Maker Association, a Children’s Summer Festival in cooperation with the Happy Mothers Committee of Sizuoka Prefecture, Mandara picture creation, health and cooking lectures, traditional food cooking, grief care counseling, a parents-children picnic, personal computer classes, etc. Programs became much more diverse, and outside organizations now offer more help than before. An especially significant achievement for the KK is to organize meetings with the Mayer of the City. Now, they had the second meeting to discuss diverse issues needed to empower mothers in the City. The Mayor is very eager to hear their voices, and the KK is now becoming one of the key organizations for women’s empowerment. KK is also functioning to bring childrearing lessons, called “Nobody Is Perfect,” which was originated in Canada and is brought to the KK in cooperation with the Niiza Childcare Network. Mothers have been quite happy with these programs, and reputations spread now even to mothers who came from outside of the city. The KK is now becoming a mediator of linking new comers to the city and local communities. It is very much a new function that the KK is adding. They are making significant contributions to ease the worries of new comers linking them to local communities. In this sense, small toddlers are becoming key actors to link everybody together in the community.

KK has been working very hard, and is obtaining recognitions for their contributions to childcare and the community. But since they have to move out of the present place, they started worrying about diverse issues. Are they going to establish their own facility by purchasing a piece of land and building a building? Naturally, they do not have enough money at all. Before such a bold attempt, it is quite important to know whether child population will start increasing in the near future. So far, it is reported that 10 percent of the population has moved out. Another possibility is to move into a large shopping complex, where children gather. This situation allows them to attract their clients. But then, they may lose their basic philosophy of nurturing good mother-children relations and creating a base for contributing to community developments, which KK has been achieving fairly well so far in the present independent location. Another possibility with the lowest cost is to move into a community center by borrowing a public space. But this option makes it rather difficult to organize programs continuously as they do now. Another option is to collaborate with other key organizations, trying to contribute to community developments. If this is the option which KK wants, it has to start discussing diverse issues with them now. What are they going to do with a piece of land and a building? Are they willing to jointly organize a project? How can they secure necessary funds to satisfy their needs? Will this option work for them financially? When can they start discussing with whom, if this is the option? So far, nobody has made any significant initiative. Preparing for a new stage of post-disaster ordinary operation, they are facing diverse restrictions and limitations in their options. They now start worrying and struggling without much action, while a time bomb started ticking.   

Links:

• Kirarin Kids Homepage