My Time for Japan: read, play and make friends
“There is no room to play in this area. After the earthquake, I became separated from my friends, who now live in another part of the city. I need a place where I can find new friends and room to play in”.
That is how a Japanese boy summarised his need to find once more the areas and times of a normal life after the terrible earthquake that devastated Japan last spring.
Thanks to the money raised by our “My Time for Japan” campaign of last August, the Shanti Volunteer Association (SVA) has acquired two new vehicles that brought to life the mobile library idea. They now transport books and volunteers to the towns and cities of the Iwate prefecture.
The number of youngsters who have used the libraries has gradually increased. By the end of September, about 30 of them had read, leafed through and borrowed books at every mobile library stopping station. In October, new books and magazines were acquired for the library corners, each of which has 25 seats, where storytelling events take place.
Most of the library users are children who live in temporary accommodation, but the vehicles soon became places for meetings and exchanges for the adults, too, as they accompany and oversee the little ones in reading.
“Thanks for lending the books” – “Are there any mystery books? They’re my passion” – and again “Where can I find a few books with recipes? There are very limited ingredients available here”.
These are just some of the questions asked of the volunteers, which testify to the success of an initiative that was aimed at the reconstruction of meeting points to create moments of serene normality.
Categories: Sustainability