JEDRO-Projekt VIII
Convalescent Program for Children and Parents/Guardians Remaining in Radiation-Affected Area
GRANT APPLICATION
June 21, 2012
Applicant: NCC Japan Ecumenical Disaster Response Office (NCC-JEDRO)
Project Title:
Convalescent Program for Children and Parents/Guardians Remaining in Radiation-Affected Areas
Proposing Body: YWCA of Japan
Budget: JPY 46,200,000 (etwa 460.000,00 EURO)
(This amount consists of the project proposer's budget 42,000,000 and NCC-JEDRO's project support budget 4,200,000.)
Project Period: April 1, 2012 – March 31, 2015
Project Liaison: NCC-JEDRO staff
Purpose and Mission of NCC-JEDRO
The National Christian Council of Japan Ecumenical Disaster Response Office (NCC-JEDRO) was established on May 27 2011, by mandate of the Executive Council of NCCJ, as NCCJ's ecumenical response to the Great East Japan triple disaster of March 11, 2011. Manifesting the unity of the Church of Jesus Christ, JEDRO seeks to be a tangible and visible sign of hope for the people in Japan, especially the survivors, as facilitator of international support for humanitarian relief, for physical reconstruction, for accountable government, for environmental rehabilitation, and for efforts to address the spiritual and psychological trauma of people and communities devastated by the disaster. Seeking to demonstrate God's love for all people in Japan, JEDRO works with NCC-J member churches and organizations to encourage and identify self-initiated projects that answer survivors' needs. On behalf of these churches and organizations, NCC-JEDRO appeals to the international ecumenical community for solidarity in prayer and financial assistance.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Full Project Title:
Convalescent Program for Children and Parents/Guardians Remaining in Radiation-Affected Areas
Project Location: Cities across Japan where local YWCA offices are located
Project Start Date: April 1st, 2012
Project End Date: March 31st, 2015
Event Period: Individual events: 3 to 7 days
Seasonal period: Total 30 to 60 days (spring, summer and winter school breaks, plus weekends during school terms)
Proposing Body: YWCA of Japan
Project Manager: Mikako Nishihara
1. Project Purpose:
The purpose of the project is to protect children and parent(s)/guardian, especially mothers, from/in a radiation affected areas (mainly Fukushima) of their physical and emotional health by providing with them the following services; a safer place away from environment with radiation risk, safe food, and programs in which targeted population can relax and let their stress out.
As a national women's organization, YWCA of Japan has been implementing various disaster response programs throughout the aftermath targeting children and women, especially. Among these, there has been particularly high demand for convalescent programs. YWCA conducted a survey of demand among survivors by providing a place and personnel in Sendai (Miyagi prefecture) and Fukushima (Fukushima prefecture) YWCAs, where the voices of local residents were heard. Since April 2011, staffs have frequently visited Shinchi-machi, a northern coastal town in Fukushima, to assess needs there. Based on this research, the YWCA of Japan decided on the above-stated direction and purpose for our disaster response project.
2. Intended Beneficiaries:
Program participants:
Beneficiaries of this program will be children and parents/guardians remaining in radiation risk areas (mainly Fukushima and other surrounding prefectures with hot-spots), as well as those who were forced to evacuate and are staying temporally in areas with less radiation risk. Attention will also be given to separated households, where, typically, mothers and children are taking refuge while fathers remain in the radiation risk /disaster-stricken areas for economic reasons to maintain household.
Program organizers/volunteers:
While volunteers and staffs in charge of convalescent programs will be serving the needs of survivors, they will also benefit from leadership- and skill development opportunities through the planning , organization and implementation of this program.
3. Locations:
The following cities, where YWCA of Japan has offices and staff who will implement programs in each location: Hakodate, Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima, Fukuoka.
4. Project Summary:
Based on lessons learned from the Chernobyl nuclear plant accident, serious effects of radioactive contamination are expected to continue for decades and centuries. YWCA of Japan wishes to implements its convalescent project for 15 years, dividing this period into 5 terms of 3 years each.
The present proposal is for the first 3-year term, from 2012 to 2015. The program will consist of
1. convalescent programs in Spring, Summer, Winter vacations, and weekends
2. skills and leadership training for volunteers and staffs in charge of the convalescent programs
5. Detailed Project Description:
Activity 1: Convalescent programs in Spring, Summer and Winter school vacations, as well as weekends during school terms
* YWCA offices around Japan will plan, organize, and implement activities while YWCA of Japan, as a head office, support them with grant application (such as this), publicity and, most importantly matching the targeted participants with activities. Activities will be implemented either at YWCA buildings, camp sites, or public/private facilities accessible from YWCAs.
* Targeted participants, who are described above under "Intended Beneficiaries: Program participants," will be offered some variety in program options so they can choose according to their needs and interests.
Indicator 1:
* A total of 100 persons will participate in the programs run by 5 local YWCAs each summer, and total of 50 persons will participate in the programs run by 3 local YWCAs each winter and spring throughout the 1st project term (2012-2015). Therefore, the anticipated number of targeted populations participating in the program in 3 year period is, 100 x 3 years (summer) + 50 x 3 years (winter) + 50 x 3 years (spring) = 600.
(Please see page 8 for programs implemented in 2011 and spring of 2012.)
Activity 2: Skills and leadership training for volunteers and staffs in charge of the convalescent programs
* To ensure the quality of "Activity 1," YWCA will provide training to volunteers and staffs, who plan, organize, and implement programs, to equip them with necessary skills and knowledge, such as current situation in disaster-stricken areas, listening and counseling skills and radiation risk assessment.
* As the training needs to be practical, it includes on-site activities such as publicity of the convalescent program and reach-out to local residents.
* The trainers are YWCA senior staffs with special skills in counseling and human resource development, and/or experts from other organizations in these areas.
Indicator 2:
* Total of 50 volunteers and 20 staffs are to receive training each year in order to keep the program quality high. This will help to encourage targeted populations to repeat participation in the program, which in turn raises the efficacy of radiation risk reduction. Therefore, the number of people to be trained for project implementation will be (50+20) x 3 years =210.
6. Networking with Other Actors:
The following organizations collaborate with YWCA of Japan in our overall disaster response activities, including convalescent programs.
* 35 School YWCAs in Japan, YWCAs in other countries and the World YWCA (Geneva, with UN ECOSOC status) can contribute to the project by donation, and by raising awareness locally and globally by publicizing project reports.
* The Anglican-Episcopal Church of Japan, Shinchi-machi (Fukushima) Council of Social Welfare and its Life Support Center collaborate with us during regular visit by volunteers and coordinators to people in temporary housing in Shinchi-machi. This convalescent program is a response to their needs.
* YWCA has worked with the Research-Action Institute for the Koreans in Japan (RAIK) to support non-Japanese disaster survivors in the Fukushima area.
* Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH) of Germany provided grant funds for our convalescent programs in 2011, and for purchase of Geiger counters.
* Several regional Council(s) of Social Welfare in Miyagi, Fukushima, and Tokyo, as well as the Joint Committee for Coordinating and Supporting Voluntary Disaster Relief Activities, have distributed information about our convalescent program, and have collaborated with our volunteers.
* YWCA trainers/expert members have attended specialized training programs offered by TOMONY Support Center for Supporting Staffs and HEAL Holistic Education Research Institute, to raise YWCA's capacity to train volunteers and staffs.
* Shinchi-machi Board of Education and Cisco Systems Inc. have installed video conferencing systems between Shinchi-machi local public schools and Nagoya YWCA for school counseling.
* Shinchi-machi Board of Education and Shinchi-machi local public high schools have invited YWCA members, who are retired school teachers, to provide supplementary school lessons to students whose lives and schooling were disrupted by the disaster. The schools organized the writing and editing of student essays about their experiences of the disaster, and YWCA arranged volunteer typists to create a digital archive, as well as volunteer translators to make the records available in English. Teachers and experts analyzed the essays to understand student needs, and offered information about convalescent programs to families of students in response to their expressed desire to travel outside Shinchi-machi.
* Many of the municipalities where YWCAs implemented convalescent programs in 2011 gave special benefits for the participants from disaster-stricken areas, such as free use of local public transportation.
7. Reasons for Conducting this Project as a Church, or Christian Organization:
In the spirit of mercy, giving, and unconditional love, YWCA's highest priorities are respect for the human dignity of every individual and protection and care for the whole of creation. Based on these priorities, YWCA places great value on human relationship with all stakeholders, in order that we may provide programs that meet each individual beneficiary's needs.
While many organizations have quit their activities as the emergency situation has eased, YWCA has a clear mission and purpose to continue this project in response to the longer-term needs associated with trauma and radiation risks, based on the unconditional/voluntary spirit rooted in Christina value.
YWCA has a mission to alert the public and end nuclear technology in Japan and on the earth. As an institution and as individual members of the global Christian community, YWCA of Japan sees much meaning in the continuation of efforts to advocate this issue globally.
8. Project Administrative Structure:
The national head office of YWCA of Japan set up a "Disaster Survivor Response Project Team," which has worked closely with local YWCA office staffs and members to plan and implement convalescent programs, as part of its overall disaster response project.
(1) Personnel
2 Officers: 1 Program coordinator, 1 Training program organizer
1 Information/communication staff
1 Advocacy staff.
Project Supervisor and Representative Liaison is Mikako Nishihara, Chief Project Officer and General Secretary of the YWCA of Japan
Phone: 03-3292-6121 | Fax: 03-3292-6122
E-mail: office-japan@ywca.or.jp
(2) Financial Management
Project Accounting Co-Supervisors are Reiko Kaburaki and Reiko Hamada, accounting staff of the YWCA of Japan.
9. Related Activities of the Proposing Organization:
YWCA of Japan has 3 main activity categories;
1. Provision of short- and long-term housing to the people in shelters, or "voluntary evacuees" who wish to flee from radiation risk,
2. emotional care and counseling,
3. convalescent programs.
Among these, demand for # 3 is highest among the disaster-affected population.
Convalescent programs implemented in 2011:
* Summer 2011
8 local YWCA offices and the YWCA of Japan office implemented convalescent programs, invited total of 151 children, youth, parent(s)/guardian from the disaster-stricken / radiation- risk areas.
* Winter 2011:
3 local YWCAs, invited 53 people
* Spring 2012:
5 local YWCAs, invited 80 + people
Application for funding has not been submitted to other organization for this, or similar, activity. However, further grant application efforts will be made by individual local YWCAs to meet budget requirements for expenditures not covered by this grant application.
10. Summary of the Proposing Organization: YWCA of Japan
(1)Personnel
Staff size: 9 persons
(2) Chief Representative of Organization: Reiko Suzuki, Chair of the board of directors
(3) Address:
Tokyo YWCA Bldg. Rm#302, 1-8-11 Kanda Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0062, Japan
Phone： 03-3292-6121 | FAX： 03-3292-6122
E-mail： office-japan@ywca.or.jp | URL： http://www.ywca.or.jp
(4) Project Manager/Chief Liaison： Mikako Nishihara, General Secretary, YWCA of Japan
Contact Information: Same as above
(5) Legal Incorporation:
Date of incorporation:：October,1905
Expenditure in most recent fiscal year: \104,695,550 (April 1st, 2010 ~ March 31st, 2011)
Donations received in most recent fiscal year: \5,730,905 (April 1st, 2010 ~ March 31st, 2011)
(6) Purpose of Foundation and Nature of Activities:
YWCA（Young Women's Christian Association) is a women's international NGO based on Christian faith, working in and through local and global YWCA networks to nurture women and youth's potential, to uphold and realize justice, peace, human dignity, freedom, and sustainable environment for all people.
YWCA of Japan was founded in 1905, in a time of rapid modernization, by Christian Japanese women with support from Christian women and missionaries dispatched from the World YWCA. Currently, there are about 3,000 volunteer members in 25 local YWCAs and 35 school YWCAs across Japan.
Currently, the YWCA of Japan's activities are organized according to the following 5 categories;
1. Implementation of activities to acquire knowledge and advocate a global agenda for peace, human rights, environmental/climate stewardship, and leadership development among young women so they may respond to these challenges in future.
2. Develop healthy mind and body in youths.
3. Advocate priority issues through communication tools such as internet and newsletters, and by collaboration with UN institutions and local and global NGOs.
4. Respond to people in times of emergency, such as disasters and conflicts, at local and global levels.
5. Develop leadership among volunteers, so they may contribute to communities wherever they are.
This Disaster Response Project falls onto the category # 4.
At the time of the Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) Earthquake of 1995, YWCA opened the Kobe YWCA building to the public as an emergency shelter, coordinated volunteers, and implemented emotional care and counseling for several years, until the need subsided. After the disaster of March 11th 2011, YWCA staffs with disaster response experience from 1995 quickly initiated situation surveys and needs assessments in Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. Our decision to focus on provision of "peace of mind and life for women and children" underpins the convalescent program described here.
(7) Organization with which activities are coordinated, and nature of collaboration
Other than the organization listed on page 3-4, the YWCA of Japan works and networks with the following organizations.
* Christian Kindergarten Association of Japan: YWCA of Japan provided bottles of clean soft water donated by YWCA of Korea, and distributed them to the member kindergartens in north and east Japan.(April-May, 2011)
* St. Andrew's Anglican-Episcopal Church (Tokyo): YWCA of Japan provided bottles of clean soft water and emergency food donated by YWCA of Korea, and distributed them to people in shelters/churches in north and east Japan.(April-May, 2011)
* Tohoku HELP (Ecumenical network for disaster response): assisted with volunteer coordination from April to August 2011
* Japan International Food for the Hungry: Sendai YWCA supplied 3rd floor of its building for JIFH volunteers' office and accommodation from April 2011 to March 2012.
* National Christian Council in Japan: sharing information of disaster response projects.
11. Budget Plan:
Period: April 1st, 2012 – March 31st, 2015
Expected Income (JPY)
Monetary contributions by individuals 645,000
NCC-JEDRO grant 42,000,000
total 42,645,000
For details of the budget plan got to pdf-file: Convalescent Program of YWCA