The best part of the JET programme is the people that you meet, both Japanese and from all over the world. To share an experience with them, and work, volunteer and drink with them all has really formed me as a person. The chances to do something that you couldn’t or wouldn’t do in your own country, for me orphanage volunteering, are also amazing.
Smile Kids Japan is a voluntary non-profit organisation that I set up with friends to try to promote awareness of orphanages in Japan, and show people that live here how they can set up regular visits to their local orphanage.
Our aims are to:
- Promote awareness of orphanages across Japan, especially amongst the foreign communities.
- Encourage these communities to set up regular volunteer visits.
- Help show these volunteers how this is possible, with hints, tips, and an overview of everything from setting up the first meeting to keeping up volunteer motivation.
- Ultimately we are aiming for every orphanage in Japan to have a two hour visit once a month.
Mike was a JET participant in Fukui Prefecture from 2006-2011
We started at one orphanage in Fukui Prefecture and have had visits in 25 further prefectures. We are now a little more hands-off, and serve primarily through informing other people how they can set up their own visits independently.
I was inspired to set up Smile Kids Japan on seeing how the kids at the orphanage I visit developed and the satisfaction I got from knowing that I have made a small difference to their lives.
When we started visiting in Fukui I imagined it was going to be a logistical nightmare, but with an introduction to the home from a teacher, who taught some of the children from the orphanage, it turned out to be very simple. I had prepared for all sorts of questions and all sorts of scenarios, but the director of the orphanage greeted us warmly and simply asked how often and with how many people we would like to volunteer. On the first visit we went in armed with lots of games and ideas, and had lots of fun with the kids. Over the last few years the relationship has grown closer than I could have ever imagined, and it dawned on me after we started our second regular visit in Fukui, that if we were able to do this so could anyone else.
So, a group of us got together and wrote out the website content, translated it and uploaded it, and worked to think about how we could raise awareness of the project across Japan. A lot of these ideas we haven’t fully explored yet, but it has still exploded far more quickly than I could have imagined. This is largely because of the initial team, the Fukui JET group, and AJET (Association for JETs) who have supported us from day one in every way they can. The other key reason to the speed that we spread across the country is simply the enormous desire of foreigners that live in Japan to help make a difference, and to get involved in their local community. I think many people, Japanese and foreign were looking for a way that they could volunteer, and this particular volunteer work compliments what a lot of foreigners do in Japan anyway, which is of course work with kids.
In Fukui I didn’t have any problems for the first two orphanages we started visiting. I think the key was the introduction from somebody who was known to the staff and valued in the community.
In other prefectures there have been people who have met with a positive first response, but a reluctance to commit to anything regular from the homes themselves. I understand this, as of course the homes have to be concerned with the wellbeing of the children, and it takes some time to build up that trust.
I am also hoping that slowly this will become a little more normal, and I am considering adding a section to the website aimed at the orphanages themselves with references from orphanages with projects running now.
Ultimately I would like every orphanage in Japan to have a monthly two hour visit from volunteers, and for the children to be able to grow, develop trust with people, and feel loved.
Smile Kids Japan changed our focus massively following the Tohoku earthquake, and teamed up with Living Dreams.jp, a fantastic Tokyo-based NPO who have been working with Tokyo orphanages for over four years. I ended up living in Sendai for about six months, working with 17 of the 19 orphanages in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima. We managed to raise about $900,000 in about three months and worked closely with the institutions to meet their needs. This included music therapy with the national philharmonic orchestra, summer camps to get children away from the disaster areas and help them develop confidence and leadership, and more immediate needs like food and water in the immediate aftermath. These activities were featured on the ITN Tonight show, ‘Children of the Tsunami’. We have now returned to our original focus of promoting volunteering, asking JETs and others to ‘Volunteer your friendship’.
I’m currently doing a doctorate at Oxford researching the alternative care system in Japan, with a focus on the role of social workers and on foster care. Having spent so long volunteering with the orphanages I am now working primarily on the move towards family-based foster care and adoption, rather than children being placed into large institutions. I was fortunate to have been asked by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare to contribute to the amending of the Child Welfare Act earlier this year, giving input on foster care and adoption services. I have also spoken to members of both the upper and lower house about my research, as well as accompanying a group of Japanese politicians to the UK House of Lords. I have focused on the decision-making process that leads babies, infants, and children to be placed into large institutions rather than foster care, and am hoping to finish my doctorate by the end of 2016… Fingers crossed!
I was very fortunate to have been offered a job with the Japanese education charity Ashinaga Ikueikai running their new London office, and am very excited for the new challenges this will bring (and to have finished my thesis!). The office is focused on supporting Ashinaga students, primarily from Sub-Saharan Africa but also potentially from Japan, in the UK. I’m also delighted to still be involved in the JET programme, speaking to departing JETs each year about making the most of their time in Japan and about volunteering.
For more information on Smile Kids Japan, please visit www.smilekidsjapan.org
Mike Maher-King was a JET Programme participant, working as Assistant Language Teacher in Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku Region on Japan’s main island of Honshu. More information about the JET Programme and the UK application process can be seen HERE.
