[Refugee and Displaced Persons Life Support] Getting to Know the "People and Families" of That Country. Even if the Distance from Japan Is Far, You Can Think of Them as Close and Feel a Stronger Connection. (Volunteer Experience)

Mr. Higashi has been supporting the children of Ukrainian refugee families through Japanese language learning for two years, starting shortly after their arrival in Japan.

　The refugee and displaced persons support provided by JII aims to enable refugees and displaced persons to live independently in Japan over the medium to long term.
We form teams with Otonari-san registered in the OFP to provide support.
We are implementing a new approach to supporting refugees and displaced persons by leveraging the unique experiences and skills of everyday individuals to directly assist them in their daily lives.

　This time, we spoke with Mr. Higashi, who is active as an Otonari-san while also providing language support for the daily lives of Ukrainian refugee families.

How did you come to know about JII?

I usually work as a university faculty member, primarily researching the Southeast Asian region.
Also, my husband is a foreigner, and I often get asked by his friends to translate or consult about administrative procedures, so I naturally became interested in volunteering to support Japanese language learning. I am registered as a volunteer with other organizations, but there were periods when I couldn’t participate much due to work commitments. With the COVID-19 pandemic overlapping, I searched online for something I could do near my home and happened to find JII.

The invasion of Ukraine occurred in February 2022, but...

Yes, a family from Ukraine sought refuge in Japan in August 2022.
At that time, the JII office was recruiting volunteers for life support, such as shopping for daily necessities, and Japanese language support to teach Japanese. I raised my hand to volunteer for Japanese language support, saying, "If I can help..." That was the trigger for me to become involved in supporting the refugee family.

How did you advance Japanese language support?

At that time, I was tasked with teaching a 7-year-old, and it was quite a learning experience for me. I created slides to help them learn greetings and hiragana, incorporating gestures and movements, and we met online once a week. In addition to my own materials, I also utilized Japanese language learning texts from other organizations where I volunteer, and I continue to support their learning even now.

　I focused on adapting the example sentences from the text to make them as relatable as possible. I also remember that the topic of "I like/dislike ___" seemed easy to understand, which led to lively conversations.

Wasn't it challenging to maintain motivation for long-term Japanese language support?

If we had continued creating materials like we did at the beginning, it might have been quite challenging. However, having usable teaching materials allowed us to progress in our learning by effectively combining them, which was a great advantage.
While I believe that in-person learning is better for students, I feel that being able to progress at my own comfortable pace online has also been a key factor in my ability to continue.

What were the challenges you faced during this support?

She (a 7-year-old at the time) started with no understanding of Japanese, and since I don't speak Russian either, there was a frustrating situation of not knowing what we didn't understand. Nevertheless, we gradually made progress by using translation tools and showing illustrations to check comprehension. I believe this highlights the benefits of one-on-one interaction, as opposed to group classes in a classroom setting.

　It was really great to have existing texts available. By utilizing these texts, there's no need to prepare everything from scratch, which I believe lowers the barrier for those considering starting as Japanese language support volunteers.
I feel that it would be even better if we could provide support for learning in Japanese in the future.

　Now that she is attending a Japanese elementary school, I believe she has homework such as reading aloud assigned from school. However, since her parents do not fully understand Japanese, having support in this area could help her adapt more smoothly to school life in Japan.

Please share your feedback on the overall Japanese language support.

I can definitely feel my understanding of Japanese improving, and overall, it's a lot of fun. I find myself learning as I experiment with different ways to communicate clearly, asking myself, 'How can I express this in a way that's easy to understand?'

　In this case, regarding Ukraine, I believe that knowing about the people and families of that country allows us to feel a closer connection, even from a distance as far away as Japan.

Thank you, Mr. Higashi, for taking the time to participate in the interview despite your busy schedule!
Thank you for your continued support.