Sarajean's notes

On July 29 we did a preview of one of the films for　UN refugee agency and it was really moving - almost 30 people from very different backgrounds and lost of good discussion afterwards. will post some photos later on. i would encourage everyone in tokyo to make to at least one film this summer - but get there early - it gets crowded! July 18-26 *** 2nd International UNHCR Refugee Film Festival 2007 Locations: Institut Franco-Japonais de Tokyo: (Iidabashi Station) Goethe-Institut Japan: (Aoyama Itchome Station) Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Tokyo: (Kudanshita Station) Embassy of Sweden: (Kamiyacho Station) For more information: http://www.refugeefilm.org/

This training today was very interesting - very different to work with government people from so many different countries. some were doctors - some were from the health ministries and others were in health care supprot services. They came from Uganda, Bolivia, China, Tanzania, Cambodia, Jamaica and many others. What a great experience. I am used to NGO people who have less confidence and are less sure about thier position in society. I hope that I was able instill in them some positive ideas about working with citizens and NGOs in order to make their projects more effective. And if they could see any hope for changing or molding policy in their countries then it was worth me doing the workshop.

I just finished working on this project - JICa training program focused on PWDs (person with disabilities) I did 2 1/2 days focusing on action plan development - writing it out and presenting it. today they did practice presentations - they were much better than i expected. have a look at the group: http://www.jicafriends.jp/vocational/gi2007/training/v0612.html interesting idea ... bringing groups of people to japan to train them in different skills sets and then send them back home to get new projects off the ground. some people are able to do good - even just by seeing some new things and/or sharing ideas with participants from other countries.

Join the PSC for a special preview People for Social Change in collaboration with Democrats Abroad Japan, the UNHCR and RBR Center for Creative Arts present: Refugee Film Festival Special Preview "Invisible Children" * A film about children who are internally-displaced in the Northern part of Uganda. * The film is in English and has Japanese subtitles. Friday, June 29, 7-9:00pm Venue and access information: RBR Center for Creative Arts in Roppongi/Azabu Juban Approx. 15 min walk from both Roppongi and Azabu Juban stations. http://www.rbr-art.com/Moving 1-23 Moto-Azabu 3-Chome, Minato Ku, Tokyo 03-5770-7401 Advanced registration by June 27, requested but not mandatory. * Due to space restrictions, attendance is limited to the first 40 people who sign up. FREE but donations will be encouraged

I went last year and there were 300 people - lots of fun! NetTokyo 3 Summer Charity Networking Event » Saturday, July 21, 2007 » 12:30 pm - 4:30 pm » 4,000 Yen in advance, 5,000 Yen at the door. http://www.nettokyo.jp/

Good to share some links - shows it is not all bad news - many people are doing good things everywhere. Women’s Human Rights Net http://www.whrnet.org/ MADRE http://www.madre.org/ SVRI http://www.svri.org/ CSVR http://www.csvr.org.za/gender/ Rape crisis cape town http://www.rapecrisis.org.za/ Amnesty Stop Violence Campaign http://web.amnesty.org/actforwomen/index-eng Resilience - Japanese only http://www.resilience.jp/index2.html Freedom 21 - Japanese only http://freedom21.jp/index.php?cmd=read&page=DV 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence - NGO Campaign http://www.whrnet.org/days_activism_en.php Family Violence Prevention Fund http://www.endabuse.org/ PATHS http://www.abusehelplines.org/ Clothesline project http://home.cybergrrl.com/dv/orgs/cp.html Clothesline project Japan http://www.purple.dti.ne.jp/tshirt/index.html

i never think of my self as a feminist - but maybe i am just because i feel so stronly about being equal. read a few of these articles and get motivated to do something ... Local issues - info in English about Japan: Domestic violence in Japan . www.unifem-eseasia.org/resources/others/domesticviolence/PDF/Japan.pdf Domestic Violence in Japan www.tokyoprogressive.org.uk/gale/articles/dv-in-japan.html II Journal: Japanese women confront domestic violence www.umich.edu/~iinet/journal/vol3no1/jpndv.html These resources have info on a lot more than gender based violence but good references for details and stats: UNIFEM Articles and resources http://www.unifem.org/resources/listing_by_section.php?WebSectionID=3 The World’s Women 2005 http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/indwm/wwpub.htm.unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/indwm/ww_specialRep.pdf

I rarely see this type of stuff locked in my very Japanese world .... there are many people involved in law suits. Debito is keeping track of cases and incidents and these records will help us all in the future. Interesting for anyone wanting to know what is going on with anti-discrimination work in Japan. "THE COMMUNITY" ISSUES AND PROPOSALS CONCERNING NON-JAPANESE IN JAPAN http://www.debito.org/TheCommunity/communityissues.html

Any international groups or others coming to Japan for the G8 summit in summer 2008? I know NGOs and progressivess are planning a shadow forum but i am interested in knowing who might be coming over and how the PSC. Drop the PSC a line at skillsbuild at gmail.com if you or your group is interested or just wants to share ideas.

i have been looking for some useful websites for people interested in finding out more about PCM - here is what i found - some are in English and some in Japanese. share yours in the comments section: http://www.change-management -toolbook.com/tools/pcm.html http://www.fasid.or.jp/kenshu /pcm/index.html http://www.reliefweb.int /training/ti1375.html www.h6.dion.ne.jp/~gakuhoku /PCM-Handbook-J0406.pdf www.pref.okinawa.jp/kenzou /sukoyaka/pdf/79p_81p.pdf http://www1.neweb.ne.jp/wb /fukud/glossary.htmA http://www1.neweb.ne.jp/wb /fukud/hyousijp.htm http://www1.neweb.ne.jp/wb /fukud/hyousi%20eng.htm http://www.ipma.ch/Pages/IPMA .aspx http://www.aidworkers.net/?q =node/252 http://www.apo-tokyo.org/cgi /apo_p-glossary.pl?record=79 http://www.env.go.jp/policy /assess/1-3sanka/3/mes/mes _sim033i.html http://www.worldbank.org /aidsecon/toolkit/project.htm

Art exhibit: June 1st - June 31st Shibuya, Tokyo www.thepinkcow.com Artists promote peace through their individual artwork / paintings / VJ / digital / photography / music / fashion June 1 - Artist Reception for PEACE ART EXHIBIT Open: 20:00 ~ * Come early and Invite your friends to Join us for a delicious dinner buffet (2625 yen) Door: 1,000 yen w/ free drink

Recently I helped with the 8th annual TELL Run and Walk. There were so many people and prizes - what a great experience to work as the MC. There were lamost 1000 people and more than 4,000,000 was raised. Great work everyone!

Interesting article from The Japan Times By PETER SIDELL Tuesday, April 24, 2007 http://search.japantimes.co.jp /print/fl20070424zg.html

I recently read this top 10 list from a small business group that focuses on getting people moving in growing their own companies. I thought most of these were also useful for people in the nonprofit community. Here is the nonprofit version of 10 effective ways to grow your business – newly titled 10 effective ways to develop your community organization: 1. Accomplish needs then wants Know how many of your working hours are actually moving you towards your goals. Often we get caught up in unnecessary things like requests to distribute info for another group or do some thing that seems very important to one particular board member. Staff can get burned out by spending much time on things that are not really related to the objectives of their project – sus out how to stream line extras 2. Kiss – keep it simple stupid As an org grows it can be easy to get caught up in activities that are quite peripheral to your work. Keep focused on the mission and your objectives. 3. Take control over t...

I recently interviewed Peter from TELL - Tokyo English Life Line for the DAJ's new podcast. Have a listen: http://www.dajpodcast.org Oh yeah and don't forget to join the run on May 5 - I will be the MC so come by and say hello!

On April 20, 2007 I went to a breakfast meeting coordinated by the ACCJ CSR committee. The presenter was the founder and chief person behind the organization Room to Read , who introduced his top-ten list for nonprofits and CSR Below is the list with some of my own comments: 1. Have an ambitious goal * Good point - we need to challenge our selves to aim high and encourage others to see that things can change 2. Short-term fix vs. long-term solutions * while it is still necessary to provide emergency assistance – more and more nonprofit NGOs realize we need to have long term plans to deal with on-going problems 3. Community co-investment * Stakeholders need to be directly involved in program development 4. Strong local teams * We need to develop local leadership so we are no longer necessary 5. Intense focus on results * Measurement can be both qualitative and quantitative but outcomes need to be concrete; should not conflict with #2 6. Nonprofit NGO CSR message * use the trend here in...

Here is another interesting and easy to join global campaign - the global campaign for education - here is the action site: http://www.campaignforeducation.org/action/2007/action.html and on this site you can find out about the ratings given to countries on their investment in education - hence children and the future. Japan, the US and Italy all got D's. ... check it out. http://www.campaignforeducatio n.org/schoolreport/index.html Campaign note from ACE on the work they are trying to do to get more participation in japan before 4/26 .... 「世界中の子どもに教育を」キャンペーンでは、世界中の子どもに教育を実現するために、世界一長い人間の鎖への参加をよびかけています。 世界には7700万人の義務教育を受けられない子どもがいます。 （UNESCO、2006年） その子どもたちが学校に行けるよう、「世界一長い人間の鎖 」を作って政府にア ピールすることが、今年のキャンペーンのねらいです。 この人間の鎖はWEB上でも参加者をつのっており 、世界の人たちとインターネッ トを通して手をつなぐことができます。 自分が選んだアバターに教育協力の拡充を政府にお願いするメッセ ージを書くと、 これが様々な国から同様に書き込みをしている人たちとつながって 、世界一長い 人間の鎖になります。 このアクションは、世界120カ国で行われ、世界一長い人間の鎖 としてギネスブッ クに掲載される予定です。現在世界で3万人、日本から150名が 参加しています。 日本では、4月26日に麻生外務大臣に子どもたちがこの鎖を提出 することになり ました。子どもたち...

okay this has nothing to do with Japan - but worth viewing: freewayblogger.com - any one can get their message out if they are creative.

Went to a meeting filled with interesting people last night - many doing similar or related work. Many trying to bridge the gaps between Japanese and non-Japanese activists. Hopefully we will get something together in terms of centralising events and program listing and then maybe later address the issue of how to get more articles and info without the conservative slant to people that want to be more active. We talked a bit about indy media and tokyo progressive - time for me to do my homework... インディメディア Japan.indymedia.org ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー メディアを知ろう。メディアを変えよう。メディアになろう。 あなたの声もグローバルな市民のメディアネットワークに～ Know, change, be the media! Add your voice to the global network of citizen-level media... ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー ☆投稿する： To post: http://japan.indymedia.org /newswire/index.php?functionfil tered=publish ☆カレンダーでイベントをしらせする To add an event to the radicalendar: http://www.radicalendar.org /group/index.php?view=&group =imcjapan

A fellow SIPA grad is currently being sued by a huge company about something he supposedly said in an interview. Get more information here in English http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/recent/lastword.asp on his blog in Japanese http://ugaya.com/ in Japanese (translation) and French (original) http://ugaya.com/column/070210RSF.html To raise money for his defense fund there will be a party this Sunday April 22 from 8pm. I have heard good things about the bands but more importantly - it is probably just a good chance to find out more about what is going on and what freedom of speech really means here in Japan. Find out more and take a stand.