Kei Chan
Unfortunately our small local delivery van died and was beyond repair just before Christmas. For the Kozmoz Kyoto Foodbank, this meant curtailing our delivery schedule of foodstuffs to local orphanages, retirement homes and aid centers. With little of nothing left in the budget for a major purchase we were looking at a difficult beginning to 2010… However, one of our faithful supporters here in Kyoto donated this small van for local deliveries. A heartfelt thank you from all of us at Kozmoz Japan.
The Colonel
Every Christmas Kozmoz Japan sends a Christmas Feast to a different group of homeless in the Kansai region. This year we chose a homeless group near Fuse Eki in East Osaka. Our local contact, the Batman of Fuse arranged things on site and our volunteers and interns gathered at the Kyoto Center and made the feast. Extra large bentos with lots of energy and vitamins were topped off with Yuzu Basil Chicken Breasts slow roasted to perfection. They were gleefully received.
One of our ?American interns asked an interesting question. “Do we often get homeless dressed in suits taking advantage of food and healthcare support?” A recent phenomenon where company workers loose their houses with their jobs. And not just single people, families as well have been left in the cold.
Losing a house can be traumatic and not as easy to deal with as in other countries. In Japan, in order to get a house a person needs a cosigner, a report of residence, a job, first and last months rent and in many cases a gift of between 1000 dollars and 5000 dollars is common. This can be pretty difficult for someone recently unemployed and practically impossible for someone does not have family with a substantial cushion. For now, this is something that Kozmoz Japan has little ability to address but we will do our best to help educate about these kind of little known repercussions of more well known social problems.
We hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years, and moreover helped to make someone else’ s Holidays special.?At least the homeless in Fuse, Osaka know that it is Christmas.
“I’ am currently studying international relationships with emphasis on the far east at the University of North Texas, earlier this year I decided to combine my academic pursuits with hands on experience by working as an intern for the Kozmoz International organization.
From July 13th to August 14th I interned in Kyoto with Kozmoz to learn first hand how to be an effective English instructor at Family English Schools. Everyday I had the opportunity to interact and make friends with people from a culture different than my own. I felt a great since of self-worth knowing that the English Schools provide the necessary funding to support people in need of food, legal and medical assistance in the Kansai region.
My experience was nothing short of amazing, living and working in another country has provided me with courage and confidence to decide if working in Japan is right for me. If anyone reading this has ever considered working or volunteering in Japan but has lacked the confidence to believe they could be successful, I recommend this program to you. You will walk away with a wonderful and unique experience and have a better understanding of yourself and where you want to be in the future.”
- Avery Williamson (Austin, Texas)
Enjoying a Kozmoz Food Bank Meal
On March 22 and 23rd Kozmoz was spreading cheer and hope to the needy in Osaka. Over 500 meals were served as many recipients also received employment, legal, and medical assistance from the many professionals that volunteered their time.
Poverty comes in many forms in Japan. Not only have the number of recipients increased dramatically over the last year, there is a completely new demographic coming to receive assistance. Among the recipients were more women and many suit clad individuals that had recently lost both their job and company sponsored housing.
A special thanks to all the Family English Schools volunteers that helped prepare and serve the meals!
