There are many children around the world who cannot go to school despite their desire to do so because of the environment they are placed in. At the same time, there are children in Japan who think being able to go to school is a privilege everyone is entitled to, as well as children who cannot find a reason for or the importance of going to school and/or learning. This being said, it is also a fact that the poverty rate of Japanese children is rising and there are children even here in Japan who are not able to receive the schooling and learning they need due to the high educational costs.
We believe that enabling children in Japan to learn about the different situations around the world and opening their eyes to a much wider world, and having them explore and reexamine the importance of learning and providing them with an opportunity to escape from the vicious circle of poverty, will be the foothold to solving many of the problems the children in Japan currently face.
And from here, we will work to encourage the children to think independently for themselves and communicate their thoughts and ideas with others and perhaps eventually motivate them to actually visit the developing countries to help the children in need there through direct contact. Through these experiences, we hope that the children will grow to become globally-minded, empathetic and caring human beings.
By giving back the knowledge, skills and materials these children have acquired through their own experiences to those children in need, we believe that they can contribute to creating a healthy environment of learning and development for children around the world on which our future relies on.
The first step to realizing this grand mission is for the children around the world to recognize and understand the different environments and backgrounds they are placed in. In order to pursue this, we will work to strengthen our ties with different communities within and outside Japan to implement educational operations as well as operations that will prompt self-reliance support in areas that are necessary.
BUT!
We, Shine for the Children, have established a company with the objective of building a support system for the children by the children and to contribute to the healthy growth of children around the world who will be defining our future. However, with the outbreak of Covid-19 across the world in 2020, we were suddenly given the opportunity to reevaluate and reflect on what we can do in this new norm where children who were able to go to school every day was taken away this opportunity and life for the adults changed drastically. We may not easily be able to visit those places where children in need are living anymore, but because the pandemic has given us new perspectives and approaches to life, such as online learning, we believe that it is now much easier for children to share their experiences and knowledge with others around the globe. We are also able to continue with the construction of the school. We have come to believe that the door of opportunity to learning for the children is now open even wider, and as a result, we have developed an even stronger determination to pursue our mission of providing a healthy growth environment for children around the world.