In our previous blog post, “Nepal Donation,” published on February 3, 2023, I wrote, “We want to support education for children in Nepal, so please help us!” About a year has passed since then. Thanks to the generosity of customers who visited Hitotsuya and our students, we collected a total of ¥8,085. Thank you so much. First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude.
▼ The Ganesha savings box beside the register that collected our Nepal Donation.
Recently, we used ¥6,283 of the ¥8,085 Nepal Donation total to provide each of 17 children at a small primary school in a village in Nepal with two notebooks, two pencils, one eraser, and one pencil sharpener. We were also able to donate one volleyball, one soccer ball, three jump ropes, and three sugoroku game sets to the school.
The person who willingly took on this important role was Bija, a Hitotsuya staff member. He is a fine young man whose straightforward character and beautiful eyes make a strong impression. Even though he had returned to Nepal for his own wedding and was extremely busy with preparations, he bought the stationery locally and delivered it to the school in the village where he grew up.
▼ The primary school that received stationery through the Nepal Donation. It is in the village where Bija was born and raised. The school did not yet exist when he was a child, so it is not his former school. Still, it is his village school, and because he loves children, it seems especially meaningful to him.
▼ Bija, the man in black, delivered stationery and other items purchased with the Nepal Donation. He was given a yellow neckerchief as a thank-you (lol).
▼ The children lined up at their teacher’s signal, and stationery was handed to each child.
▼ At the end, we took a commemorative photo with the children supported by the Nepal Donation.
Bija! You really did a wonderful job!!! I am filled with gratitude!!!
As I wrote in the previous post, young people in developing countries such as Bija need “work in their own country” if they are to avoid having to go abroad for employment. We are continuing to raise funds not to train good workers and send them to developed countries such as Japan, but to help create an environment where they can remain in their home country and work with us for years to come.
Please continue to support us in this effort!
※ The remaining ¥1,802 after using ¥6,283 of the ¥8,085 total (¥8,085 − ¥6,283 = ¥1,802) will go back into the Ganesha savings box. We have no intention of using it as funds for Hitotsuya.
【Postscript】
At the end of the blog post where we began this Nepal Donation, I wrote, “I want to use the donations to deliver stationery to the primary school in the village where Bija was born and raised. That is our first goal.” I am truly grateful and deeply happy that we were able to achieve it in less than a year.
Having finished raising my own children, I find the simple, mischievous expressions on these children’s faces so endearing that, for some reason, my eyes start to well up. I really am getting old～!
Of course, from here on we will not look only overseas. I want to continue this activity steadily while also paying attention to children in Japan. Alongside natural dyeing, I see this as one of the life’s works of the second chapter of my life. Thank you, as always, for your continued support.