On April 28, 2024, it was already sunny and clear in the morning, and we set up tents and put up tarps to avoid the heat. We worked in the shade and encouraged everyone to have plenty of water.
The participants of the day were Sagami Women’s University group, Vietnamese group, Yokota Air Base group, Tama Technical High School group, K-san family members joining as individuals, general volunteers, and staff, for a total of 35 people.
The U.S. Air Force Yokota Air Base group has participated in three consecutive meetings since the April 2 base members-only experience meeting. They are a strong team with high precision and certainty in their work.
The Tama Technical High School group, a regular participant, was in charge of packing work, where they have demonstrated their strength through solid work, and they performed highly accurate work again this time under the guidance of the teachers who led them.
As a result, we were able to clean, maintain, and pack 20 wheelchairs, the largest number recorded since the Corona disaster. This achievement is thanks to the efforts of all participants. We now have 63 units ready for shipment to the Philippines. We expect to ship to the country in July, but we are beginning to see the possibility of moving up the schedule a bit.
Thank you all for your hard work.
April 29, 2024 Secretariat
(How to see the photos)Click on the photos to enlarge them.
Putting up three tarps, and setting up two tents.
(Left) Tama Technical High School group, a dependable team of two teachers and eight students.
(Right) Two members of the Sagami Women’s University group, in charge of taking pictures and cleaning up at the same time.
A worktable as a new attempt. This way we can work more comfortably than sitting on the ground.
Mr. K, a resident of Adachi-ku, joined with his three children. They traveled 2 hours by train from their home. Under the father’s guidance, each son was working properly. How reliable and promising!
Mr. K’s child unscrewed and cleaned the footrests. They seemed satisfied riding on the wheelchair they cleaned and maintained, saying, “It’s a nice ride.” We hope that the Filipino child who will receive this wheelchair will feel the same way.
Darryl (the man wearing the hat on the left in the photo), who has participated in all three activities so far, and Franklin, the leader of the Yokota Air Base group, who is participating for the first time this time, with his son.
(Left) Tama Technical High School students disassembled and cleaned the walker.
(Right) As a result of this work, it became shiny like this.
Packing work by Tama Technical High School group.
Another new attempt:replacing packing material with used blankets. Since the plastic may become a large amount of waste, we decided to use blankets to pack the wheelchairs and have the blankets washed and reused at the site instead of throwing them away. Large wheelchairs cannot be packed with blankets, but small ones can be packed with a single blanket. We will aim to make use of this in the future.
Sora, who always provides us with delicious food, invited his brother and his friend to make takikomi gohan and pork miso soup this time. All the participants were pleased with the delicious food. I was so deep in eating that I forgot to take pictures.
Thank you everyone!