FOR URGENT PRESS RELEASE

July 29, 2005

 

To the Director, Press Agencies

ASHINAGA

 

N.B. The Tsunami orphans will now visit Prime Minister Koizumi on Aug 1, 4:15 pm, at OVAL Office

 

We would like to request the following to be considered for urgent press release:

 

Tsunami Orphans to Visit Prime Minister Koizumi!!

 

 50 Indian Ocean Tsunami Orphans and Other Orphans from 15 Countries to Unite with 1000 Japanese Counterparts at the 6^th ASHINAGA International Summer Camp for Orphans

 

ASHINAGA (President: Yoshiomi Tamai), an organization supporting children who lost their parents to illness, disaster, suicide and other reasons, will host 100 Indian Ocean tsunami and other overseas orphans at a 17-day summer camp starting the end of this month for cultural exchange with ASHINAGA 650 high school and 350 university and college orphans in Japan. The camp will focus on the emotional needs of those orphaned by the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.

Following the opening ceremony on August 1, the overseas orphans will visit Prime Minister Koizumi at his oval office at 4:15 pm.!

ASHINAGA holds annual summer camps for ASHINAGA university scholars at Lake Yamanako (Yamanashi Prefecture) and ASHINAGA high school scholars at their respective youth houses. This year, overseas orphans will join these camps for the first time. In addition to recreational activities and campfires, the participants will be able to join sessions to express their personal loss for mutual understanding. They will bridge boundaries to share their sorrows and support each other.

Since the year of 2000, ASHINAGA has invited overseas children to the ASHINAGA International Summer Camp and this year will be for the 6^th time. This event began as an expression of gratitude for the worldwide support received after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Only Kobe earthquake orphans have joined their overseas counterparts until now. The 5^th summer camp was a growing experience for the Kobe survivors. To spread this experience to other Japanese orphans and to promote further exchange and collaboration between overseas and Japanese children, this year¡Çs camp will be held in several locations throughout Japan.

 

The 6^th ASHINAGA International Summer Camp for Orphans:

Program

 

Date:                July 31 to August 16, 2005 (17 days, 16 nights)

 

Participants:     [100 overseas orphans from 15 countries/regions] ­¡50 Indian Ocean Tsunami orphans from 5 countries/regions, including Indonesia, Banda Aceh and Sri Lanka; ­¢21 earthquake orphans from 6 countries/regions, including Colombia and Turkey; ­£19 orphans from Afghanistan and Iraq (wars), New York (terrorist attacks), and Uganda (AIDS).

                        [1000 Japanese orphans] ­¡350 ASHINAGA university and college scholars from all over Japan; ­¢650 ASHINAGA high school scholars from the Tohoku, Kanto and Kyushu regions (200, 200 and 250, respectively)

 

Program: Aug. 1. Opening ceremonies (National Olympic Memorial Youth Center, Tokyo, 1-3 pm)

      Aug. 1. Visit Prime Minister Koizumi by 100 overseas orphans and others (The Oval Office, 4:15 – 4:30 pm)

                        Aug. 2 – 4.  Annual Summer Camp with Japanese university orphans (Seikei at Lake Yamanaka, Yamanashi Prefecture)

                        Aug. 5 – 8. Camping with Kobe earthquake orphans (Koyodai Camp by Lake Sai, Yamanashi Prefecture)

                        Aug. 9.  AIDS Orphans Conference (Tokyo International Forum, 1 – 3 pm)

                        Aug. 10.  The N.Y., Iraqi, Afghani orphans will join the 60^th Memorial Hiroshima Peace Study Tour (visit the Atomic Bomb Dome, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, A-bomb Victims/Survivors and Hiroshima orphans)

                        Aug. 10 – 13.  Annual Summer Camp with Japanese high-school orphans. Overseas participants will split into 3 groups to join a camp in one of the following 3 regions:

­¡ Tohoku Region (Mt. Iwate Youth House, Iwate Prefecture)

­¢ Kanto Region (Akagi Youth House, Gunma Prefecture)

­£ Kyushu Region (Aso Youth House, Kumamoto Prefecture)

Aug. 14.  The 16-nation International Children¡Çs Conference, (Hosei University, Tokyo, 2 pm)

 

Contact:           ASHINAGA (Contact: Mr. Tanaka, e-mail: tanaka@ashinaga.org)

                        1-6-8 Hirakawa, Chiyoda, Tokyo, JAPAN 102-8639

      Tel: 03-3221-0888 Fax: 03-3221-7676 URL: www.ashinaga.org