KIDS EARTH Report

NEWS

No.026 Winter 2004

Charity Auction at Mori Art Museum a SuccessA charity auction held with the assistance of Sazabyʼs Japan was held at Mori Art Museum on December
3. Many artists sympathetic to the auctionʼs theme from Japan as well as overseas contributed theirworks, making the event a display of the new possibilities of art and charity. BMW MINI ONE designedby the artists Katsuhiko Hibino and Mika Ninagawa, the only one of its kind in the world, enjoyed much
popularity before falling under the hammer at the generous price of 2,300,000yen and 2,200,000yen each.
All of the proceeds will be used by KEF to help children around the world develop thier creative skills.

Tamagawa Takashimaya Shopping Center“White Angel Project” is on until December 25 (Sat.)White Angel Project, a charity event that started with the wish to deliver a peaceful Christmas
to children around the world, is in its third year this year at Tamagawa Takashimaya S・C Until
December 25, you can participate in the project by hanging white feathers and messages tochildren around the world on a Christmas tree, and contributing to their welfare through a charity
box. The proceeds from this project have supported the Cambodian Aids Orphans Project for thepast two years, and a photo gallery of the Cambodian children is open for viewing.

Both “Ritsuko Shirahama”, a womenʼ s wear brand, and“KIDS EARTH FUND” are printed on tags.
Ms. Ritusko Shirahama is a dress designer who has been participating in KEF activities for 15 years.
She has just released special products of her brand “Ritsuko Shirahama” for spring and summer
2005. These products are denim, jackets, pants, T-shirts, etc. inlaid with applique and badges which
use paintings by children, and both names of “Ritusko Shirahama” and “KIDS EARTH FUND” areprinted on their tags! Through these products, Ms. Shirahama conveys her message, “Violence cannot create anything.” 5% of the sales of these products will be contributed to KEF.

Ms.Shirahama (right) and Torii

Charity Wine Party

2005 calendar is made!

The third charity wine party, which has been held every first Thursday

Every year, many companies make charity calendars with arts designedof the month, was held on December 2. More than 200 peopleby children. “Q SAI Co., Ltd.” and “Chiquita-Unifruitty Japan Ltd.” madeparticipated in this event so far and have contributed to the charity.

one of 2005. Those calendars are handed out to their customers.

The theme for December was, of course, Christmas! Christmas
pictures drawn by children from all over the world, a large Christmastree, grilled turkey and wine just made the earty Christmas party. We
reported on our recent activities such as emergency assistance toNiigata, showing a video. There are also fun events coordinated bythe guests every time. These 3 times, we have had Bosa Nova, Piano,Songs, Tea Ceremony, a Puppet Show, etc. Please look forward those
events as well!
Date: Every first Thursday of the month (Next: on February 3, 2005)
Venue: KIDS EARTH Gallery (3-29-9, Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)
Please contact KEF by Tel or E-mail, if you would like to participate.

NEW MEMBERS
These are KIDS EARTH FUNDʼ s new members
since Sep. 1 until Nov. 30 (In alphabet order)
Individual Membership

Ms. Asako Suno / Ms. Kumiko Ishii / Mr. Takayuki & Ms. Keiko Sugimura /Mr. Yoshiaki Oomura / Ms. Yoshiko Maekawa

Corporate Membership

Arflex Japan Ltd. / Coleman Japan Co., Ltd.

Foster Parents(Foster parents of children at KIDS EARTH HOME, schools for street children, in Vietnam)

Ms. Akari Kimoto / Ms. Fumi Nakai / Ms. Izumi Kamiya /Mr. Nobuyuki Nishinaga & Ms. Yukie Nishinaga / Mr. Yuya Hioki /1 anonymous

Big Family Members

Ms. Kumiko Ishii / Ms. Naomi Tanabe /2 anonymous

KIDS EARTH FUND
3 - 2 9 - 9 , E b i s u , S h i b u y a - k u , To k y o 1 5 0 - 0 0 1 3
T E L ： 0 3 - 5 4 4 9 - 8 1 6 1 / FA X ： 0 3 - 5 4 4 9 - 3 9 6 2E - m a i l ： i n f o @ k i d s e a r t h f u n d . o r g / U R L : h t t p : / / w w w . k i d s e a r t h f u n d . o r g /c 子供地球基金 / KIDS EARTH FUND
○KIDS EARTH
CAR Project■ A Play Rooman emergency evacuation shelter. It was also ourearthquake, intensity 7, occurred in Niigata, Miho Takahashi: officer, Hidemasa Takahashi:volunteer) went to Ojiya-City, Niigata, by KIDS
EARTH CAR (KEC), and joined supportive
activities. Because of fears of destructive shaking,

In November, when autumn progresses, KEC

accommodation run by Yokohama City, and it is now

On the evening of October 23, a destructive(KEF) staff (Harumi Torii: founder, Makiko Nagata

other in Niigata. Akagi Rinkan Gakuen is a big

Nakada, the Yokohama mayor, and his staff byEmergency Support forthe earthquake victims
in Niigata area

From Oct. 30 to Nov. 3, 4 KIDS EARTH FUND

accident. Since then, we had cooperated each

November :Aiiku Yogo School for children
with special needs.

On the way to Niigata, we came across Mr. Hiroshi

Tr a v e l i n g Wo r k s h o p

Chuetsu area, and many people were struck.

Visit to Yokohama city hall

We set up "A Play Room" at one emergency
shelter, putting some childlike wood toys. It wasworkshop for paper making.

that was covered with sediment, all the residents of

A s t h e s t a ff m e m b e r s l i n e d u p a s e t o f

one village...many victims came and stayed there.

equipment for paper making in the schoolyard

On November 26, KEF's staff visited Yokohama Cityhall, and handed a part of the donations to the mayor
as expenses of meals for victims at the facility.

moments. Children gradually showed smiles when

Donation and provision ofrelief supplies■ Cleaning a destroyed house

Thank you very much for your donation! We
sincerely appreciate your support.

profound shocks of losing houses, and additional
fears of afterquakes...many children didnʼt wantin Minami Azabu, Minato-ku, and conductedbase during the activities. Local families in the towna kind of healing room for children for somethey saw those toys and played with them.

visited Aiiku Yogo School for disabled children

and displayed sample handmade paper on thewindows, interested children started to gather
acoompanied by teachers and their mothers.
In the workshop, the children put glitteringsequins, origami cut in small pieces, yarn, etc.
on raw paper in thier own way, and proceeded
to the finish. One of the male students, whoreally liked this work, brought his toy blocks
and pressed them in the paper!

Total
943,775 yen
Donation(by November 30)

Such new ideas were created one after

arrived yet. Focusing on those areas, we handed(Breakdown of expenses)

leaves that felt down from trees, sand, clay,out supplies, helped with cleaning of destroyedhouses and so on. Also, we talked with children

Purchase 141,849 yen
foods, towels, etc.

and set up “a play room” to ease their mental

Donation 801,926 yen

to leave their parents even several days after thequake. In some area, enough supplies hadnʼtdamage and to make them feel relieved.
"I'd like to clean up my home to offer incese sticks tomy husband." One lady in her 70's said. She has been
living alone since his death. The house lost its walls
and was partially destroyed. We helped cleaning theAll of those were handed out to the victims whostill living a different shelter from each other.

were under a severe situation.

"I can't get contact with my brother's family, though
they live near me" the lady let out. Soon after, weColumn

DEAR KIDS,
DEAR THE EARTH

vol. 8All the participating children, mothers and staff
members enjoyed the beautiful autumn day.

Kids Earth Home Tokyo
New Program
We would like to introduce again, the original programof our workshop at KIDS EARTH HOME Tokyo. Thistime, the theme of the workshop was to “Listen”.

Listen Carefully with your eyes closed. No talking
with your friends around. And what can youhear? Singing birds, sound of the wind, someoneʼs footsteps... if you can hear the sound that you
usually donʼt recognize, you may now be able tolisten to your mind, too.

Workshop at the gallery...
JETTE TON ARME
（Put Down Weapons ！）Medecins du Mondebut a fascinating one. This may be suggesting the form that art might take in the future. KIDS EARTH CAR Project could be said to be the prototype project for development of art and science based on childrenʼsdrawings. Weʼll be focusing on the future through studies of deeper communication with children.
Many of the kids I met through this KEC Project were experiencng the reality of being shown a tangible expression of their life. Putting it differently, it was cyber-punk. But they were attempting to believe in something, andto me it looked like they were trying to find a dream for the future.
I thought Iʼd like to feel their dreams in a more real way. I also thought about what dreams we, the adults, could have together with them. That of course differs for each person. Some kids may want to leave a hospital andeat some tasty gyoza dumplings; others have never been allowed to leave their bed since they were born, nor been to a zoo. There was a girl whose hope was to become an illustrator. Another girl who had just lost her
father had put her unexpressed feelings towards him in her drawing. I wonder what dreams we could have together; not tiny individual dreams about ourselves but the kind of a big dream about the future that we could all

Christmas in Buddhism and an ever lasting
country, Cambodia, children in the Home
enjoyed the Christmas party on November 19
together with Torii, founder, on that day. Theywere delighted to sing Christmas songs andChildrenʼ s favorite thingsand poor things -from a diaryof Chiaki Kondo, local staff-

the theme of peace.

Children were absorbed in putting water into a

The program moved

balloon. The balloon burst, and the floor was filled

on to the workshop where, under the guidance ofwith water..., but they wiped up the wet floor.

Through this workshop, the children sent outof support to the children of New York. The theme is less structured this time. It attempts to reach the deep psyche of the children while pursuing new forms of communication with adults. Itʼs an overwhelming experiment,

Though they arenʼt used to celebrating

under the big Christmas tree.

remade cap pistols into fantastic art objects.

psychological needs - each picture has these three beautiful dimensions. What a great project. It is different from a project with a predetermined purpose, like the one we had to draw picture which would send a message

We've got Christmas presents！

receive Christmas presents in the stockings

artist, Mr. Tomoatsu Takase, participating childrenpressure, the group has started a project to care for their psychological needs too. Kids cheer each other up by exchanging drawings, and by extension support and helping each other, all the while expressing thier own

Latest News

World: Headquarters/Covernant Players onchildren of the world that are the groupʼs focus, and thatʼs no ordinary task. In the beginning the projects were about underprivileged children overseas, but since they realized that Japanese kids are also under a lot ofKIDS Care Cambodia〜 The Home for AIDS orphans 〜(Physicians of thedrama performed byYou would think that KIDS EARTH FUND is a small voluntary group, but in fact itʼs quite large. Large not just in the sense of human resources or funds, but in terms of its goals and what itʼs aimed at. After all, itʼs theNo.7 Home in cambodia

Program ２It started with a short

KIDS EARTH CAR filled with supplies.

KIDS EARTH
HOME Project〈Listen Carefully ！〉held a joint workshop.

Sculptor / Adviser to Kids Earth Fund
Ren Makabeshare. I think KEF is about to show us the answer to this question. But weʼve only started on the road to find that dream. Iʼm very much looking forward to seeing those kids again.

Kids Earth Home TokyoParis, France) and KEF

compannies and handed those out to the victims.

them in safety! She seemed relieved but they are■ Finding relativesand so on.

We received a lot of products from manysought them by KEC and then she could meetsome space for her, she showed relief in her face.

and many wonderful papers were made with(for expenses of meals of victims at a
shelter of Akagi Rinkan Gakuen)

Chiquita-Unifruitti Japan Ltd. (75 blankets),Coleman Japan Co.,Ltd.(sleeping bags:16 fullsized, 24 child-sized, 25 jackets, 1 camp materialset), IKEYA (wood toys), Tomy Co.,Ltd. & Tomy
Direct Co.,Ltd. (toys, games), Parents at Unida
International School (sweets and children'sclothes), Mojundar and Company (insurance 4
persons 7 days) etc. (in Alphabet order) Also, one
lady sent us 3 bags of nappy.

room of family altar and kitchen, and finally secured

another unlike usual paper making workshops

KIDS EARTH
HOME ProjectGirls seem to be poor in math. When I asked
Sreyneath and Puy, kids in the kindergarten,

thier message for peace and called out “No more

what they studied today, Puy answered with aweapons!” in thier way.

smile, ʻI learn one word but forget another.”

Exhibition● Tokyo (Higashiyamato)
10 / 27 (Wed.) - 12 / 28 (Tue.)
Honda Clio Shin Tokyo Higashiyamato● Osaka (Osaka city)
10 / 1 (Fri.) - 12 / 25 (Sat.)
Rihga Royal Hotel (Osaka)Sponsored by Palais-Royal● Tokyo (Tachikawa)
10 / 15 (Fri.) - 10 / 25 (Mon.)
Honda Clio Dream Pia Tachikawa● Tokyo (Setagaya)
12 / 1 (Wed.) - 12 / 29 (Tue.)
Nissan Koseikai Tamagawa Hospital● Tokyo (Futakotamagawa)
11 / 17 (Wed.) - 12 / 25 (Sat.)
Tamagawa Takashimaya
shopping center