On October 13, 2024, we had a monthly meeting in pleasant autumn weather. The sun was still quite strong, and we provided tents and tarps as we had before.
The participants were Sagami Women’s University group, Vietnamese group, Tokyo Akishima Chuo Rotary Club members, Tama Technical High School group, Ethiopian group, general volunteers, staff members, and several guests. We had a total of 51 people!
The guests were Mr. and Mrs. V from Ukraine (plus their three-year-old daughter), Mr. and Mrs. Y from Hamamatsu, Mr. B from Mongolia, and Ms. D and her daughter from Nepal.
The work of the day was cleaning, maintenance, and packing for Mongolia, which started in June. The cleaning and maintenance work was done by a veteran Vietnamese group and members of the Akishima Chuo Rotary Club. Of course, the Ethiopian group, Sagami Women’s University group, and general volunteers also played an active role.
The Tama Technical High School group, the largest ever to join in the meeting, took the lead in the packing process, working in three teams to complete one package after another.
Thanks to everyone’s hard work, we completed our goal of 20 wheelchairs by just after 2:00 pm. We now have 80 units for Mongolia; we will complete the remaining 10 units in November and ship them to Mongolia by the end of November or early December.
Thank you all for participating today. And thank you for your hard work.
October 16, 2024 Secretariat
(How to see the photos)Click on the photos to enlarge them.
(Left) The Ethiopian group arrived much earlier than the other volunteers to help set up the tents and tarps at the venue.
(Right) Mr. Abebe of the Ethiopian group put up the Ethiopian flag at the venue.
(Left) Rotary club members put up their club flag and the Mongolian flag.
(Right) After the venue was set up, the Rotary Club members immediately got to work.
Rotary club members were wearing matching white T-shirts with the club’s logo.
The Vietnamese team arrived and immediately began cleaning and maintenance work.
The Ehiopian group also began working.
Tama Technical High School was divided into three teams for packing. They were very powerful.
| This is Ms. D and her daughter from Nepal. (The white hat is the mother and the striped shirt is the daughter.) They live close to the venue, so they often come to see our activities these days. Today we worked together. |
During the activity, T-shirts made in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the founding of our NGO and the 10,000th wheelchair donation were distributed and worn by the participants.
| These are the S brothers who are making salads. They always make delicious food, but today they are in charge of salads. Today we enjoyed Ethiopian curry prepared by Abebe. (I forgot to take a picture of Abebe-san cooking. Sorry!) |
(Left) The Tama Technical High School group is pleased with the special curry by Mr. Abebe.
(Right) Mr. Y, who used to join in our activities once a month as a member of Boy Scout Akiruno Troop 1 from 2007 to 2011, came again after more than 10 years. This time he is with his wife, who is from Vietnam. They worked with the Vietnamese group.
(Left) Vietnamese group also enjoys Ethiopian curry.
(Right) Valeria’s family from Ukraine.
Ethiopian group. Sagami Women’s Uni group.
(Left) Valeria from Ukraine (the woman in the dark red shirt) thanked us for sending wheelchairs to Ukraine.
(Right) Mr. Morita, the chairperson, introduced the T-shirts and thanked everyone for their participation.
(Left)Akishima Chuo Rotary Club members and Mr. Morita.
(Right)Today’s participants. Thank you all for your hard work!