Last April I was contacted by the Hands On Volunteer Project Coordinator about HOME being a site for students from Tokyo International University (TIU) participating in summer service trips.
The theme of the trips is Homelessness and Hunger. The students might clean or prepare a meal and we would take the time to explain to them what we do here at HOME and why it is important, especially around the issues of homelessness and hunger.
We have had TIU students come to HOME each year for several years and it’s been a mutually beneficial experience. I said yes.
It can be a challenge when we have groups come to HOME to have their needs for productive activity met at the same time our staff and youth don’t feel intruded upon. We’ve learned to limit the numbers in a group to, ideally, no more than 7 or 8 or they begin to overwhelm our facility. I also develop a list of tasks to which they can assign themselves.
With a little bit of planning and oversight, volunteer groups bring energy and enthusiasm to tasks that need to be done but which our staff can often not accomplish. They also come away, hopefully, with some insight into the lives of the young people who come to HOME.
And so it happened with our visit from TIU students.
Right away they were surprised by a welcome sign in English and Japanese done by one of the youth who is taking Japanese in school.
Incidentally, this young person prepared the sign without prompting by any adult and even had the HOME staff and youth sign it.
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| It was an excellent meal! |
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| They were a cheerful, industrious group. |
Another wonderful experience with TIU students! THANKS for all your help!!
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