“I have learned that we have something we can do to help people in the Philippines. I always thought that helping people in other countries was beyond what we could do. But we don’t have to be in United Nations or international organizations to make difference. We received so much help from others. It is our turn to do something for the people in the Philippines. There is a lot I want to do with them and to learn from them. I hope we can help each other for a long time.” – 74 year old man from Ofunato, Japan

Upon learning that the Ibasho concept was being replicated in the Philippines, several of the Japanese elders expressed an interest in supporting the project. They traveled to the Philippines to help local elders set up an Ibasho café in an area affected by Typhoon Haiyan in January 2015. After returning to Japan, they created a disaster-recovery fund and reached out to their community members to help people in the disaster-affected area in Philippines. Ibasho was also able to manage for Filipino elders to visit Ibasho project in Japan in March 2015 to learn from their experience of operating Ibasho cafe. Through this peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, they have formed cross-cultural friendship and support network among elders who care about their community.

Elders from Philippines created this short video clip to show their appreciation to the Japanese elders in Ibasho Cafe. I am sure that this will bring a joy and smile to the Japanese elders…

We are hoping to create a “Ibasho cafe Philippines.” I hope more people will support this initiative! Click here to support Ibasho projects.

• Peer to peer knowledge exchange program was funded by the World Bank – GFDRR