Job Discussion Forums

[refikagurz]

I have a long summer break and will not leave Japan. I'm seriously considering volunteering to pitch in and help with the massive clean up in Tohoku for a week or so. I've heard of some "volunteer vacation" organizations here, but I can't seem to find much specific information.. at least in English (my Japanese isn't quite good enough to understand all the relevant info on those sites). May I ask if anyone knows more about any of these organizations, and can direct me to some sources of information? Has anyone out there done anything like this? If so, how was it? I realize summer is probably one of the worst times to go, but it's either then or dead winter..

Thanks for any suggestions\directions in advance!

[G Cthulhu]

Please don't. By your own admission, you don't have the Japanese for it: you'd be a liability, not a help.

[TokyoLiz]

Ditto what G said.

All the foreign volunteers I know are fluent in Japanese. They volunteered as part of organizations they already belong to, or they independently collected money (�100,000 at a time), phoned city offices in Tohoku, offered to run rented trucks up full of goods the city offices asked for.

You'd do better to organize local foreign and Japanese friends to do fundraisers where you live, or invite friends to go on a trip to less stricken areas of Tohoku where tourism has dwindled.

You could still be a hero - blog or write for newspapers to promote Tohoku tourism. Tohoku needs all the help it can get.

[rxk22]

I am doing it. Signed up on the site they had. I do speak a good amount of Japanese, and the work that I am doing is clearing rubble, aka goon work.

[aynnej]

rxk22, how much Japanese would you say one needed? Could someone with daily conversation abilities and a mediocre vocabulary (say, somewhere between JLPT N3 and N2) handle it?

[seklarwia]

I think it has little to do with what JLPT cert you have and more to do with common sense:

- Will you be able to understand written and verbal instructions in Japanese that are being delivered to an entire group of people? (i.e. in Japanese that isn't being dumbed down and/or being spoon-fed to you on a 1-to-1 basis)

- Will you be able to understand announcements, instructions and warnings being announced over a PA system?

If you can't answer yes to both questions then you are not only likely to prove more troublesome than helpful, but you may end up putting both yourself and others at risk.

As TokyoLiz has already pointed out; there are otherways you can make a big contribution to the effort than physically getting your hands dirty at ground zero which do not require you having a huge amount of Japanese.

[jcook77]

Just curious ... if other English-speaking foreigners are in Tohoku doing volunteer work, wouldn't they be able to assist someone who doesn't quite catch 100% of the Japanese they're hearing? To me, anyone who wants to volunteer their back for grunt work should be considered -- unless of course, there's a huge waiting list or something.

Under the circumstances, I agree it's best for foreign volunteers to be able to understand Japanese well. But I can understand if some people would rather be there in person, getting their hands dirty, instead of just depositing money into the Red Cross' coffers or slipping a few thousand yen into a collection box.

Best of luck finding a way to go help out!

[G Cthulhu]

[rich45]

Go with a Japanese friend. Problem solved.

[rxk22]

[rxk22]

oh yeah also, I first lived in Osaka, and now live in Chiba. My fiance's family is in Sendai, they are bit harder gor me to understand than people from Kansai or Kanto. Not abig deal, but it can make a difference.

[jcook77]

[seklarwia]

[jcook77]

[seklarwia]