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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
January 31, 2006
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| January 17, 2006 |
Finding enlightenment amongst the forgotten children of Kibera – Hayakawa Chiaki |
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| The Kibera slum in Nairobi has over 800,000 residents. Photo: courtesy of Hayakawa Chiaki |
Two days before docking at mainland Africa, guest educator Hayakawa Chiaki delivered a powerful presentation onboard which stunned and inspired those present. Full of hope and energy, Chiaki offered a heartfelt slide show, bits of film, and plenty of stories relating to her nearly two decades of involvement in Kenya. The main issue, however, focused on her ever growing grassroots project, the Mashimoni Good Samaritan School for the Orphans in the Kibera slum of Nairobi. The largest of all marginal areas in the Kenyan capital, the Kibera slum is over 100 years old and also one of the largest in the world with a population exceeding 800,000 people. |
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| Chiaki during her inspiring first lecture |
Chiaki’s disappointment with what she refers to as “the quality of life and identity” in Japanese society, combined with her thirst for knowledge and adventure, led to innumerable travels during her late teens and early twenties. However, after years of feeling like an outsider – an inevitable position when one is always a tourist – she dropped out of college and hopped on a ferry headed for Shanghai. The then 21-year old was not sure what awaited her or where she would end up, but she vowed not to return until a personal enlightenment occurred. |
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| Children in the Kibera slum. Photo: courtesy of Hayakawa Chiaki |
The path Chiaki carved for herself took her across Asia as well as Europe, and it was by mere coincidence that she ended up in Nairobi. The rampant poverty, yet constant cheerfulness most people displayed, completely dazzled her. “People live happily in those hard environments” she states, “laughing all the time, being gentle to strangers… I wanted to learn the secret of their happiness.” She had found her place. She subsequently started a family, a travel company, and began to explore the complexities of Kenyan society. |
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| Resident of Kibera slum. Photo: courtesy of Hayakawa Chiaki |
“There is a word in Swahili” Chiaki explains, “which means strong sunshine: Juakali. This is the term given to those people who still have the life, strength, and energy in them to sell something on the road despite all the poverty. Most of them live in slums.” She felt a strong pull from these marginal areas and, against her husband’s pleas, began venturing into the shanty towns. It was in the Kibera slum where she understood the need for a community and learning center, particularly focused on homeless youths running away from poverty, abuse and neglect. |
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| Students of Mashimoni during a dance lesson. Photo: courtesy of Hayakawa Chiaki |
Chiaki began raising funds mainly by going back to her home country and giving talks in schools and other centers. Finally, along with some of her own money, she bought a 19 room edifice in the Kibera slum which turned into the center she had envisioned: The Mashimoni Good Samaritan School for the Orphans. A place mostly for homeless pre-teenagers, it includes a school, a library, meeting rooms, and living quarters for a few of them. The majority are placed in private homes within the slum itself. Seven years after its conception, the center has over 130 students. |
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| Peace Boat participants listen to Chiaki, left, during a Question and Answer session |
Onboard for the first time, reaction to Chiaki’s grassroots activism has been truly amazing. Asking for personal contributions of a mere 10 yen (less than 10 cents US), Peace Boat participants responded with contributions exceeding 460,000 Japanese Yen – enough to start a new school! In addition, a large number of English books were donated by Peace Boat’s Global English/Español Training (GET) programme. And, a large network was established onboard to bring Chiaki to schools and community centers all over Japan. She has realized that children in her home country gain hope by learning about the Mashimoni School. And so this is the focus of her next goal: to develop methods of progressive change both in her adoptive country as well as in her homeland by linking children from both countries.
To contact Hayakawa Chiaki please direct an e-mail to: ecotour[a]gol.com or visit http://orio.jp/jiwe/ (in Japanese only). |
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