November Projects：“Ｍａｓａｙａ Ａｋｏ”

November Projects：“Ｍａｓａｙａ Ａｋｏ”
Prepared by: K Furukawa
Offering Condolences to Volunteer Mr. Adachi
Mr. Takezo Adachi, a Japanese Chef - 72 years old, has passed away while I was in Negros
Oriental.
He was one of those who joined me in the Tatami Project execution in Miyagi
Province last September 2011 to help the Tsunami refugee with the funds sent from the
children of Negros Oriental and good people of the Philippines.
Mr. Adachi was ready to
join me for our first project in May at Manghulyawon Elementary School, but he was
forced to hospitalize himself just few days before the date.
He used to tell me: “If we don’t
make action at this very time, then what’s the essence of our being?”
He left some funds
for Negros Oriental and it shall be used for his memorial project in coming 2013.
June 4, 2012 at Refugee Housing Bldg.
Sept 17, 2012 at Tatami Project
We, at the assistance of not only the people of Japan, but also of the 2 Lions Club in
Dumaguete City, have completed the construction of 5 buildings in 5 schools who were
affected by the February 6 earthquake. While 4 projects are of temporary classroom
making with salvage materials, the 5th project was a new Toilet especially assisted by
high schools and Lions Club from Japan. Nevertheless, the voluntary assistance of
Eng’r Catubig is the most laudable role-play. There are still more schools who are in
need of classrooms, and it is our desire to fund-raise further and go for new projects in the
coming 2013.
 4th Project: Pacuan Elementary School
In my visit to this school in August, I was shown of the half-done building with salvage
materials
which
was left with
earthquake-broken classrooms.
flooring done
roughly by rubbles
from the
Now, the building was completed at the voluntary
participation of parents and village people offering free labor to providing the very
classroom for safe study environment for the children in the community of Pacuan. The
building is fully furnished with concrete flooring and well painted exteriors at the great
help of the members of Dumaguete City Host Lions Club. At the Turn-over Ceremony,
MC spoke of “Mr. Furukawa is like an Angel sent to us,” and Mr. Acabo of DepEd District
Office gave a compliment of “Mr. Furukawa is a living hero.” I appreciated to hear of it
as a manifest of true relationship built in between my county Japan and my second home
the Philippines. The happy faces of parents, pupils and teachers made me feel so proud
of being a representative of good people of Japan in presenting this kind of assistance to
Negros Oriental at this plight.

The temporary classroom available at Pacuan ES was just like this: 8 x 13m

Then extension is done to 8 x 22m long house and walling with salvage plywood.

Finally, the building is completed with bamboo windows and full paint coating.

At the ceremony, President Jeffry Ho of Dumaguete City Lions Club, Barrio
Captain of Pacuan and I joined in the ribbon cutting. A bunch of Origami Crane
was donated by the citizens of Kasuya Town and I had a chance of conducting a
special Origami session for the pupils at the ceremony. To see a signboard saying:
“Arigato Gozaimasu Japan” was an inspiration to the people of Japan who had
forwarded their hearts to the people of Negros Oriental.
 5th Project: Solonggon Elementary School
I first visited this school in May and I was requested of helping build a toilet as they were
given a new classroom building by PAGCOR funding. In October, did I learn of the
numbers of casualties among the pupil of this school due to the Landslide disaster at
Solongon Village Blok 2. I consulted Mr. Watanabe of OISCA Bago Training Center and
he made it possible to solicit donation from Toyota Tomei Lions Club, Suenohara Junior
High School and Maebayashi Junior High School. However, the fund was still short of
budget but parents and villagers of Solonggon offered voluntary contribution in terms of
free labor and materials to materialized the project.

On February 6, 42 people lost life and only 9 bodies are being recovered. Among the
33 people left below the earth, 6 children from Solonggon Elementary School are
included. The rice fields now turned to Corn and upland crops as the irrigation
system was buried by the land fill by the earthquake.


The donors 2 x 5m water 2 rooms of flush type toilet and 1 urinal compartment.
Prayer for the victims at Solonggon Village: offering incense by Japanese visitors.

Turn-over Ceremony: Toyota Tomei Lions Club with green caps. Japan’s high
school students presented “Japanese Yosakoi Dance” and they also joined with the
pupils’ dance presentation. Both youngsters enjoyed the true friendship making.

Speech by Congresswoman Josy: “The earthquake has made two countries more
closer but how we wish we could make it without the help of this calamity. She
was speaking in tears as she expressed her feelings of appreciation to the Japanese
delegates, and it made me recall of the day when I was in tears at receiving the
donation from pupils and students of Negros Oriental in last August 2011 for the
Tatami Project for the Tsuami victim in Miyagi, Japan. The Origami Present by
Tsunami victims from Miaygi was a great gift for the children at Pacuan ES.
 The restoration has not started yet:
I was invited to see the reality in the city of Guihulngan: Magsaysay Elementary

School. Perhaps, the schools that we built projects in La Libertad could have been
in the same appearance had we not worked on the temporary classrooms.
I
murmured: “This is not a school building.” Nobody would wonder if my impresson
at the sight was, “The broken Marcos-type classroom looked just like a fence for
chickens.” The painful experience of witnessing the reality at a school near the
epicenter of the past earthquake has ignited my heart of working harder for calling
the attention of more people in Japan and in the Philippines.

Hallow blocks are now replaced by strips of bamboo vulnerable to windy storms.
2 children lost life by fallen block wall

Own Bamboo Temporary Classroom: Parents and teachers cooperated to build few
bamboo classrooms at least cost to get rid of repeated aftershocks intimidating the
children. But about 50 ~ 60 pupils are packed into the tiny building while rain
drips through the economical roofing made of coconut tree leaves. Bamboo
materials have already started to deteriorate by insect bites, so it may not last long.

Steel reinforced concrete buildings for demolition: The buildings are subject to
demolition due to its cracks and broken concrete posts at every classroom. A child
told me: “I am happy to study at a bamboo house as it is Earthquake-proof.” The
quaking may not destroyed the light bamboo skeleton building as much as the
concrete one, but it is not the right place for children to sit and study too long.
 Conclusive Thoughts：
My friends in Negros Oriental province are telling me: “Your projects could be a model for
other schools in need of instantly available classrooms at economy.”
One of the
principals of the project recipient schools said: “We learned that this is the way to
mobilize the local community and PTA to contribute to the school’s needs.” All the
projects are materialized at the voluntary contribution by many individual from Japan
and Lions Clubs in both countries, but most significant is the parents’ contribution of
labor willing to rebuilding school for their own children. Japan’s effort in helping boast
the spirits of villagers, the “Bayanihan Spirit (volunteer spirit)” of which Filipinos have
been impregnated at birth, may be the most contributing fact. I am very pleased that a
simple individual, like myself, could bring the project activities to this stage, and I am
aware that it owes a lot to the potentials of the parents and villagers who possess
fundamental ownership mentality with a pride of Filipinos.
When my father first came to the Philippines in 1969, he learned that there is a local
dialect word “Dagyaw” which means “voluntary work.” So he decided to train Filipino
farmers and young generations in the way to stimulate their Bayaniyahan Spirit to
engage into works with the genuine principle of self-reliance for the sake of nation
building.
Lastly I wish to say, I learned of the words: “Masaya Ako (I’m happy)” from the news
paper article which I read on my airplane bounded for the Philippines from Japan on
November 18, 2012. It talked about how one of the poor mothers of the Philippines lives
happily with a dozen of children inspite of being ruled out of the Provident Fund and
Social Security System. The Japanese reporter found that the mother treats her plentiful
children as “God’s blessing” and that she has no regrets having spent all her lifetime just
to raising these children in the midst of financial hardship and obstacles.
It was
impressive to learn that when the mother was asked of her sentiments toward the kind of
life she encountered, she never hesitated to reply in a smile, “Masaya Ako.”
I wish to tell to all my supporters and to all the teachers and pupils of the schools where
the projects were conducted, “I thank all of you for making my year 2012 a special year
enabling me to link two nations and enjoy the chance of meeting a lot of new friends in
both countries for enhancing the essence of life to earn happiness at serving others.”
Let me also say, “Masaya Ako” to express my sincere feeling of appreciation.
Prepared on Nov 26, and translated on Dec 6, 2012