December 03, 2013

 Pangaea Newsletter for December 2013

Hello everyone!

This is Yuki, the PANGAEA Newsletter editor.
We only have a month left for this year. How was this year?
Rather than looking back this year, I personally feel that the year went
so quickly. Although there are still a lot left to do, I am definitely
looking forward for the X'mas.

In addition to the monthly activity report, we have the message
from the Pangaea staff Ruby-san on the Vietnam project and Koji-san
on PANGAEA playing cards!
Please enjoy their enthusiastic comments!!

Let's start the final Newsletter in 2013!

--------------------------------------------------------------------
INDEX
--------------------------------------------------------------------
+PANGAEA RING ~Message from Ruby~
+Activity Report ~ Luffy has stepped up the stairs of life(growth)~
--------------------------------------------------------------------



--------------------------------------------------------------------
PANGAEA RING ~Message from Ruby~
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello everyone,
I am Ruby, Pangaea's volunteer.
Although I am Vietnamese, I am living in Kyoto and studying at Kyoto University.
Kyoto is very beautiful, especially in spring and autumn.

This year, I went to Vietnam twice to accommodate Pangaea to operate YMC-Viet
for the third time at ThienMy commune and DongThanh commune. In my first trip,
I was quite worried because it was the first time I set up an opening ceremony
without Ms. Yumi and Mr. Toshi (of course, they supported me via Skype
all the time). On the rehearsal, it rained heavily. I had to stop giving
instruction to staffs because people could not hear each other's
except the rainy sound and thunder. All my worries vanished due to
the successful opening ceremony. Children were very exciting and happy.
Ms. Kaori, Kyoto University student and I felt as we were super model
while many children wanted to take our photos. Just imagining that
we were standing and smile in front of more than ten cameras (children used
the cellphone that supported by YMC-Viet project). I was happy
not because I could be a model but I knew that children were very happy
and loved us a lot.
One month later, I went to DongThanh with Pangaea team. DongThanh commune
is not far from the center of CanTho but the streets have not been
improved well enough for youths to come to school. When I went to interview,
there are some families that live far away from the YMC-Viet center.
I have to walk through dirt roads and they are slippery in rainy season.
I was worried that if it rained at the opening ceremony, children would not
come. However, I was surprised because they all come about thirty
minutes earlier.
At first, they looked quite shy and curious about YMC-Viet, especially
about foreigners there. Some of them can understand simple English sentences
but it is quite difficult for them to communicate in English. With nice smiles
and warm hearts, in no time, Ms. Yumi and Koji become their friends.
I am very happy that YMC-Viet project is not only helpful to farmers and
children but also easy to overcome the barrier of language.
In January, I will come back to ThienMy and DongThanh to interview
participating families. I am looking forward to meeting those lovely children
again and see the benefit that the YMC-Viet project brought to Vietnamese
rural areas.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Activity Report for November
--------------------------------------------------------------------
********************************************
Luffy has stepped up the stairs of life(growth).
********************************************
Today we would like to introduce a fantastic story of Luffy
(coming from the popular animation "ONE PIECE") engaging
in the PANGAEA Kyoto site activity.
Since we decided to go on a small excursion this year as well
to gather materials for PANGAEA playing cards according to
the theme of each group, we planned how to organize the excursion
with the budget 300 JPyen. The youngest powerful boy, Luffy,
was keeping quiet at first since he joined the group with only girls except him.
However, when he was asked by Yumi-san (the chief director) if he could search
the way on the map, if it is possible to walk to the destination, and so on,
he started to search for the information on the Internet
and found the destination in a moment. Immediately, however, he also found
a problem at the same time; they charge the entrance fee
to get in the destination! When he kept reading the information in details,
he realized that the entrance fee is free for those children studying
at elementary school. What Luffy told Yumi-san, while the members of the group
were feeling relieved, shows his growth of consideration for others.
"Look at this! The entrance fee for an adult is 500yen. Yumi-san cannot enter
since our budget is 300yen each…oh wait, yes she can if each of us
shares the fee." When Yumi-san heard that, she was so moved that she
almost cried.
Those children who joined the activities of PANGAEA get used to the activities,
and mostly, they get thoughtful and considerate enough to respect others
in half a year.
Today we introduce a story of Luffy's growth in PANGAEA playing cards
preparation;

Activity Report for November

--------------------------------------------------------------------
+ This newsletter is delivered to:
* Registered Pangaea support members
* Registered Pangaea volunteer staffs
* Other Pangaea supporters who are in contact with us
+ To unsubscribe or to change email address:
http://www.pangaean.org/common/english/newsletter/change.html

Published by: Non-Profit Organization PANGAEA
Website: http://www.pangaean.org
Email: info@pangaean.org
Tel: +81-(0)75-741-8877 | Fax: +81-(0)75-741-8876
Zou Bldg. #301, 509 Kyogokucho, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto 600-8035, Japan
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) NPO PANGAEA. All Rights Reserved

Posted by: kyotohq | 3. Newsletter