No.21３-4

BULLETIN BOARD

■Tsunami Disaster Appeal

The Dec. 26 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra triggered massive tsunamis, and devastated countries around the Indian Ocean.

Responding to a request from the Herath Foundation, Sri Lanka, Meguro UNESCO Association has sent 150,000 yen on Jan. 5 to support their activities to help Tsunami victims in the country. The Herath Foundation is one of the organizations that Meguro UNESCO has long supported by funding the “Sakura- Lanka Scholarship” program.

In the meanwhile, people from our language classes and the New Year’s party have showed their concern and compassion for the disaster victims with generous contributions.

We, Meguro UNESCO, intend to continue helping the victims in Sri-Lanka along with the many other tsunami-hit areas by collecting aid donations. If you would like to send your donation, please make a remittance to our bank account.

Your kindest cooperation would be appreciated.

Account number:  8051573 (Ordinary account at Yutenji Branch, Mizuho Bank), MEGURO UNESCO KATSUDO

■ Charity Concert for Tsunami Victims

A charity concert is being planned to help people suffering from the unprecedented disasters of the massive earthquake and the resulting tsunamis in the Indian Ocean.

It will be a joint event sponsored by Meguro UNESCO Association and Meguro International Friendship Association, cosponsored by Meguro Foundation of Art and Culture, and supported by Meguro City, Meguro Board of Education, National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan, etc.

Date & Time:  Apr. 25, Mon. (19:00 - )
Venue:  Meguro Persimmon Hall, Main Hall (1-1-1 Yakumo)
Performers: Yasuto Tanaka (Saxophone), Mitsutaka Shiraishi (Piano)
Program:  Bach, Grieg, Gershwin
Tickets:  \2,500 (All seats non-reserved)

Further details to be announced in the following issue

■General Assembly of  NPO Meguro UNESCO Association

Date & Time:  May 14, Sat. (14:00 - )
Place:  Moriya Kyoiku Kaikan (2-20-17 Gohongi)

The 52nd annual assembly will be the first general assembly after Meguro UNESCO started afresh as an NPO on Oct. 1 last year. New officers and directors will be elected for a two-year term. We look forward to your attendance.

■ Campaign for Miswritten Postcard Contributions 

The Meguro UNESCO Association is currently collecting miswritten postcards and unused postage stamps in order to fund the World Terakoya Movement. Our contributions will help offer ‘places of learning’ to children with no access to school or adults suffering from illiteracy.

All contributions should be sent to Meguro UNESCO Office.

We kindly ask for your cooperation.

Volunteers to sort the collected cards wanted!!

The National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan (NFUAJ) would appreciate volunteers to help them sort out the collected cards.
　Place:  Asahi Seimei Bldg. 12F, 1-3-1 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku. (3 minutes’ walk from Ebisu Station)
　Time:  3 hours a day (any time between 10:00 and 17:00)
　　　　　　* \1,000 will be paid for your traveling expenses.

　For participation:  Please inform the below at least 1 day in advance.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　NFUAJ   /   Ms. Chatani 

■ Welcome New Members!!

Regular Members:  Junko Ueda, Yoko Shibayama

Friendship Members: Marwa Abdel Rehim Shawki, Wael Abdel Raheem, Amr El Rachidi (Egypt); Young Ho Gi (Korea); Ayelet Oved (Israel); Josiane Dias (Brazil); Nichakul Preechachat, Kulrudee Jitranukul, Von Khamthi (Thailand); Morin Franck (France); Zeyad Jaffal (Jordan); Alexander Laborde (Cuba); Shing Yin (China); Chiu Wei I (Taiwan); Daniel Antonio (Mozambique)

Two months have passed since the publication of “The Collection of Children’s Poems,” a book we have published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Meguro UNESCO Association. Here, I would like to introduce two positive responses we have had that assures us of its steady footing. v No. 1: The phone rang at the secretariat, when the PR committee was busy drawing up plans for the New Year’s issue of Short News. It was a call from the mother of an elementary school girl in Meguro to say thank you forsending a copy of “The Collection of Children’s Poems”. v According to the mother, her daughter had sent a poem, which passed the initial screening, but didn’t quite make it to be included in the book. She still seemed happy and said, “My daughter wrote a poem on her own initiative.” She also said that her daughter would enjoy reading the poems during her winter holidays for a book report assignment at school. v How considerate! I can only but respect our fellow members involved in the project, who have been sending copies of the book to the children who were not fortunate enough to have their poems chosen for the book. v No.2: The Daily Y,one of the national papers in Japan, has recently introduced the publication of our book of poems. The article said, “ ‘The war is very frightening / Even so, people do not stop fighting’ ? The book contains 140 poems selected from 1,020 pieces contributed by children from 22 countries. Some have English translations.”                            (M. Saito)

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