Dear Friends in the Ivory Coast

Many people in Ivory Coast are suffering from the current conflict. One of our friend, an Ivorian catholic priest sent me several images (with his comments). These pictures were taken at a large cathedral in the center of Abidjan. This cathedral was such a beautiful building located in a serene site when I visited last year. People in the city are evacuating to this cathedral and this place is completely overwhelmed. As you can see, even the church is not necessary the safe place for them. They are worried about the gun shots and debris from the bombs. Many friends of mine have reached out to me and express their […]

Am I naive?

The Ibasho team and our local partner in Ivory Coast strongly believe that we can create a multi-generational community where elders are valued as a vital asset in sustaining the social and cultural heritage of the community/village.We also believe that this is the right thing to do for elders. In order to make our vision into reality, we are suggesting that elders should have opportunities to teach at the school, educate local villagers about public health and environmental stewardship at the clinic and community center, work at the library, be a mentor for orphans, and stay involved in other functions that normal communities offer to elders in the Ivory Coast. […]

Learn the rules well, so you know how to break them properly

Learn the rules well, so you know how to break them properly. Dalai Lama This quote reminds me that we who are involved in culture change movement need to remember not to be too blindly critical of the current system. If we want to improve the system of long-term care for the elderly, we need to know about both the positive and the negative aspects of the current system, so we know what to keep and what to change. We need to follow the Dalai Lama’s wisdom in order to make effective changes. I would like to pay sincere respect to all the knowledgeable people who are working hard to change […]

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 […]

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 […]

Ibasho Team is back from the Ivory Coast

We had such a wonderful and productive trip to Ivory Coast. Thanks to our team member’s commitment and patient, we have accomplished so much with local community. Throughout this trip, we have met so many people and exchange our ideas to come up with the better approach to create a socially integrated community where elders in Ivory Coast are valued as vital assets for others. Of course, we faced various challenges to overcome but we were able to establish much stronger shared vision among all the people who will be involved in this project through this process. We were originally planning to organize the ground breaking ceremony on the site, […]

Ivory Coast Day 2

We had a productive meetings all day. What amazed me the most was people from the community clearly shared our vision and values for this project. I am feeling more confidence about making this dream a reality. So much to talk about our day, but I am a bit too tired to write my blog with French key board now. More later, Bon nuit….

We have arrived…

After the long flight, Ibasho team has safely arrived in Ivory Coast a very warm airport welcome. Two of Bernard’s brothers and many members of the community we are working with us met us in the very crowded airport. Father Raoul Mambo even made his way past immigration to smooth the way for us. We have already found them incredibly gracious hosts and they prepared a superbly delicious traditional meal (more on food later). We are heading to bed tire and excited about the days to come. Emi is excited to be back in the country and of course Bernard cannot stop smiling in his home country again. Ann, Cheryl, […]

Flying to the Ivory Coast

My colleague, Cheryl George has arrived to DC from Saskatoon, Canada, and we are flying out from DC tonight. Other Ibasho team members are also on the way to the Ivory Coast. We are completely immunized and malaria pills in our hands…. ready to the adventure. Great to have such passionate friends and colleagues who are willing to help this Ivory Coast project moving forward. I cannot wait to have them meet with wonderful and friendly people in Ivory Coast. We have a plenty of tasks that need to be completed, and figure out various issues that need attention in order to create “Ibasho” for villagers and elders during our […]