help us make a christmas for everybody

hi everyone! hope you are well. we know it's a little early, but we want to bring the thought of christmas to you for a little while.

recently yukari has been in contact with the lovely Ms Ishimaru, founder of the kodomiru charity based in Nagoya, Japan. from Nagoya, she organizes volunteer work in the Tohoku region of Japan, in areas where the earthquake and tsunami hit the worst. kodomiru is a charity focussing on the well being of childrens' futures. it is important to remember that schools and communities were destroyed in the earthquake, not just homes, and that for many young people their futures will be very uncertain. 

we met kodomiru's Ms Ishimaru through a mutual friend in Yukari's home town of Nagoya, after they did some volunteer work for her charity. we were introduced and since then we have been discussing with her the best way to go about helping those in Japan who have lost everything begin to rebuild and feel even a little bit 'normal' again. 

kodomiru began life as a charity formed in order to gather resources for the schools in the worse effected areas of Tohoku. by asking individuals for their support by donating unused picture books, she was able to supply vital educative supplies for nursery schools and daycare centres to use with their children. it was a popular drive, and though donations was plentiful, the reality of the situation was that the small size of these nurseries and day cares restricted the amount of space that could be used to house books and resources. 

four  (of many) filled bookshelves! well done, kodomiru!

ever resourceful, Ms Ishimaru then began to approach companies and individuals for donation in order to buy and send bookshelves to the various nurseries, daycares, and prefabricated housing areas in Tohoku. of course having books is wonderful, but it can be problematic when you have nowhere to store them! so it seemed natural to send these storage cabinets to them. now, Ms Ishimaru and her colleagues in kodomiru are concentrating on supporting and helping those involved in the nurseries themselves, including the staff, teachers and carers that work for the wellbeing of those struck by the disaster.

Ms Ishimaru has been a parent for 10 years, so she knows how important it is to have the right kind of environment for your children when they are developing. during her work recently, she has visited the temporary housing communities in Fukushima and was reminded of the time of year- winter was approaching, as were the traditional holidays of christmas and new years. of course, it is hard to think about how somebody in that situation can enjoy a christmas in a place so different from normal.

a 'christmas cake', a tradition in Japanese households for the family to eat. isn't it cute?

in her own words, Ms Ishimaru wanted to become santa for those children! her plan was to have a christmas tree in the community, and have lots of decorations on it for everyone to enjoy. in Japan, christmas is celebrated as more of a commercial, as opposed to religious, festival. new years in japan is very important and a long standing tradition is to spend this time with your relatives and humbly think about the year past, and the year ahead. so many families will come together in Japan at new year, and special efforts are made to do so. but for children, christmas is a fun time- it's exciting to eat a christmas cake, get a nice gift and decorate a tree!

this is where we come in: kodomiru and Ms Ishimaru need our help to decorate trees! a small ornament for a tree can make a big impact in a child's christmas night. they can become little gifts to the children and adults who have lost so much this past year. to us, christmas is an important time because we get to spend time with our loved ones and exchange gifts- so what better way to think about others, and give a small piece of happiness to people in Japan who have had such a tough year.

let's decorate a tree and make christmas a fun time for children in Japan with kodomiru.

it doesn't have to be expensive, it just needs to show your empathy for those left with so little at christmas. often people don't need expensive gifts or a lot of food- it is sometimes enough just to know that you are being thought about at a special, beautiful time of the year. so please help us!
the best kind of ornaments to send are light, non-fragile and something child friendly. it doesn't have to be expensive or hand made, it just needs to be something that a child or adult can hold and place on a tree, together, at christmas. you can send your ornament (the sooner the better!) to us at:

Yukari Sweeney Design

46 Royal Hill

Greenwich

London SE10 8RT

United Kingdom

we just know that all the people living in temporary housing communities in Fukushima will be so delighted to recieve something from wherever you are. maybe you can include a message of support too! anything is going to be very appreciated. we'll keep you updated on this as much as we can in the run up to christmas. we really hope it will be a success!

for any comments on the post or questions about mailing us your ornament, please email me at kimika@yukarisweeneydesign.com. for more updates and pictures, as well as news on the project, please visit our twitter, facebook and website. we'd love for you to share this blog post with everyone you know- the more, the merrier! thank you for taking part, if you choose to do so. your contribution will make such a difference!