Article Coverage: Japan, Philippines (NISVA's actual range of activity spans all of South East Asia)

(Translated and adapted from the Japanese by James Huffman.

“It’s hard for senior citizens born and raised in Japan and brought up in Japanese culture to live as volunteers overseas.” These forthright words were spoken by Akira Futagoishi (72), who helps senior citizens in the Philippines as a representative of the Nippon Skilled Volunteers Association (NISVA). NISVA sends senior volunteers with a wide variety of backgrounds and work experience to developing countries in Asia. Futagoishi, briefly returned to Japan from the Philippines in July, where he was reunited at the NISVA Tokyo office with Kumiko Morino (55) from Shizuoka Prefecture. Morino had just returned this past May after a one-year stint as a volunteer. The two discussed their experiences in the Philippines.

Futagoishi was born in 1937 in Dalian, China. After evacuating to Japan, he was raised in Kumamoto. Following work in the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, he entered divinity school, with the goal of becoming a minister. These plans were disrupted by illness and a three-year convalescence. Later, he worked at a foreign-based company, and in 1985 he became active in various YMCA activities. In 1996, based on his experiences, he established the Caring for the Future Foundation - Japan (CFF), a nonprofit whose goals include contributing to sound childrearing. The following year, he established the Caring for the Future Foundation - Philippines (CFF Philippines), which operates a home for street children and children from underprivileged families in the Philippine province of Pangasinan. Children at the home live there while attending public school. NISVA has dispatched a number of senior volunteers to CFF Philippines. Since April 2008, Futagoishi has served as a NISVA representative in the Philippines.

Ms. Morino washes the hair of a child

"Everyone has a different reaction, different concerns,” says Futagoishi of the volunteers he has worked with. “Some worry about living in another culture after spending their entire lives in Japanese culture. Some are energized by the experience and are able to overcome these differences; others can’t.” One volunteer was Morino, a former nurse. Leaving behind her husband Masayoshi, a Japan Railways employee, Morino took on the job of supervising health education for children at the CFF facility. Starting last June, she taught the children how to wash their hands, gargle, and take delousing measures. She also provided health guidance for nearby residents. “We got a second chance to consider what it means to be part of a family,” she says, reflecting on her year in the Philippines.

Futagoishi has recently posted a report on the NISVA blog, entitled “Understanding other cultures” (in Japanese). Typically, he says, senior volunteers experience four kinds of culture shock: dietary shock; the shock of differences in managing time; religious shock; and shock about the general differences in everyday life. Nevertheless, he is enthusiastic about his senior volunteers. “By overcoming these various culture shocks in the Philippines, volunteers discover new things about themselves,” he said.