Orphanage children's eyes light up at lessons given by active dancers! Volunteer Visits to Cambodia Resume

2023.11.08 10:00

一般社団法人日本ダンスボランティアプロジェクト

Japan Dance Volunteer Project (headquartered in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City; Shigehiro Yoshiura, Representative), a general incorporated association that provides visiting dance lessons and volunteer activities at kindergartens and elementary and junior high schools, visited the Kukuma Orphanage in Cambodia on October 8, 2023, and gave dance lessons to the children. The children were all smiling.

Everyone is smiling. Kukuma Orphanage children with Director Kusunoki

Children full of energy, never forgetting their hope even in the poverty-stricken areas.

The conflict in many parts of the world, such as the invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in Afghanistan, continues to this day, and many people, including civilians, have been killed in the conflict. In countries where conflict has calmed down, reconstruction efforts are underway, but it will take decades to complete. During this time, children who are deprived of opportunities to learn and grow up are greatly affected, and they may grow up with low self-esteem due to lack of education. One such country is Cambodia.

On October 8, 2023, representatives of the Japan Dance Volunteer Project visited the Kukuma Orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as volunteers to give dance lessons to the children. This was the first visit to the orphanage in seven months after the resumption of the trip in March 2023, which had to be suspended due to the Corona disaster. About half of Cambodians are still living in poverty, and Phnom Penh, where the orphanage is located, is an impoverished area even though it is the capital. In this orphanage, Ms. Kusunoki, a Japanese mother, takes care of all the children's lives. The children who live in the orphanage are full of smiles and love, and they told us that their dreams for the future are to become dentists, school teachers, and dancers. They are also ambitious, and the difference from before Corona was that they were able to dance breakin, which has become an official sporting event at world-class sporting competitions. Since the lesson was given by an active dancer, the children's excitement naturally increased. When the music stopped playing, they cheered, and some children high-fived and hugged the representatives with smiles on their faces.

During the dance lesson

Dance is useful for emotional education, and I volunteered based on my own experience.

What triggered my visit to Cambodia was a keynote speech I heard at a business owners' association to which the representative belongs. He talked about Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, where civil wars continued. In Cambodia, citizens were living an oppressed life under the Pol Pot regime at the time. It was believed that people would be happy if they lived a simple life such as bartering, and a civilized life such as wearing glasses or listening to music was considered evil. I felt a connection to the civil war that broke out in 1972, the same year I was born. Now that the civil war has ended, the education system is still not in place. I began to ponder what I could do to help.

In addition to running a company, our representative is also a dancer. When I suffered from depression in the past, it was dance that helped me get back on my feet. After that, he decided that he wanted to do something to give back to dance and that he would be involved in dance for the rest of his life. He has been giving visiting dance lessons mainly at kindergartens and elementary and junior high schools, as well as running dance classes in Fukuoka and Saga prefectures. Dance helps children develop a sense of self-esteem, a positive attitude toward others, and communication skills. Since music and dance are also useful for emotional education, we still make volunteer visits to Cambodian children twice a year to dance with them for their future.

8. at a dance school

Cambodia, my second home country. Visiting orphanages is my life's work.

I started visiting Cambodia as a volunteer about 10 years ago. I gave a hands-on lesson in a physical education class at a local Japanese language school and held a dance show at a university. I was involved in activities to spread the joy of dance to children, including the establishment of two dance studios. In the midst of these activities, a Japanese dentist acquaintance of mine who had a private practice in the area introduced me to an orphanage where he had been teaching tooth brushing to some children who loved dancing and wanted me to visit. Director Kusunoki was taking care of street children, children who were left there due to abuse or parental reasons, and he was taking care of everything by himself, from food, study, to exercise. Knowing this, I offered to help in the area of dance, and he readily agreed, and the exchange began.

Representative's voice: "I consider Cambodia as my second home country, and even though I could not travel to Cambodia due to the Corona disaster, I was always concerned about the children. My visits have become my life's work, and I would like to resume teaching dance to the children and creating employment opportunities for them at the same time. I look forward to continuing to be involved and watching these kids grow." We donate $100 every time we visit to help with the operation.

Overview of our activities in Cambodia = https://danbora.jimdofree.com/