Jan 2008 Newsletter: Yumi's Monthly Note
Happy New Year to all!At the end of December, the presidential election was held in Kenya. Post-election violence erupted as concerned. As of this writing, the death toll has reached 500. The violent riots have spread to Nairobi, Rift Valley, and Kisumu; and the number of causalities has been increasing. We are launching Pangaea activities in those areas with UNESCO's support this February. The uprising has now turned into tribal conflict. Our Kenyan facilitators split into opposing tribes. The news regarding the outbreak came in during holidays: Pangaea staff members and children had chaotic holidays, and were not in mood to celebrate. Kids have been anxious about their Kenyan friends due to current conditions in Kenya. They emailed their Kenyan friends to ask whether or not they are safe. Kenyan children emailed back with a message: "We believe our country can pull through this condition." We are all praying for keeping them safe every day. I always feel Kenya is my second home because my Kenyan friends often tell me, "Yumi, we believe you are Kenyan. You ARE one of us." CNN has reported on ongoing violence in Kenya, but it is very painful for me to watch the news coverage. I wonder how our kids feel about this awful incident.
We want children to feel sympathy for others. Whenever kids see
someone who is in trouble, we want them to ask, "Is he/she O.K.?",
rather than to detach themselves from the situation. We think this
approach can help children in feeling pain of others and developing
personal bonds. As a result, every kid is able to feel closer to
others and understand their experiences, regardless of geographical
distance. Pangaea has been operated based on the following idea:
fostering children's abilities to imagine how others live in different
countries or environments can contribute to make the world better.
General speaking, it is a rare experience in Japan that someone whom
we know becomes a refugee, but it has happened to Pangaea in real life.
In Kenya, I've seen children who have gotten along well and been
playing together in Pangaea activities, in spite of the fact that
they are from a variety of tribes. That is, it is possible to make
the world a better place where diverse people can coexist peacefully,
which I strongly believe.
I greatly appreciate your continuing support.
The writer of Pangaea Ring of this month is Ms. Keiko Yamamoto, a reporter of NHK(Japan Broadcasting Corporation) Nagoya. She is one of founders of Baratoge, women's networking group with jounalists, business leaders, NPO leaders.
See you next month.
Yumi
I greatly appreciate your continuing support.
The writer of Pangaea Ring of this month is Ms. Keiko Yamamoto, a reporter of NHK(Japan Broadcasting Corporation) Nagoya. She is one of founders of Baratoge, women's networking group with jounalists, business leaders, NPO leaders.
See you next month.
Yumi
Posted by: kumakinoko | 3. Newsletter
