You can make a difference in the lives of needy people during GW 2004!

For more information on the following projects, please contact our office at
gv@habitatjp.org

Fiji: April 26 - May 8, 2004

Kirsty Law, an ALT from the UK, has been living in Hiroshima for almost three years now. She's been making the most of her various experiences in Japan, and now she feels ready to take on new challenge and expand her horizons by getting involved with HFH's Global Village program. You don't have to be a JET to join the team, and all nationalities are welcome, but all participants should be at least 20 years of age.

Sri Lanka: April 28 - May 7, 2004

Amy Morrison, an ALT in Akita, is going on her second Global Village trip , this time as a leader, to provide this opportunity to more people in Japan. In Sri Lanka, dry weather has caused problems for the majority of farmers, and much of the country had been devastated by civil war. 67% of people in rural areas, and 57% in the crowded urban centers, live in substandard housing.

This is your chance to do what you can to help. This will also provide you with a cultural experience that will never be forgotten- as you dance, cook, live and work with the local people, helping to fulfill a family's dream of having their own home!

[HFHJapan UPDATE]

19,308 Houses Built globally in 2003!

Thank you for your support in 2003 where together with all our volunteers and partners, HFHI has managed to build 19,308 houses worldwide bringing our total number of houses built to date as 152,949. While building houses, hundreds of thousands of volunteers, partner families and staff share in a common mission for a better world for everyone! For more information about houses built and resources, please see our HFHI Annual Report and full audited financial statements at http://www.habitat.org/giving/report/2003/

Mika participates in the Visiting of ODA/Yen-loan projects in the Philippines

Mika Asanuma, a volunteer coordinator, joined a "Seminar for Promoting Public Participation in JBIC's ODA Operations," by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), in the Philippines in January. We visited five projects funded by the yen loans of the ODA. There are four pillars in Official Development Assistance ODA, and JBIC is taking charge of yen loans. Japan also received about 12 trillion yen assistance over six years following the war. Then, it became the side which offers about 1 trillion yen assistance every year. Many of Japan's ODA projects turn to Asian
countries. About ten percent of ODA yen loans go to the Philippines, making it the 3rd largest recipient.

This seminar started last fiscal year to make ODA to obtain understanding and participation from people in Japan. This is the 2nd such event. The five projects centered on infrastructure, and were large-scale projects of tens of billions of yen. Twenty-one people participated from various fields; administration, the private enterprise, NPO, etc. to perform the proposal to a project. I have gotten information on many problems in connection with housing, such as migration problems, squatters' issues, etc. through site visits. This seminar should enable HFH to work more efficiently in Japan.

[VOLUNTEER UPDATE]

I want to appreciate again first the cooperation of the volunteers who participated in the translation of the Country Profiles. These updated ones provide GV information for future teams. I'd like to show our appreciation to Hitomi Yamamoto, Kyukichi Omura, Yuko Odaka, Kayo Hasuo,Rie Ichikawa, Nobuharu Kami, Riyako Hikota, Yuki Sekine, and Miwa Tajiri . Hitomi and Rie also handled an additional task.

When I returned from Philippines, urgent requests from GV and CCYP, and preparation of the new webpage's text were awaiting me. Therefore, I continue to ask translation favors of many of the volunteers. Hitomi, Kayo, Juri and Riyako are working hard on the translation of the webpage text.
Kyukichi and Miwa translated six documents of the Campus Chapter Covenant, and proofreading was done by Charmaine Cheuk, who works in a Japan-U.S. company and is well versed in the business terms of both languages. Kyukichi is translating "the short summary of homeless problem research in and outside the country"to English, and Miwa is translating GV document from HFH Philippines. Moreover, Yuki will have translated the booklet of GV by March, which you will also see in the near future.

I had a meeting with the web volunteer,Tomohiro Kishigami, and preparation of a web is progressing steadily. In January Masumi Yano and Yusuke Sakai of Kanda University of International Studies volunteered to organize data and update our brochure. Many of the activities of HFH Japan are supported the understanding and love of our volunteers. Thank you!

Volunteers needed!

Contact us soon if you want to lend a hand. Currently we need volunteers on PC support, translation from English ? Japanese and office work assistance. We hope for volunteers who can come to our office between 11:00 and 19:00 on weekdays.

Please be advised that the volunteer coordinator (Mika Asanuma) will be visiting Habitat projects in the Philippines from January 13th to the 23rd; however, we will be able to answer your requests from Monday, January 26th. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Our new e-mail address: info@habitatjp.org

Once again, we would like to express our appreciation for our volunteer translators and all those who have helped us in our fight against Poverty Housing.