|
|
|
| |
| |
Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
November 17, 2006
|
|
| site design imagesparkle.com |
| November 11, 2006 |
The Man Who Could Not Ignore The Plight of Street Children in Viet Nam – Micho Koyama |
|
| |
|
For many years, Michio Koyama led a secure and comfortable life in Japan teaching at a public junior high school, where children had material abundance and a variety of life choices. When at age 45, Mr. Koyama ventured into Viet Nam during a stopover on a trip back from New Zealand, the life of some children there shocked him. He saw child prostitutes, children sleeping on bridges, and begging and stealing just to eat. Most of them had ended up on the streets through the death, poverty, or divorce of their parents. |
site design imagesparkle.com |
When Mr. Koyama returned to Japan, he could not forget the children of Viet Nam. Nor could he accept that being born in one country fated some to a life of hardship and poverty, while being born in a country like Japan allowed children to live in relative material luxury. He decided to quit his job as a schoolteacher early - forsaking much of his pension - and return to Viet Nam to open a children's home. Many people thought he was crazy. Koyama pressed on, however, driven by a strong sense that ìadults in this world have the duty to keep children from turning into thieves just to eat.
Joining Peace Boat's 55th voyage as a guest educator, Mr. Koyama told participants how he developed the home in Hue City. First he convinced the mayor to donate land for the project, then he used his slim retirement money to build the home. Donations from various overseas organizations helped to build classrooms where children can learn music, art, sewing, computing, and mechanics. He hired female staff members to mother the children, and he himself plays a father role at the home. This teaches the children how to become a part of a family again, and how to give and receive love. |
| |
However, Mr. Koyama cautioned Peace Boat participants not to take the simplistic view that Japan is a rich country and Viet Nam a poor one. Viet Nam offers fresh, natural food rather than the highly processed and packaged food found in Japanese supermarkets. The workday is shorter, allowing families to spend more time together, and community bonds are stronger than they are in Japan. Additionally, many objects are carefully reused and recycled in Viet Nam rather than simply being discarded. "In Japan, we need to think more about what makes a country 'rich'," he said.
Mr. Koyama plans to eventually turn the home over to the former street children, and make it completely independent of donations from overseas. To accomplish this, he has opened up a Japanese home-style cooking restaurant, as well as a Japanese language school. Former street children staff the businesses, and volunteers come from Japan to help with both ventures. Thanks to his efforts and all those whose help he has recruited, many children in Viet Nam can now live not as thieves on the street, but as children with bright futures ahead of them.
Michio Koyama can be reached at koyamavan[at]dng.vnn.vn. The website of his organization, The Japanese Association of Supporting Streetchildren's Home in Viet Nam (JASS) can be accessed at http://www001.upp.so-net.ne.jp/jass |
| |
|
|
|
