By Hattori Atsuko and Yoshitaka Okada | Board Representative and Board Member, DSIA
Rikuzen Takata City looks different every time one visits there. Now, the basic infrastructure of gas, water and electricity finally has been installed in the newly raised land, and new commercial complexes start appearing (Picture 1). As many as 6.5 years have passed since the disaster. Even so, only a small number of complex appeared, while many others are still in construction. Those who have been working in temporary complexes look very lively after moving into their long-waited final complexes. The head of Kirarin Kids (KK) expressed that they are so lively that you would like to help them in any way possible. For consumers who have been shopping at temporary shops now feel that this liveliness is what everybody should have very soon, though a serious concern still remains whether all land can be filled with such lively shops.
KK has been always energetically operating, especially focusing on dietary education and parents-children communications. Believing that dietary education is most effective when people experience, KK organized potato cropping in July. For a similar reason, KK is planning to have a dietary education session using apples, since this area is well known for apple cropping in October. This event of apple cropping for KK’s parents and children, organized in cooperation with a local orchard, is especially popular among many other events. KK also newly introduced an event, called “Hug and Momi Communications,” by bringing in a lecturer from Tokyo. It communicates very warm feeling between parents and children by massaging with hugging and transmitting warmth of hands to children.
This summer, KK introduced an event, in which people come together to enjoy cool breeze in the evening of summer days, hoping the even becoming a new festival in the city. Needless to say about KK members, it successfully solicited the participation of 350 people. They organized fireworks and food booths, especially with the help of volunteer students from Tokyo. Through this event, KK played a very important role of linking people together from both inside and outside of the city. One family who moved from a big city to Rikuzen Takata expresses that they are really happy that they can enjoy very nice and warm environments for children, which you cannot have in big cities. The head of KK was really happy to hear such comments, since providing warm and nice environments for children is the sole purpose of KK’s existence.
There is an internship program for local high school students to experience actual work in local firms. This type of program is found all over Japan. But starting this year, Rikuzen Takata City started including NPOs as places of internship. KK cooperated and accepted one student who helped KK to organize events, hoping such experiences will stimulate students’ interests to work in organizations for promoting better childrearing in this city. Another contribution is to organize a play event for children bigger than KK’s members in a newly established shopping complex. The place became really noisy with children playing and running around. Many people expressed that this liveliness is what people needs all the time in all over the city.
Another KK’s new attempt is to organize an event in cooperation with an NPO, called “Kororin,” in Ofunato City which reads books and stories to people. The heads of both organizations knew each other for a long time, but they never had a chance to discuss such collaboration due to their busy schedule. Kororin comes to KK with many story books, and KK members can borrow and return them in three children-play centers operated by the city. They developed a mobile library system, where parents and children can easily borrow books and return them at places where they frequently visit. It is clearly a very convenient system which may encourage parents and children to read more books. Since the City’s Central Library was newly opened this year, this system may also stimulate them to visit the library.
KK also relies on talents of KK member. One mother who graduated from an art university organizes an event for making stamps out of erasers to put decorations on clothes, shoes, bags, etc. (Picture 2). This event grew out of daily usual conversations among mothers, which KK turn into a very attractive event.
KK is only one of four childrearing places in the city. However, KK is the only one operated by an NPO, while three others are by the city government. But the NPO status enables them to generate flexibility in their programs as well as implement strategic foci on local childrearing mothers by fully making use of local farmers’ resources. KK also cleverly makes use of public facilities to further organize new evens. This is simply because their goal is to improve childrearing environments of the whole city, not simply of their activities.
KK also introduced a nursing facility for mothers needing to leave children temporarily to visit hospitals or have relaxations at the cost of \2,000 per hour. They are finding some needs in the program. This program is introduced only for KK members, not for anybody, since they want to work with mothers KK already has close relations. Trust is indispensable in such program.
KK is always listening to the voices of mothers and children, thinking what they can do for building the future of childrearing in the city. They are doing an excellent work, though they do not know when they will move from the present temporary facility to their own one.
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