Camp, Me 　and YMCA

Hirohide Nagayoshi

Former President !of Osaka University !of Health and Sports Sciences!Vice‐president !of Japan Outdoor Education Society

10 years ago, I started taking kids for a 150 km “hiking camp.” We hike along the old Sabakaido Road from Mikata cho, Fukui prefecture to Takatsuki city. We walk through nature – beautiful clear streams and virgin forests. At Hatcho Keikoku, everyone plays in the crystal-clear stream; the kids’ games always start with simple things like splashing water on each other, then they get more adventurous and begin diving from cliffs, the kids find sticks to make simple fishing rods, then they begin using those to try to catch fish. The children forget their fears and excitedly climb higher and higher as they watch their peers climb higher and dive. As the hike intensifies, children begin complaining and say that they need to rest by getting a ride. But it is the endurance of the others who are walking that gives them the motivation to keep on, even if they have to slow down. At the start, the children are often a disjointed group, unable to even cooperatively put up a tent, but as the days progress, the younger children begin to look up to the leadership of the older ones and they begin to tackle projects with maturity and cooperation.The main objective of this camp is to ‘learn through experience.’ Comenius, the father of modern education says, “in order to understand what is in a child, a child needs to be given the opportunity to use his / her senses to see, hear, touch and interact with things and events. After the practical experience of interaction, children then need to be challenged with “why” questions – “why is this like this”, “why does this happen?” Then they will begin to replace the rational processes with reasonable concepts. This is called ‘development of recognition’. As children learn to process things in this way, they will mature in a healthy manner and training them to become citizens who will benefit our society. Children need to create a sense of community and find ways to be helpful – but they will only find this by doing activities together, bumping into each other and helping each other. This is how they grow. They need an environment conducive for this and that is the main purpose for this camp.Good camp staff and leaders can create a place for children to really grow. Rokko YMCA first opened for campers in 1920 and it is seen as the leader of all camps in Japan. It is a wonderful place for growing – children learn from their experiences with nature, they learn from struggles with friends, from adventures and battles – all these lead to growth and maturity. I have been a part of the YMCA for about 40 years. In 1980, as part of the teaching staff at Osaka YMCA, we used the camp facilities to hold physical education leadership seminars where I was one of the instructors.We have received a great amount of support for new activities begun in 1990 – recreational support for dementia patients, seniors camps and preventive care support activities. For me, this all started when I went to the United States and studied environmental education for 2 years and participated in a camp study research group in 1984. Then I met people like Mr. Sakai and teachers from the Kobe YMCA and I have learned the importance of group work and the power of a camp to draw out what is in a child that will help them to grow and mature. Ever since, YMCA campers have been the ones who have been teaching me! At the time I became the Osaka Health and Sports Sciences Camp director in 1991, all the camps had taken place in the mountains, but we changed the camp location to Osaka YMCA Anan Sea Camp. YMCA camp philosophy, which is a practical education, is reflected in every area – the staff leadership, the programs, and the administration. And now summer is upon us – the season for camps! Wouldn’t you like to give the gift of “camping” to your child this year?

Osaka SEIN

EN

Newsletter

Come to YMCA Mt. Rokko Global Village Camp!Rokko YMCA was established as a campsite in 1951 in a beautiful mountain setting just 1-hour from the busy metropolis of Osaka. Many campers have visited Rokko YMCA over the years and have enjoyed a wonderful respite from city life where they can take in the beauty of nature, hear the song of the birds and the sound of the wind. As of right now, Mr. and Mrs. Rodosovich, staff members of Minneapolis YMCA, are at Rokko YMCA preparing for the upcoming Global Village Camp, the next camp to be hosted at the facility. This is a camp led by YMCA leaders from around the world who want to help young people get a better understanding of the world as they participate in various activities. Rokko will become a small globe and each camper will belong to the global village as a young villager. In addition to the Rodosoviches, YMCA staff members from Honolulu YMCA, San Francisco YMCA, Seoul YMCA, and Asian university students who belong to ICCPO (International Camp Counselor in Osaka, a program which trains camp counselors) will staff this camp. Campers will belong to small groups led by these leaders where they will have intercultural communication opportunities and make new friends from different cultures as they go canoeing, take part in nature studies, cook outdoors and enjoy campfires. Campers will see their world in a new way and will have their global perspective will be broadened.Let’s experience the world together in Rokko this summer!

Kyuhei Seike, Deputy Director of Mt. Rokko YMCA

Mt. Rokko Global YY VillagePeter Rodosovich/ Connie Rodosovich, Village Director

This summer over 40 fortunate Japanese youth will have the opportunity to participate in a global village right here in Japan at YMCA Mount Rokko. Earlier this year, the Osaka YMCA invited two retired YMCA employees from the United States, three international interns from Hawaii and California and five international camp counselors from Hong Kong and Korea to create an International Global Village Adventure Camp for 9 - 12 year old Japanese youth. Peter and Connie Rodosovich, who worked for the YMCA of Metropolitan Minneapolis for over 30 years, agreed to spend their first summer of retirement together helping the Osaka YMCA create the YMCA Mount Rokko pilot Global Village Camp. Connie Rodosovich served for over a decade as the General Manager of four overnight camps in Minnesota. Peter Rodosovich was the Chief Development Officer and spent years leading youth leadership development programs and training young adult leaders at the University YMCA.The YMCA Mount Rokko Global Village Adventure Camp will offer two sessions this summer: Session 1 will be conducted August 2 - 5, 2014 and Session 2 will be conducted August 6 - 9, 2014. Japanese youth will be led by international camp staff and be part of small and large group activities. International themes, global games, adventure activities, and nature hikes and studies will be part of each four day experience. In addition to the Global Village Camp pilot, the Rodosovich’s will assist staff and volunteers with a program and facility assessment that will ultimately lead to the transformation of YMCA Mount Rokko into the premier place in Asia to develop youth leaders with a global perspective, strengthen intercultural communication, and emphasize common understanding between people from different places. YMCA Mount Rokko has a long history of providing meaningful learning experiences and trainings for youth of all ages.

“Lee-dah, lee-dah, oh-kee-te!” (Leader, leader, wake up!) I awakened to the voices of children. My first experience as a group leader was at YMCA Camp Anan, August 2013. I was a group leader for 6 girls during the 7-day camp; we enjoyed the days yachting, canoeing, kayaking, snorkeling and participating in other marine sports.Each night before going to sleep, we looked over the following day’s schedule and I made sure everyone knew what time to wake up. But there was one child who said to me, “I will be awake before you!” And sure enough, each day she woke me up 30 minutes before the actual wake up time. I told her, “You can stay asleep until I waken you.” To which she replied, “I am the child leader and it is my job to wake everyone up.” Campers in each group had responsibilities to fulfill. As I watched this girl fulfill her duty with such determination, I realized that this was an opportunity for campers to develop assertiveness while learning cooperation.On the last day of camp, I asked the girls what they liked best about camp, I noticed one girl became quiet and looked very serious so I asked her if she had a bad time at camp. Then she replied, “No, that is not the case. Everything was fun – going for a bath, playing, sleeping, everything was fun so I can not choose just one thing that was BEST.” My heart was touched and I realized the value of camp. Staying with a group of people that you have only just met is a very new experience and really it is not so difficult. But in a small group, members need to learn to trust each other and here is where they learn to look out for others. By participating in camps, I have seen many smiles. Camps overflow with smiles. This is doing camp YMCA style. As aYMCA Camp Anan leader and as a YMCA leader, I am going to keep making people smile.

YMCA Camp Anan Youth leader Uemura Saori (“Maru Leader”)

How I See the ChildrenI believe that it is the small group activities that make YMCA camps special. It all starts when children who don’t know each other learn each other’s names and begin calling out to them. As they live in their groups, they gradually become friends, they cooperate naturally and the distance between them disappears as their relationships deepen. Naturally, there are bumps in the road – the children don’t see eye to eye with their group mates all the time. These disagreements are important, I feel. When a child learns of his friend’s thoughts, this is a chance for new ideas and new possibilities to emerge. I think that this kind of interaction happens only because all the campers are divided into small groups. This allows children to see the other campers as friends, and together they find many ways to have fun. This is what makes YMCA camps special. Children learn much from their interactions with friends and leaders as they participate in outdoor activities together - things that they would not normally do, activities like cooking rice over a fire and preparing their sleeping areas. I can see how these activities give the children a taste of how convenient their regular lives are and that they have much to thank their parents for. Kids learn the need for friends and they begin to trust each other. I believe that these experiences help children grow. It is good to watch children use their 5 senses to interact with nature as they participate in various activities. Through this, children learn the importance of our environment and interacting with nature. I can’t help but smile as I watch the children participate in camp and see how they mature throughout their stay at camp. As the campers spend 24 hours a day with their group mates, they begin to place more value on each other – they begin to care more about their new friends. They think together and have fun together! We have fun organizing and carrying out meaningful camps. Through participation in camps, children learn the joy of living with others, and they find joy in their new-found friendships. My desire is that these children will grow up to be people who are thankful and find thankfulness an important human characteristic.

Minami YMCA Youth Leader Yuki Iida (“Yukki Leader”)

Osaka YMCA Anniversary Worship ServiceOsaka YMCA member Tokio Okuda

June 7 (Sat.), Osaka YMCA celebrated its 132nd year anniversary. In celebration, over 100 people gathered in the 10th floor chapel to have a worship service and be reminded of Osaka YMCA’s history. This year, Pastor Hisashi Okamura, senior pastor of Osaka Church, encouraged us with his sermon titled: Ask and it will be given unto you. As the YMCA takes a new step forward as a ‘public interest incorporated foundation’, this message taken from the Gospel of Matthew (Bible) 7:7-12 seemed very appropriate as we are seeking direction now about how to move

forward. As part of the YMCA, the largest youth development organization in the world, we endeavor to conduct activities to nurture the idea of “cooperative living” within our communities in the spirit modeled by Jesus Christ – a life of love and service. An offering was collected for the Great East Japan Earthquake assistance, a cause the Osaka YMCA continues to support. I would like to show special appreciation for those who helped make this program a success: Yaeko Hayashi – flower arrangement, Osaka YMCA activity committee – reception and offering, Yasuo Irie (member of the activity committee) – MC, Tomomi Kobayashi – music. Thank you to all YMCA staff who helped. Everyone enjoyed the informal reception time at the end of the program.

Volunteer ActivitiesI Want to Make Them Smile

YMCA Camps From the Perspective of an Outdoor Leader

Healthy Enjoyment of Food

The children at the Awaza YMCA Day Care Center are growing a variety of seasonal vegetables in planter boxes with me. Up to now, we have grown familiar vegetables like tomatoes, eggplant, okra, green pepper, and cucumbers. Though our space is limited, I feel it is a good experience for children to see how the food they eat grows. I desire to have the children see how our food is truly a blessing from God, so in May, we planted mini-tomatoes and sweet potatoes. The tomatoes have been growing delightfully well! Eagerly waiting for the day of harvest, the children check on the plants everyday. Before going out for their daily walk, the kids go touch the leaves and the fruit, then they water the plants with the teacher and pray that God will help the plants to grow big. When the tomatoes are ready to be picked, everyone will help and give them to the kitchen staff that will then prepare them for lunch. The children and staff always have fun eating the harvested vegetables together and make

comments like “we grew these!” and “these taste so good!”The stage of life when young children are first introduced to various foods is so important. Hopefully, through the experience of growing vegetables, these children will have a deeper interest in food and find enjoyment in eating. Children at Awaza Day Care Center love to eat. I hope this experience will help them develop a healthy attitude toward food and eating. I hope it will encourage good eating habits, making it easy and enjoyable for them to try new foods too.

During the summer, we tend to participate in more outdoor activities than we do at other times of the year. With this in mind, Osaka YMCA designates July 18th, each year, as “Safety Day”. We have a campaign to encourage people to think about safety – for themselves and for others. !Everyday, we face many dangerous situations, but unfortunately, we get so accustomed to them that we begin to overlook them. At times, disasters occur when people are being careful – sometimes the injury is small, but other times, precious lives are lost. !We only get one chance to live, so we want to remind you to guard your life and the

lives of those around you as you live with the values that the YMCA holds to – thoughtfulness, honesty, respect and responsibility. With this in mind, we keep “Safety Day” on our calendars each year as a reminder to be alert and to make every effort to be safe. Hopefully this will also give you a chance to talk about safety with family and friends. !As the heat of summer comes upon us, let’s be careful about our health and safety. Let’s make it a sweet meaningful summer!

Kanako Nagano, the YMCA Awaza Day Care Center, Dietitian

“Shokuiku” FOOD EDUCATION

Osaka YMCA

Safety Day

Let’s Support Osaka YMCA Youth Leader Training Osaka YMCA supports the training of youth leaders. We are collecting

donations for youth leader training. Please consider making a contribution. Donation amount: ¥1,000

Collection period: July 1 (Tues.) ~ August 31 (Sun.) Reception: All YMCAs