"I think those parents and residents don't want us to do anything special but are happy we watch over the children as they enjoy playing. I was very delighted to be reminded of that several times today."
"I worried about him but it got me thinking that children become stronger with these things. A few scratches and wounds show that they are growing up."
"We had nice and friendly conversations with the parents of the children and other people who we usually don't have much opportunity to talk with. It was a very luxurious time."
"They said that dog trainers visited with their dogs all the way from Kobe City. It was a gift of “Interaction with animals” for people living in the provisional housing. "
"We are going to change the organisation of the activities a bit this year, but we will continue to hold fun activities, and care for the children’s safety and growth, as we have been doing so far. We all hope we can do some even more fun activities together this year."
"Imagining that the children come and seek for this relaxing atmosphere, ’Nijiiro Crayons' which stays active even in rainy or snowy days must mean a lot for children’s lives."
「向陽コミュニティセンター」の英訳がにじいろクレヨン英語版サイトにアップされました。
The new translation of "At Koyo district community center” has been uploaded to the NPO Nijiiro Crayons' website.
"Also, the power of children. These days I feel that they are growing up more and more each day. Today I again felt that I want to give back the energy that I have received from the kids."
「だんだんと寒くなって雪も降る中、最後まで笑いながらいっしょに配れて楽しかったな〜。」
”Even if the snow was falling and the weather was getting colder and colder, we all enjoyed our day, and we were t laughing until the end.”
「旭化成パワーデバイス報告」の英訳がにじいろクレヨン英語版サイトにアップされました。
The new translation of "The provisional housing on “ Asahi Kasei Power Devices Corp” properties” has been uploaded to the NPO Nijiiro Crayons' website.
The new translation of "Play Leader’s Workshop Report” has been uploaded to the NPO Nijiiro Crayons' website.
「めだかさん プレーリーダー研修会 報告」の英訳がにじいろクレヨン英語版サイトにアップされました。
“The theme of the workshop was "Risk Management and Crisis Management". Our work requires us to look after both the physical and mental health of the children, so this theme is extremely important to us.”
‘At the end of our session, Natsukichi read some picture books to the children. Although sometimes distracted by some older girls, others were so engaged in the story of Twelve horary signs. I could see how much children love picture books!!’
“Here, a boy is making something with clay. “No, this color is a little different from my feeling…” “This should be done like this…” Murmuring aloud, Soushi-kun seems to make something.”
“Inside, we enjoyed karaoke and played volleyball with balloons on which we drew pictures! We got a bit excited because this was the first time for us to sing karaoke as activity lol. Beginning with a song of Arashi that Natsukichi chose, we enjoyed singing a wide range of songs such as nursery rhymes and even songs kids didn’t know. :D”
’I have often been told from my friends in Tokyo, “They are still living in temporary housings, aren’t they? It must be hard.” However, though there are some troubles that the walls are thinner compared to normal housing and locations are inconvenient, things have been changing. Those situations vary depending on people.’
‘As long as I heard, some of them refuse to move out of the temporary housings. It sounded like that they developed attachment for the past three years.’
『高齢の方や、一人暮らしの方などは、仮設住宅の近隣同士でのコミュニティが形成されています。』
‘Take an example, elderly people and people live alone have made their community with neighbors living in the temporary housing.’
‘Even though there are some troubles, they surely have a strong bond through overcoming hardest time together. Also, they may feel scared to move out and live alone in a new environment after sticking together and experiencing good times and bad times.’
‘They might feel lonely of not having visitors after moving out of the temporary housing. Of course, we can never forget about their financial difficulties.’
‘If they were young, they might be capable of living in a new place with their family and friends, or try to look for new people as a start of new life. However, the change of environment must be hard for elderly people.’
‘Some people might say, “It’s selfish” or “They are asking too much”, but I personally think that it should be acceptable for those who have experienced such a tragedy.’
“As well as the high school students, we were delighted to see some familiar faces who hadn't joined us for a while; some even brought their friends along too. The newcomers seemed to have a great time and left us with the promise that they'd be back (The children we knew, on the other hand, were as tricky as ever!). With both children and adults alike coming to join us, I really feel that our circle of supporters and participants is slowly but surely expanding.”
“The girl made pretty ribbons out of clay and decorated them with beads. Using clay, a boy told me his own original story about dinosaurs. In the hall, we played Ping-Pong, dodge ball, skipping rope and hide-and-seek.”
「向陽コミュニティーセンター報告」の英訳がにじいろクレヨン英語版サイトにアップされました。
The new translation of "Report from Koyocho Community Center” has been uploaded to the NPO Nijiiro Crayons' website.
“Inside of the hall, some kids played ping-pong. Also they made a bath tab with a box, and hot waters with torn newspapers. They got very excited with those plays that they usually can’t do at home.”
The new translation of "Narumin’s back!” has been uploaded to the NPO Nijiiro Crayons' website.
「なるみんさん復活!」の英訳がにじいろクレヨン英語版サイトにアップされました。
「集会所ではムラさん、ロッキー、なっつさんと子供達に寄り添い様々な遊びをしていました!得意の卓球で子供達とラリーをし、変化球などの難しいボールを返してしまうムラさんは子供達の間でヒーローです!!なかなか卓球をしたことのない子でも興味津々に楽しませ、盛り上げるムラさんは流石だなと思いました(^^)」
“In an assembly room, Mura-san, Lokki and Nattsu-san played a variety of games with the kids. Mura-san is very good at table tennis and played with the kids. He did some trick shots, which can be hard for kids, but they still loved it. Thanks to him, some of the children, who had never played table tennis before, became very interested in the sport. That’s the Mura-san I know. He’s so good with children.”
https://ishinomakicrc.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/narumins-back/
“Some children were afraid of painting because they thought they couldn’t paint well, but they eventually joined in, encouraged by seeing the other children painting. Once they started, it seems they really enjoy drawing and painting flowers or characters.”
「絵に上手いも下手もない!」の英訳がにじいろクレヨン英語版サイトにアップされました。
The new translation of "Every child is an artist!” has been uploaded to the NPO Nijiiro Crayons' website.
"Reason to Live" has been translated in Polish! Thank you so much for your help, Lech Szeg and Toko Kawamukai!
「命の使い道」がポーランド語に訳されました。Lech Szegさん、Toko Kawamukaiさん、ご協力ありがとうございます!
https://ishinomakicrc.wordpress.com/powod-do-zycia/
The new translation of "Creating artwork rather than looking at it? This is Nijiiro Art Exhibition!” has been uploaded to the NPO Nijiiro Crayons' website.
’Today, I’m going to talk about the Nijiiro Art Exhibition that took place from 3rd to 6th September. As many as 114 people came to the art show in these 3 days! (Applause!) A lot of people participated in this event. The students of Gokokkan art classes and their families, the teachers and pupils of the international school, Pinocchio, and the children, adults and volunteers, who have been coming to Nijiiro Crayon’s activities, all attended.’
「秋祭りの後」の英訳がにじいろクレヨン英語版サイトにアップされました。
The new translation of "After the Autumn Festival” has been uploaded to the NPO Nijiiro Crayons' website.
「今回の秋祭りはにじいろクレヨンスタッフは勿論の事、上釜地区の住民の皆さん、子ども達、保護者の方々のおかげで無事に成功しました。」
"The Autumn Festival this year was carried out successfully with the help of Nijiiro Crayons members, the residents of Kamigama district, the children, and their parents and guardians."
‘The volunteers come from different areas and from various occupations, but all look forward to participating in our monthly event. The children who have come to know them over these years also look forward to their visit.’
‘The children want to play Pokémon GO, since it’s been so popular now. But they don’t have smartphones, so they made it themselves! They made Pokémon and Poké Balls with paper, then they can play a game which they throw Poké Balls at Pokémon to catch them.’
「台風一過」の英訳がにじいろクレヨン英語版サイトにアップされました。 The new translation of 'The beautiful weather after the typhoon has passed' has been uploaded to the NPO Nijiiro Crayons' website.
「新しい絵本たちと一緒にみなさんがひろばに来てくださるのを首を長〜くして待っています!にじいろまつりで開催する、おさがり交換会のおさがり品も絶賛募集中ですよ。」
‘With those new books, we are all waiting for you visiting us in the Hiroba! Hand-me-downs are also welcome for the ‘Hand-me-downs exchange party’ we’ll have at the Nijiiro festival.’
‘We had a workshop where we used wood in ‘the parents and children art class’ today. We learnt to craft with natural materials such as large and small branches, acorns, and pine cones. They made their crafts trying out different combinations of those materials. I found it very interesting that they made completely different figures by mixing those branches and pieces of wood.’
「のくのくハウス近況」の英訳がにじいろクレヨン英語版サイトにアップされました。
The new translation of 'Recent activities in Nokunoku House' has been uploaded to the NPO Nijiiro Crayons' website.
「ご紹介した映像は、なんとすべてユーチューブで見ることができます。にじいろクレヨンをチャンネル登録してくださいね。」
"You can see the videos here on Youtube. Please subscribe the Nijiiro Crayons channel."
‘They also planted watermelons, corn, cherry tomatoes, and mysterious French fruits (we read the seed package, but no one had any idea what they were.), along with some other plants. We are looking forward to seeing them grow. I’d like to report how it goes.’
The new translation of 'The Teachers’ Faces' has been uploaded to the NPO Nijiiro Crayons' website.
The NPO “Nijiiro Crayons” was established to provide Ishinomaki’s children with psychological support. For now, children in Ishinomaki have enough supplies to survive. However, they are still suffering both emotionally and spiritually. We would, therefore, like to focus on improving their life by drawing, reading, and doing excise with them.
'Every Wednesday, we get together in the play park near Nokunoku-house. We make a bonfire, so everyone brings the foods they want to grill. Today, the mothers who participated cooked tomato cream soup and playful shaped pizzas and pitas.'
We contribute to the enrichment and enlightenment of our society through the care of children and our future generation. In order to raise the necessary attention abroad, we would like to share these stories with people who don’t read Japanese. We are looking for volunteers who can help us. If you're interested in joining our translation team, please contact me.
riedel.mika@gmail.com
'Last week at the activity room, the kids’ mothers made decorations for the Star Festival: Tanabata. They wanted to make them since the festival was coming soon, so we all did it together.'
We have finished translating one of the Nijiiro Crayons' blog entries 'Nijiiro Crayons Volunteers' from Japanese into English.
にじいろクレヨンのブログ「ボランティアさんとの関係性」を日本語から英語へ翻訳しました。
"We each talked about our own volunteering experiences and discussed as a group why people volunteer. There were a lot of different reasons, such as: ‘I’m interested in volunteering’, ‘It was a school assignment’, and ‘I wanted to belong somewhere’."