Sarajean's notes

Skills Build Forum 6 turned out to be not only fun but energizing. I went into the event with mixed feelings - i really have not had the time to devote to the last 3 forums - I have been busy working. But we had a great group of people helping out with PR and the panel speakers were excellent. The workshops worked because everyone was not only into developing their plans but also because this group was experienced. I learn so much each time I do these workshops - looking forward to the next one.

I have been trying to help the Womens Union of boston on find a partner organization in Japan to work on a international fellowship program together. This has proven much more difficult than i expected. I was also recently contacted to help find an group to help with research on sex workers and traffikcing in japan. this also is proving to be quite hard. The first hurdle is finding a group for which such program fall within their mission/mandate. The main issue - however - is capacity. This is not a matter of japanese nonprofits and NGOs being "behind" anyone but that there is still a long way to go in the org development process for most groups. lots of work ot be done...

Sunday I was at home when the neighborhood assoc. head stopped by. She asked about our 500yen monthly payment for the Red Cross of Japan. I said I preferred to support groups I knew because I worked with NGOs and Nonprofits. To this I was told that everyone has been giving 500 yen per month for the past 40+ years. When I asked why they did not ask for money for Japanese NGOs she such as JEN and PWJ - the reply was initally silence but was then told she did not know those groups. After asking why she supported the RCJ, I was asked to have my husband call her. My husband smirked when I told this story - he knows how i feel about the RCJ and large orgs in general. I dislike how some groups seem to have some special status even though many people know little to nothing about what they give money to. He also knows that people also do not question what they have been doing for the past 40 or 50 years and that to ask questions must make them just perplexed. I guess pushing the issue is what m...

Last weeks trip to Niigata with Morgan Stanley staff was quite a learning experience. Besides the actualy farm work itself - which was exhausting ! It was very good for me to see how a project likethis works on the ground - even in Japan the negotations between the various partners can be quite tough. Not a matter of language but of the business and nonprofit "cultures" - in order to better understand each other we need more projects like this. The public here still does not know much about the work nonprofits and NGOs so often i feel that I am translating ideas into language that the coutner part can understand. we take so much for granted. Assumptions are different of course but the fact that the work of NGOs and nonprofits is not understood here in Japan makes the role of negotation quite different. The best part of our trip was not the planting or the early mornings but the pary with the locals where we got to meet and chat and drink with the local people - all 15 of them...

Current projects: Nonprofit and NGO event and program cooridination Linking nonprofits with coporations Trainings and workshops on various skill areas Corporate volunteer program coordination Nonprofit internship placement Japan-US NGO partnership development Skills build forums Consultation: Linking people who want to volunteer to organzations Providing information on Tokyo area events in English Advice on working in the Japanese nonprofit and NGO sector