By Amy Moyers-Knopp | Project Leader, Executive Director, Living Dreams
October 2011 Field Report
Over the past 3 months, our organization has continued to develop highly personal relationships with 19 homes across Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures. Home staff have opened up to our team, sharing their current challenges, wishes and needs for the children under their care.
Our initial phase of delivering "tier one" needs to homes (clothing, emergency flashlights, lunch boxes, sports gear, playground equipment, TVs, Wii players, PCs, digital cameras, camping gear, bikes, etc.) is now winding down so that we can focus on more continual, therapeutic and enriching programs for these children's homes. As our relationships with these homes continue to grow, we are able to better understand their home environments and offer beneficial programs across the categories of Learning, Arts, Sports and Technology. The below is a summary of what programs we are planning to execute over the next few months. In addition to the summary of plans below, we've included approved-for-use photos from our August Music Therapy workshop retreat.
Upcoming programs:
'We Have a Dream" art workshops- developed and led by Rotary World Peace Fellow 2010-2012, A.K.Reichert; using the 'We Have a Dream' pedagogigal guidelines, these weekend workshops will encourage kids to visualize and express their dreams in a creative format.
Christmas Wish program- many homes in Tohoku have lost funding for their regular Christmas holiday celebrations so we will execute the Christmas Wish program for upwards of 200 children this Christmas season; each child will receive one "wished for" gift valued around ¥5,000 each.
English Adventure snow camp- this camp provides children a chance to snowshoe and build igloos, all while practicing some English! Further, it gives kids a chance to build teamwork skills and enjoy 4 days of outdoor fun. 40-50 kids will have a chance to experience this camp in Miyagi prefecture.
In additon to the above, another "tier one" request will be met for a home in Miyagi with the delivery of 5 digital TVs and 10 pairs of soccer cleats.
We look forward to brightening up the lives of kids through a variety of activities, including those listed above...
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