By Marcela Campos | Director
Rie Kaneko had been teaching English to blind adults for two years but felt her students were missing something just interacting with her. Most students had never traveled abroad and could not practice English easily by watching movies or making friends with foreigners in Japan. She was searching for a way to introduce the world to her students when she stumbled on an article about HOT in Tokyo Families magazine. That was the start of a partnership with HOT that has grown into a two-year partnership of two projects where volunteers teach English conversation to the blind.
Today Rie is both teacher and HOT project coordinator for the English Conversation for Blind Adults project. One Saturday a month four volunteers meet with Rie’s class and talk about themselves, share stories and enjoy getting to know the students. Rie says the sessions have made her students much more motivated to study English because they want to converse freely with the volunteers. “The HOT volunteers are bringing so much excitement and richness to my students' lives”, says Rie. “I wish I could show you the awe on their faces when they touched the "locks" of an African-American lady volunteer for the first time, or the big grins when I explained a volunteer's eyes are blue and his hair is light brown!” The classes are equally as enriching for the volunteers and the experiences they bring back have made this one of HOT’s most popular projects.
Through working with Rie and her students, HOT developed a close relationship with the Japan Federation for the Blind. From that sprang the International Festival for the Blind at the 2008 Day of Service and HOT’s newest project, English Conversation for Blind High School students at the National School for the Blind Affiliated with Tsukuba University. Each session HOT volunteers introduce themselves to students from the school’s International Exchange Club in simple English talking about how long they have been in Japan, hobbies, profession. Then the students ask questions and practice basic-to- intermediate-level conversation.
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