Today the sign language circle visited a place called "Ikiiki Bokujou" on the outskirts of Morioka. It is a community for people with various mental and physical problems. About 50 people live there and they do simple work such as growing vegetables, sewing, newspaper folding and packing and so on. They also grow a herb garden and enjoy many events and activities throughout the year.
They are roughly divided into three groups; people with very light problems who are capable of organising themselves and lead fairly normal working lives on the farm or in the library, then there is the group who can work, but need a fair amount of supervision, then finally the group who have very severe problems.
The idea of the project is that it allows them to lead as close as possible to normal lives so they keep their brains and bodies active and use them to their full potential. They all live on site and work together to make a friendly and happy community.
We had a chance to talk to some of the people who were doing sewing. Everyone seemed so content in their work and they took as much time as they wanted to do whatever they were interested in doing. One lady was making a really beautiful cross-stitch cushion. It was certainly better than I could ever do!
If you ever have the chance, they are amazing people to meet.
Ikiiki blog (Japanese only)
Originally founded in 1931 by American missionaries, Zenrinkan is a thriving NPO organisation dedicated to teaching various languages as well as other culture-related subjects.
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