The first Pangaea activity was held on 2 September at the Urban Design Center Kashiwa-no-ha (UDCK) in front of the Kashiwa-no-ha campus in Chiba.

The participants and the facilitators became friends in no time and everyone had a wonderful experience together!

We are looking forward to receiving more participants and facilitators! For more details on how to participate, click on the link below.

http://www.pangaean.org/Download/UDCK_Pangaea2011.pdf

Pangaea trains our volunteers and equips them with the necessary knowledge and skills to help them create an enjoyable environment for our participants.

In September, we conducted two training sessions for our volunteers. The first session was conducted on 2 September. The session was aimed at equipping our new volunteers who will be running the activities at the Kashiwa-no-ha campus (Chiba) with facilitating skills.

Yumi sharing the basics of facilitating with our new volunteers.

Volunteers getting to know each other in the "interview game". They then had to introduce the person whom they interviewed to everyone else.

The second session was conducted on 8 Sep for existing facilitators in Tokyo to upgrade their skills. It was an opportunity for facilitators to discuss and clarify any questions they might have regarding facilitation. These questions ranged from how to deal with difficult situations during facilitating, to how to better communicate with children. 　It was a fruitful session with many learning points for everyone.

Yumi sharing with the facilitators the importance of communicating Pangaea's golden rule to the children i.e. do not do to others what you do not wish to be done to yourself.

Hello everyone,

August seemed to have passed quickly and we are now towards the end of summer! We hope everyone has had the opportunity to watch the fireworks and enjoy some quality time with your loved ones.

As the summer vacation comes to an end, Pangaea will be resuming the activities at our Pangaea sites in September. Our participants can look forward to more fun soon.

In this newsletter, we have a few updates to share.

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INDEX
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+ Activity Report for August 2012
+ Recruitment of participants and volunteers for new Chiba location
+ Volunteer of the Year 2011 Award Presentation
+ Pangaea Ring: Reflections of a Singaporean volunteer

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Activity Report for August 2012
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A webcam activity was held on 28 July connecting Mizy at Seoul, Korea and Mie, Japan.

We have uploaded some pictures from the activity. Check out what fun the children had !

http://www.pangaean.org/blog/english/archives/2012/08/july_28th_webca_1.html

On the same day, Kyoto University participants gathered to make a village that best represents Kyoto, which they could then introduce to participants in other Pangaea sites. View the children's work of art here!

http://www.pangaean.org/blog/english/archives/2012/08/impressions_of.html

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Recruitment of participants and volunteers for new Chiba location
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From 2 Sep 2012, Pangaea activities at the Urban Design Center Kashiwa-no-ha (UDCK) in front of the Kashiwa-no-ha campus in Chiba will begin!

The recruitment drive for participants and volunteers has begun too. For more details, click on the link below.

We look forward to more people joining Pangaea!

http://www.pangaean.org/Download/UDCK_Pangaea2011.pdf

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Volunteer of the Year 2011 Award Presentation
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In our last issue, we shared with everyone that the Volunteer of the Year 2011 Award has been awarded to Mr Kohei Kadowaki, known to the staff and children of Pangaea as "Kadoppe". Yumi presented the award to Kadoppe on 25 Aug 2012 at the Pangaea headquarters.

View the photographs of the award presentation here.

http://www.pangaean.org/blog/english/archives/2012/08/volunteer_of_th_1.html

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Pangaea Ring: Reflections of a Singaporean volunteer
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The words of Ms Yumiko Mori and her vision for Pangaea resonated with me after I attended her lecture at my university two months ago. How many of us, engrossed in our daily routines of life, would pause to think about what we could do for the world? I thought. But Pangaea's founders, Yumi and Toshi, did just that.

My name is Sheau Huei and I am a Singaporean exchange student in Kyoto. Growing up in multi-ethnic Singapore, I have experienced how cross-cultural understanding built up over the years has contributed to the social cohesion and peace that Singapore enjoys today. Therefore, I can identify with Pangaea's mission of connecting children across cultures and promoting respect for cultural diversity. As I wanted to contribute to this important cause, I started to volunteer for Pangaea.

At Pangaea's activities, the atmosphere was always friendly and encouraging. I was impressed by the creative drawings and animation done by the children within the duration of an activity. It was very motivating to feel the children's excitement as they talked about their art works which would be shown to children in other Pangaea sites across the world, or their anticipation of interacting with other children overseas through the webcam activities.

I had the opportunity to introduce my country to the children at an activity at Kyoto University a month ago. I was asked by my young audience if Singaporean children had alot of homework and how long the school vacation was in Singapore. It occurred to me that Pangaea provided a good respite for these children away from the demands of school. At Pangaea, the children could focus on unleashing their creativity, building bonds and increasing their cultural awareness.

With every step that it takes, Pangaea is nurturing young minds and contributing to a better world. It is my privilege to be able to contribute to this organization. And I hope more will come on board to help further the mission of Pangaea.

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Published by: Non-Profit Organization PANGAEA

Website: http://www.pangaean.org
Email: info@pangaean.org
Tel: +81-(0)75-741-8877 | Fax: +81-(0)75-741-8876
Shijo Hirano Bldg. #402, 716-1 Shin Kamanzacho, Shimogyo-ku,
Kyoto 600-8471 Japan
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