FISJ – A Proposal

SUBPROJECT 1:  

SHIEN COOP DAYCARE (PLAYGROUP – PILOT PHASE)

“Ito ay isang innovative project ng OFW Shien Cooperative para matulungan ang mga magulang na may mga tungkulin o trabahong dapat gampanan o nag-aaral at kailangan nila ng suporta para maalagaan ang kanilang mga anak na maliliit pa.”

PROJECT FEATURES:

• Target Start: EARLIEST IN APRIL 2007
• Daily child care (Monday to Friday)
• Location at Shirokanedai
• Parent-participative by rotation
• Full child care or Hourly child care
• Support by donation

• Activities include:
action games
sensory exploration
art and imagination
diapers and toilet training
group singing, dancing, acting

“Kailangan ng suporta ng bawat magulang para magtuloy-tuloy ang proyektong ito at maging susi para matibay ang support network sa ating komunidad sa bansang Hapon.”

SUBPROJECT 2:  

WEEKEND SCHOOL – ENGLISH & FILIPINO VALUES EDUCATION 

THEY ARE DOUBLE, NOT HALF!!! MAKE EVERY JAPANESE-FILIPINO CHILD BRIGHTER,  SMARTER AND HAPPIER.”

“Your cooperation as Filipino parents is very important for the success of this educational project for Filipino youth living in Japan.  This is one way for JFCs to understand the DOUBLE ADVANTAGE of being Japanese-Filipinos.”

Here in Japan, it’s a pity that there are so many Filipinos but we don’t have our own international school.  Why do Indians, Taiwanese, Brazilians, Chinese, Koreans, Indonesians have their own school in Japan?  Also, how come there are overseas Filipino schools in countries like Greece, China, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Libya, Oman and Bahrain?  Those are big questions imposing 2 big challenges ahead for all of us who are concerned about the future of our children in Japan.
With the permission of our St. Anselm’s church parish priest, Fr. Leo Schumacher , we are pleased to present a program called

KABAYAN ORIENTATION – A WEEKEND SCHOOL
FOR FILIPINO MIGRANT CHILDREN IN TOKYO

This FREE program is a weekend bicultural school project for all Japanese-Filipino children in Tokyo and its main targets are:
* To raise consciousness to Japanese-Filipino children and parents that there is Japanese-Filipino Identity and to help them build up its advantages;
* To impart learning of English and Filipino as second languages of Japanese-Filipino children;
* To provide a learning experience of Filipino values and cultural heritage of the Philippines

Who are qualified to join?
* Children with Japanese and Filipino parents;
* Children with Filipino parents who are working in Japan

The program is more of an experience for JFCs to play because “play is the work of children” and this was once said by Jean Piaget, a psychologist.  It is in this activity when children learn how to do things, how to make things work and how to manage their own worlds.  In this line, we incorporate the appreciation of a bicultural heritage and the advantage of having a Japanese-Filipino identity.

This project will be launched after getting a sufficient no. of participants from all age groups:

Group 1:  3yrs old and below
Group 2:  4-7yrs old
Group 3:  8-11yrs old
Group 4:  12yrs old and above

Schedule is 2-4PM on a Sunday. COME AND JOIN US AND DISCOVER THE DIFFERENCE FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE AHEAD FOR OUR CHILDREN IN JAPAN…

For reservations and particulars, please e-mail Leni at llenigy@yahoo.com or Tonette at tpmovers@gmail.com or Derlie at ibmateo@yahoo.com.

Mga Kapatid, if we’ll think long-term, kung may Filipino school tayo sa Japan, solved na solved na ang ganitong problema.  Up to now, isang drawing pa lang ang ideyang ito kasi kailangan ng inyong tulong.  Maaaring mangyari ito next week o next month din… it’s a matter of helping each other to make it happen.  Anyway, long-term approach natin ito.  Hope we could believe in 3 things that could work for us to make this happen because these factors were the ingredients of success in countries like Kuwait, Saudi, UAE, Oman, Greece, China, Bahrain, Qatar where we have Filipino schools:

1. TRUSTWORTHINESS

2. PERSEVERANCE

3. UNITY

and MATURITY dahil common sense ang bagay na ito at pag dumatin na ang problema at saka natin ipipilit na buuin na… why not prepare ahead of time right?

Kasi di puwedeng isa lang ang mag-iisip tapos siya rin ang magi-explain at siya rin ang magpaplano.  Dapat lahat ng concerned, sumali.  Sa solusyong ganito, KUNG MARAMI TAYO, MADALING GAWIN.  Kung ilan lang tayo, di natin kaya.

Pls do something to make this project happen.  OK Assignment… sino sa inyo ang may alam na lugar o may sariling lugar na puwedeng gawing Filipino school?

Di kaya ng 1 o 2 tao lang ang ganitong proyekto… mangunguna rito na solusyon iyung pagsali ng mga kapwa-Pinoy at Pinay ng kanilang mga anak sa idea.  Otherwise, darating at darating ang mga ganitong problema (DO WE REALLY CARE o hayaan na lang nating tumakbo ang panahon at magulat tayo sa naproduce nating bata na dapat ay anak natin ay naging ibang tao pala):

1. tulad ng binanggit ni Mr. Kuripot na naguguluhan siya kung saan dapat pag-aaralin – it’s an actual dilemna of all Filipino parents in Japan who are staying in Japan to work or live with their spouses to build and grow with the family

2. potential bullying ng mga anak natin dahil sa ibang kultura na sana’y bantayan natin

3. pag-aaral ng ating mga anak na hindi natin maintindihan 100%

4. lalabong identity ng mga anak natin dahil di nila alam kung sila ay Hapon o Pinoy na naging Hapon o Hapong may pagka-Pinoy etc – identity crisis ang tawag dito

5. ano ba talaga ang dapat kong gamiting salita – Tagalog, Ingles o Hapon – saan ba ako lulugar – eto ang isang dilemna ng mga kabataang Pinoy rito sa Japan

For short term solutions, pag-aaral sa isang International School pero di practical sa marami dahil napakamahal ng tuition.  You know we could level the parenting kinds that we have in Japan… some of them are successful although priority-setting and consistencies are problems. Dahil na rin siguro sa “kailangang magtrabaho para may maipadala sa Pinas” tendencies natin. So may pagka-ningas cogon tendency natin at bahala na attitude.  Sa umpisa ok, susundan ang pag-aaral ng anak tapos pag nakitang walang problema isa o dalawang buwan, iiwan na ang pag-aaral ng anak na mag-isa.  True or false?

Iyung ibang kakilala ko, nagpapaaral sila sa isang Japanese school pero binabantayan nila ang kanilang anak sa mga unang pasok nito at tuwing may pagkakataon.  So full time school parenting ang nanay at si tatay lang ang nagtatrabaho. For few cases, it is working… but most of the time, may language barrier issues dahil ang ina kahit marunong mag-Nihongo, di nasanay sa education culture ng mga Hapon… iyung iba, nagtitiyagang mag-aral kasama ang anak at nakiki-socialize sa mga Hapon para maiwasan ang bullying o discrimination ng kanilang mga anak.

Ok nasa short-term analysis tayo, Mr. Kuripot and folks… sa iba naman, ganito ang setup.  Nihongo sa school, Ingles at Filipino sa loob at labas ng bahay.  This way, nagiging multilingual daw ang kanilang mga anak.  Pero di casual conversation lamang dahil ang iba, pinag-aaral nila sa English school ang kanilang mga anak pag weekend o may private tutor.

Iyung iba, they try to enrol their kids in the cheapest International schools…pag kindergarten to primary, mura pa iyan at siguro di pa aabot ng 1 million pero pagdating na ng bata sa high school, papag-aralin na sa Pinas.  Naku, nasisira ang buhay ng mga bata pag ganito puwera na lang kung pag-aaralin sa International School din sa Pinas pero pls take note na iba ang lifestyle sa Pinas at Japan.  Di naiisip ng iba ito but of course, observer lang po tayo… Iyung iba, hanggang high school, tapos American kid ang napapalaki nila kaya kung papabalikin sa Pinas, baka lalong ma-bully at maglakwatsa at ma-bore lang kaya pinag-iipunan para mapagpaaral sa US ng college pero napakamahal talaga naman ng tuition.

Iyung iba, the moment na may problemang na-encounter ang kanilang mga anak, pauuwiin na lang sa Pinas at bahala na ang mga lolo at lola o auntie at tiyo na magbantay.  Tatawagan na lang daw nila araw-araw ang mga bata para mapagsabihan.  How easy for now? Right?  But we should not forget that child rearing and skills-honing are in the early stages.  So the best solution is still to have your children grow with you.  At pag sigurado na tayo na sanay na at may values na silang natutunan mula sa atin (so paano  pag wala tayong values – patay kang bata ka), eto ang panahon para hayaan natin silang mag-choose.

The final solution is a cross examination of the environment and priorities of you and your wife and the influential people around you.  Pls examine vertically and horizontally… across timelines and factors that will affect the life of your child, your life and your famｌily. Ano ang mapapabuti at makakatulong para sa paglaki ng bata? I would insist sa tabi ninyo siya kahit saan kayo naroon. Then you start thinking of a solution that is one step at a time.  Halimbawa, “Ok hon, pag-aralin natin siya sa isang Japanese school pero suriin natin ang school, ang mga guro nito at concern ng mga ito sa gaikoku-jin… bisitahin natin ang iskuwela at makipagkaibigan tayo.” This way di lang ninyo basta ipapasok ang inyong anak at di kilala ang environment na pag-aaralan niya. Tapos, pag nag-umpisa na siya, pls learn with him/her. Understand his/her environment… may problema ba siya… masaya ba siya?

Eto naman po ay mga sharing ko lamang basi na rin sa mga napagdaanang pamilyang nakasalamuha ko na at mula sa mga nababasang statistics at pedagogical materials.  You might ask me…may anak ka na ba?  Hehe!  Ako po ay wala pang anak pero matagal na akong nag-aaral ng Filipino psychology pati Japanese psychology at nag-iisip ng mga pamamaraan paano magiging ganap na advantage ang pagiging Japino.  I had dealt with a lot of cases on child rearing in Japan… discussions, counseling etc.  Kasi pag Japino, para sa akin, either anak ng Pinoy at Hapon o isang Pinoy na bata na parehong Pinoy ang magulang pero dito na nakatira.

Well, sana nakatulong ito..

————-

By the way, kung may time kayo, please attend the Coop Seminar on Nov 26 at Meguro Church. Hope to see you there 2-6PM. That is one way to network with each other and help our community understand approaches on how our future could be better. Hope you can PM if you want to reserve. Thanks. Pls check out our BLOG at http://ofwshien.wordpress.com . Indeed, a cooperative solution is another way to have TRUST, PERSEVERANCE and UNITY as well as MATURITY to make this Filipino school happen. 

This is really interesting from Paul of Doha, Qatar about FISJ Challenge:

“ehehe… i’m a student from Philippine school doha in Qatar! bale yung skul nmen ay tinayo lng ng mga ofw sa qatar. Meron kasing unity at cooperation ang mga pinoy hir. they went through a lot of challenges kaya sila nakatayo ng skul d2. naitaguyod ang skul nung panahon na konti plng ang mga pinoy sa qatar. i heard na may nakulong pang founder dahil sa pagtataguyod ng skul “

- Received as a BLOG comment and thus if we’ll help one another, we’ll be able to build our own school in Japan and the one in Qatar is the example.  If OFWs in Qatar did it, why can’t we OFWs in Japan? 

*Comment ni Gng. Edith Ishikawa, Ichikawa-shi, Chiba tungkol sa FISJ Project para sa Filipino Community sa Japan

Dahil sa mga hapon ang mga anak ko, hindi ko ipagkakait sa kanila ang oportunidad na tumira dito at matuntunan ang kanilang kulturang Hapon pagdating ng araw, sabihin nang sa high school age man lamang nila. Pinag-aral namin sila ng husband ko sa Pilipinas dahil iyon ang kaya kong i-manage na lifestyle (can’t stand domestic life in Japan)at dahil na rin sa mas gusto namin ang International orientation para sa kanila, hindi lang puro japanese culture. Ang isa pang dahilan sa parte ko ay ang catholic at Filipino upbringing na mas gusto kong manaig sa pagkatao nila, hoping that they will turn into smart and sensible young adults who can handle the challenges of their dual identity. Kung darating ang panahon na dapat na nilang pag-aralan ang pagka-hapon nila, makakatulong ang isang transitional educational system na kagaya ng proyekto na ito. Siyempre, bukod pa rin iyon sa mga paghahandang gagawin naming mga magulang nila habang nasa Pilipinas pa sila.Kung nagawa ng mga Indonesian, Brazilian, at Hindu ang magkaroon ng sariling eskuwelahan ay kaya din natin ito, despite the fact na tayong mga Pilipino ay kadalasan mahilig mag- “rock-the-boat” (mangligalig), mag-hantai suru (kumontra) sa mga taong marunong mangarap. We can succeed with enough will power, at kung mas papanaigin lang natin ang “bayanihan spirit” kaysa sa “crab mentality”. At yun mga comment naman, they can be expressed in objective manner para maging kapaki-pakinabang.

I suggest we include nursery, kindergarten and after school program in the project. 

Also I think that rather than waiting for everybody to respond, or completing the goal number of respondents ,why not start now  with a model class. A class of 10 kids would do starting from the younger ones,i.e. one nursery class, one kinder class and one grade one class.That way the curriculum, the management,and others can be developed along the way without so much pressure. It will not be perfect at first so with a small number of students, adjustments will not be a very big issue.

Also if we start with the nursery class, parents will not feel that they are taking much risk as nursery students will be mostly educational play and nothing so academic; just being used to be in school and learning good manners and getting along with others. Unlike if you will pull kids out from their existing schools where they are already learning academics and have set routines. 

The nursery students this year will be the kindergarten students the following year and so on and so forth adding a grade level each year. 4 years had past since the survey was started. The children of some of the parents that filled up the survey in its earlier stage must have graduated by now. If it was started then, we have 3rd graders now. 

I am willing to volunteer in this project as it has a noble cause, I hope that I had known earlier that such a project exist. I know Filipinos can do it. Mabuhay! 

Kind regards. 

Priscila Miranda Akahori
Tokyo

FISJ is more of an experience for JFCs to play because "play is the work of children" and this was once said by Jean Piaget, a psychologist.  It is in this activity when children learn how to do things, how to make things work and how to manage their own worlds.  In this line, we incorporate the appreciation of a bicultural heritage and the advantage of having a Japanese-Filipino identity.

We have to make every Japanese-Filipino child (JFC) brighter, smarter and proud of his/her bicultural heritage.  This way, having this identity is an advantage for the JFC.

Do you want to help this project?  Please email tpmovers@gmail.com .  Thank you very much.

Mula sa creative concept nito, ilan sa mga kahalagahang ito ay

-Empowerment ng bawat magulang ng JFC o migranteng magulang na nasa Japan
-Bayanihan para sa JFC o Japanese-Filipino children identity
-Dagdag na trabaho para sa nakararami kung may sariling restaurant, canteen, bookstore o cooperative itong mabubuo
-Bicultural orientation vs. monocultural orientation
-new Filipino image-formation
etc etc

Practice ng pagsusulat ng Kanji （漢字) para maka-catchup sa mga lesson sa isang public school…  enjoy naman si onesan sa pagsusulat dahil parang nagdo-drawing lang siya ng mga Kanji na ito.  Sa karamihan, pagkatapos ng 1 taon, madaling nakakasabay ang mga Pinoy na batang namulatan ang abakada o ABC.  Ang galing ng mga batang Pinoy!  Mabilis silang matuto.  Mabilis din nilang makalimutan ang kulturang Pinoy.  Eto ay isang problema dahil sila ay mga Pilipino at dapat bicultural ang kanilang orientation.  Sa bagay na ito, makatutulong ang isang Filipino International School in Japan (FISJ).

More about the project at  http://www.fil-school-japan.net .

May online survey po tayo para marami tayong data na makuha para sa ating FISJ project.  Suportahan po natin ang survey na ito na nasa:
http://www.tpmovers.org/filschool_japan.htm

Let us spread the word about FISJ! 

Kabayan:

Sa planong FISJ – Filipino International School in Japan… wait and see attitude ang karamihan.  Pero mas marami pa tayong makukunan ng suporta. Mag-uunahan sila pag nandiyan na iyung iskuwela tiyak.

By the way, very positive ang suporta ng CFO-Philippine School Overseas Committee tungkol sa project natin.  May 39 international Filipino schools na pala sa buong mundo.  Sana maging 40th tayo naku sana po sa tulong ng marami!

Also, nasa KMC, Philippine Digest at Silangan Shimbun na tayo. May mga tumutulong na sa atin sa pagkakalat ng balita at paghahanap ng mga susuporta rin sa Miyagi-en, Gifu-ken, Gunma-ken, Yamanashi-ken, Osaka at Hokkaido. Magandang plano kung magsabay-sabay ang pagbuo ng school sa bawat ken o prefecture sana.  Yes, kumakalat na ang balita.

More about the project at  http://www.fil-school-japan.net .

Puwede ring mag-reply sa online form na nasa
http://www.tpmovers.org/filschool_japan.htm .

Napakahalaga ng survey form na ito dahil awareness tool ito di lang para malaman kung ilan ang puwedeng mag-aral kundi sila mismo na interesadong mga magulang, ang sasagot sa survey na ito.  Very effective dahil may nakalakip na istorya kung bakit natin kailangan ang FISJ.  Mula sa creative concept nito, ilan sa mga kahalagahang ito ay

-Empowerment ng bawat magulang ng JFC o migranteng magulang na nasa Japan
-Bayanihan para sa JFC o Japanese-Filipino children identity
-Dagdag na trabaho para sa nakararami kung may sariling restaurant,
canteen, bookstore o cooperative itong mabubuo
-Bicultural orientation vs. monocultural orientation
-new Filipino image-formation
etc etc

Crucial dito iyung curriculum development, location, strategic investment tactics para sa fundraising at budget proposal para sa unang taon ng mabubuong iskuwela kasama ang maintenance at development stages nito sa susunod na mga taon…  this is a total
enterprise to be managed by a trustworthy team.

Sana’y matulungan ninyo ang project na makahanap pa ng mas maraming susuporta. Mga 100 siguradong estudyante ng iskuwelang ito ay malaking bagay para makapag-umpisa tayo. Pls help us spread the word around. Puwede akong magpadala sa iyo ng mga survey form para maikalat sa inyong mga kaibigan. Let me know the address to send these forms.  Pakisulat na lang sa tpmovers@gmail.com .

Maraming salamat muli.

Tiwala, tiyaga at sipag lang ang formula para matuloy ito,
Tonette Binsol
FISJ Project Mover
http://fisj.wordpress.com – BLOG