SPECIFIED NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION (SNPO)

石巻復興支援ネットワーク Ishinomaki Revival Support

Network

After the Great East Japan Earthquake, an uncomfortable

atmosphere has prevailed our cities and towns. Yappesu-chan has come down to help our communities

restore warmth and smiles.

Yappesu Ishinomaki

What we are:

Mission: Let us connect with each other with smiles

～ toward the future ～

Leader: Yoshie Kaneko

Number of members: 12

History: Originally a group of local PTA members who were carrying out

environmental education for children and consultations for child-rearing

mothers.

The “Association for the Environment and Children” established the network as

its parent organization jointly with members of “Tsuna Puro.”

In December 1011, IRSN was registered as an NPO.

What we do: 1. Bring up child leaders

We give assistance to children, who will grow into adults, and bring up leaders among them.

2. Coordination for volunteers We coordinate volunteers from the viewpoint of assisting disaster-hit areas and of

cultivating young people.

3. Community building employing multiple perspectives We offer opportunities to think about how to build a better community with

consultation between local governments and citizens, employing multiple perspectives.

4. Community building within temporary housing We promote community building and create jobs worth living for so as to prevent

solitary deaths, suicides, domestic violence, etc. that happen within (real or counted as) temporary housing.

5. Matching and local coordination We conduct local coordination and matching that connect outside assistance

organizations with our localities.

１．We bring up child leaders in cooperation

with boards of education and other

organizations

Knotting 10,000 misanga good luck bracelets

After the disaster, some children wanted to do something and came up with WMI

(We make Ishinomaki). Four junior and high school students in Ishinomaki City

are at the center of the movement. They knot misangas (braided bracelets) and

give them as a thank-you to those who give assistance.

We carry out a student exchange program between Ishinomaki

City and Kobe City

This is a program through which junior high and high school students in

Ishinomaki and students of Kobe, which was hit by the Great Hanshin Awaji

Earthquake in 1995, deepen their ties throught exchanges and take joint action

on the reconstruction.

We support the Ishinomaki Nichi-nichi Kodomo Shimbun

In collaboration with the Kids Media Station, a general incorporated association,

we help children become child reporters and issue a newspaper for children in

cooperation with local newspaper companies.

We support “Geroppa (Get up!!)” activities.

We support “Geroppa,” a junior-leader circle in Ishinomaki City.

２．Coordination for volunteers

We coordinate volunteers for effective assistance to disaster-afflicted

areas and for bringing up young human resources. We also do

acceptance or matching of short-term or long-term interns for other

organizations.

【Cooperative organizations include

the following】

(SNPO) edge

(SNPO) ETIC

(SNPO) Youth Vision

(SNPO) Brain Humanity

The Board of Education of

Ishinomaki City,

schools in the city

(Social Welfare Corporation)

Yumemi no Sato

３．Community building

from multiple perspectives We build citizen-driven communities where people can lead a

comfortable life helping each other.

We plan events for community building by children, the hope of the future.

We plan events making use of the voices of children, women, child-rearing

mothers, foreigners residing in Japan, the disabled and the aged, whose

say is usually weak in society.

We plan events to make people think about the possible future and other

problems by inviting experts who have a good knowledge of the Great

Hanshin Awaji Earthquake.

４．Promotion of Community building Carrying out events in temporary houses and other places

We try to build all-inclusive communities to reduce to zero

the numbers of solitary deaths and suicides, by, for example,

tea parties, stretching (exercise) classes, handicraft classes

or illustrated letter classes.

Creating jobs worth living for

We provide simple manual work that can be done in an

assembly hall.

We provide people with jobs that bring them an income

of 20,000-30,000 yen per person and give them a

feeling that they belong to a community as they can

find their own roles while working with others.

We produce products using

local resources.

５．Matching and local coordination

Matching

We connect outside assistance organizations with local

communities in Ishinomaki. We connect them with local

governments, firms, citizens’ organizations, commerce and industry

associations, and local key persons.

Local coordination

Making use of the local network, we coordinate local activities.

(industry) We arrange industrial inspection, assist business exchange between firms in and out of

afflicted areas, support employment-oriented meetings by the commerce and industry

associations, and local coordination for tours to disaster areas.

(education) We assist in creating places for children, conduct children’s conferences for rehabilitation,

and carry out study tours.

(others)

We distribute aid goods, and support assistance organizations.