Education Japan Project #58335

JOEE to Japan - English for At-Risk Children

by JOEE - Joyful Opportunity English Education

JOEE to Japan - English for At-Risk Children

Project Report | Apr 23, 2024
The Power of Amazing Worldwide Volunteers

By Ruth Ingulsrud | Founding Director of JOEE

Tokyo JOEE Volunteers

JOEE's teacher-volunteers come from all over the world... Australia, Brazil, India, Israel, Norway, USA, Latvia, New Zealand, Serbia, and Japan are the current origin countries of our helpers. They create wonderful, creative lessons drawing on their diverse backgrounds and skills as they share their talents and love with children who are growing up in orphanages in Japan. Read about their interesting classes on the blog at the JOEE website: https://joee.jp/

Some of our JOEE volunteers work online with students one-on-one while others travel to orphanages weekly or monthly to offer exuberant, puppet and song-enhanced lessons to help spark interest in learning English and exploring the world. Acquiring English skills is one of the best ways for these at-risk children to find meaningful employment after exiting the care homes at age eighteen.

Although JOEE’s ultimate goal is to help children learn basic English so that their opportunities expand when they leave the orphanages, staff members have told us that the engagement and enthusiasm of our JOEE teachers help the children in their emotional development. They learn to trust caring and consistent adults. They feel accepted and valued. They understand that learning and participated can be fun. The healthy social development of these children is essential for their healthy participation in Japanese society and their positive engagement with the world. Love makes all the difference!

JOEE currently has 25 active volunteer-teachers who are helping out in seven facilities that provide protective care for children who have been rescued from dangerous and abusive situations here in Japan. Here is a list of the seven homes that we currently serve:

St. Francisco Children’s Home - Ota-ku, Tokyo: https://otsuge-francisco.org/

Chofu Gakuen - Chofu, Tokyo: https://chofugakuen.com/about/facility/

Harukaen - Matsudo, Chiba: https://s-haruka.org/access/

Wakamatsu Ryo - Nagoya: http://www.syoutokukai.or.jp/wakamatsu

Shinai Children’s Home - Kobe: https://www.shinai-kodomo-home.com/link.html

Yurikagoen - Odawara: http://www.yurikago-en.or.jp

Kawasaki Aijien - https://www.aijien.or.jp/facility/kawasaki-aijien.html

Thank you so very much for being part of this mission to assist these children with a head-start in learning English and becoming valuable and thriving members of our worldwide, connected global community!

JOEE Helpers Gather

JOEE Teachers at St. Francisco Children's Home

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Dec 27, 2023
JOEE Launches Into 2024

By Ruth Gilmore Ingulsrud | Founding Director of JOEE.jp

Thanks to many JOEE volunteers and donors, Christmas was joyfully celebrated in several children’s care homes in Japan. Children received presents that were selected and wrapped just for them, and they celebrated Christmas with parties that included music and games and stories.

English lessons taught by volunteers who hail from many different countries continue to enrich the lives of children growing up in orphanages. These lessons provide the children with a joyful language learning experience and give them an educational boost. They benefit by being able to meet and interact with lovely, kind volunteers of many ethnicities and they are encouraged to use their beginning English skills to communicate with people and engaging puppets during their lessons.

At the request of the orphanages, JOEE has begun providing one-on-one English online tutoring for some high-schoolers who are studying hard, hoping to find good jobs in the tourist industry and other areas. One of our students was encouraged to apply for college and was accepted! His JOEE tutors will continue to support him as he begins his journey towards a degree and a promising future.

Our weekly English lessons via Zoom continue for the children of Ukraine. We are partnering with the NPO, SmartOsvita in Ukraine and up to 50 children at a time log on to enjoy an hour of playful puppet banter. The live interactions and show-and-tell with each other along with energetic songs and dances provide the children with a welcome respite from the grim reality of an extended war in their country.

JOEE still needs volunteer teachers and people who can introduce and connect us with new orphanages. Funding and generous donors are essential in keeping our programs going and growing. Thank you for your compassion in sharing your resources and talents with us and with the at-risk children of Japan. 2024 will be a wonderful year for JOEE, thanks to you!

Pronunciation exercise with potato chip - "Thanks"

JOEE Online Lessons for Ukraine

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Sep 5, 2023
JOEE Keeps Hopping and Hoping

By Ruth Gilmore Ingulsrud | JOEE Founding Director

Which nose would you pick? Kids enjoy new books!

The JOEE project launched in April of 2019 and we have been hopping along and providing fun and lively, puppet-enhanced English lessons to children in orphanages in Japan ever since! Your continuing support makes those lessons possible. Our volunteer teachers reach children in six facilities across Japan and lessons are being taught to children in Ukraine, where the war continues to put families at risk. All children deserve a hopeful and bright future. JOEE works to bring education and joy to the children of the world.

We keep hopping and hoping to do more. As we grow and expand into new orphanages, our organization grows as well. We have welcomed another part-time administrator into JOEE and we are continuing to train new teachers and reach out to more orphanages. After a brief summer break, JOEE lessons are starting up once more and we hope to soon fill in some needed volunteer teacher spots at a couple of care facilities in Tokyo.

JOEE currently has teacher-volunteers giving lessons at the following care faciilities in Japan:

St. Francisco Children's Home, Chofu Gakuen, Harukaen, Yurikagoen, Shinai Children's Home and WakamatsuRyo. We have seventeen active JOEE teachers and we are in the process of providing training to more volunteers.

Here is what caregivers observing JOEE lessons have to say:

“The English class is well-organized to have both quiet and active learning.”

“Even after returning to their rooms, there were children who wanted to use the words they learned.”

“The personality of (the teacher) Ruth, the theatrical expression, and the ability to observe, receive and return children’s reactions are very professional.”

“I noticed the children’s expressions. There was a desire to learn, and a desire to connect with people.”

Here is what we hope for the future: To connect with more chiildren's homes -- To train new volunteer teachers from around the world -- To find government and corporate funding and sponsorship -- To be able to reimburse the travel expenses of our volunteer teachers and buy more teaching supplies.

Thank you very much for being a JOEE sponsor and helping to spread some joy in this world!

One new JOEE teacher who specializes in art.

Meet Genevieve the Giraffe, a JOEE helper.

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