Being helped by elders, as usual…

My husband and I had no idea where to go and what to do in the very early morning (5:30 am), when we walked into a local hospital for his surgery (he had broken his arm in three places). While we were trying to figure out what to do at the entrance, two elder volunteer women waved at us with a big smile, and said, “You must be lost. Come with us!”  They took us to the registration room and told us: “You two sweeties, make sure to come to us if you get lost again. We will be at the waiting area.” Their kindness made us feel so much […]

Liberating myself from worry

“If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it’s not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.”  Dalai Lama XIV I was a bit overwhelmed by all the work that we would need to accomplish to make the Ivory Coast project into reality, and had millions of excuses not to take immediate actions to do something about my concern and worry. Yes, we have limited resources and time at this moment–which I cannot do anything about. However, we can take action to work on the tasks […]

My Ibasho

“What is Ibasho? ” Our conversation always start with this question, when I give my business card to someone. Ibasho is a Japanese term that cannot be translated into one word. It means “whereabouts,” but it also has a psychological meaning of “a place where you feel at home being yourself.” I always questioned the concept of “creating a home” in long-term care settings, because home means different for everyone. How can you build a group home that will feel like home to everyone who comes to live there? Also, the concept of home can be quite confusing to some people, including me. For instance, I was borne and raised […]

Innovation comes from within

Sitting in a design meeting for few hours one day, I was quite discouraged by how little we discussed about how we can make elders’ life better. Instead, 99% of the conversation focused on budget, materials, site restrictions, and how to fit public space and patients’ (not elders’) rooms into the square feet that had already been determined by a bank and a developer. Since I could not think of anything I could add to the discussion, I was quietly listening, trying to understand how people can get so fascinated by building a building, simply forgetting about the people in the building. Then one of the architects asked: “Do you […]

Learned helplessness

When working  in a country where you do not know the system, there are so many things that are out of your control. Throughout our visit in Ivory Coast, I needed to rely on local people for almost everything, such as transportation, food, setting up meetings, shopping, and so on. One of the most difficult challenges that I face in working with people from Ivory Coast is our different concepts of time. I was born and raised in Japan, where everything was structured and punctual, and then moved to the USA where people were rather relaxed compared to Japanese, yet the adjustment was relatively easy and sometime quite pleasant–I do […]

I am still learning

Here’s what my friend Cheryl George wrote about her experience of Ibasho activities in the Ivory Coast: “I am still learning.”  Michelangelo Thanks to Emi for the amazing opportunity to travel to Ivory Coast with the Ibasho team this summer.    The Ivorians I had the honor to meet are such beautiful people and they welcomed us into their lives.  I would like to share some of the things I learned. You can make new friends even if you can’t speak each other’s language very well (but I am looking into taking French classes this fall). We have so much to learn from those who have never created institutions for their […]

Wisdom from Bhutan

In this time of modernization, when so many of us are so focused on material things, the people of Bhutan recognize the increasing need for deeper values to foster wellbeing, security, and happiness. When I was in Bhutan for the project to create a community for elderly monks, I encountered a short description that captures that spirit at a small village elementary school. The time to be happy is now The place to happy is here The way to be happy is to make other people happy   What a beautiful message for children to learn at school. People in Bhutan did not have much in the way of material […]

Volunteer work is making me rich!

Sitting down at my home this evening with my husband, I realized that all the volunteer work I have been involved is making me such a wealthy person. The concept of wealth is a relative one, so let me explain my definition. I measure wealth in terms of human capital. I may not be considered a wealthy person financially, but I have met beautiful people through my volunteer work and they are enriching my life to a degree that I never expected. I feel so lucky to have these meaningful human relationships, because they are the most important thing in our lives. Financial capital can give us temporary convenience and […]

How can people sustain functional community?

I recently visited Reba Place Fellowship, a Mennonite community in Evanston, Illinois. They own several multi-generational houses and apartment complexes within two blocks of their church, where 38 fellowship members and church members have been living for many years. They contacted us to help them explore architectural modifications to support their members as they age in place. What amazed me was that all the multi-generational houses were located in the middle of Evanston, and I could not tell which of the houses I was looking at were theirs and which were owned by other families. The street looked completely ordinary and the neighborhood was so close that everyone on those […]