A comment that surprised me today…

“I cannot believe that you are making elders work at the Ibasho cafe in the disaster area in Japan! Your project is not kind to elders.”

I was simply shocked to hear the comment. I seriously believed that “Ibasho cafe is giving opportunities for local elders to be useful to others. They can share their valuable wisdom and experience regardless of their physical and cognitive capacities.”

Almost all the elders whom I talked to at the disaster area said that “I am thankful for all the support that we have received from all over the world. However, it is getting a bit too much for me to always receive help. I want to give back to others, if I know how to do it. I will write letters if I know who to send them to. I just don’t know what I can do to be helpful to others because I am old…”

Their comments are the reasons why our team has been working tirelessly to bring the Ibasho cafe concept into reality, so that they have opportunities to be useful to others in their community.

Local elders are excited to organize themself to operate the first “Ibasho cafe” in the disaster area. I thought that I was helping them… Am I missing something? Am I really a cruel person who is orchestrating to make elders work??