Children's Multicultural Exchange Project

kruco × kruco

Activity Report 2019

Unleashing the POWER of DIVERSITY!

Non profit organization Sharing Caring Culture Email: info.sccjapan@gmail.com https://sharingcaringculture.org
Issued: November 30,2020

We made this report with the grant offered by 2019 Docomo Mobile Communication Fund

We contribute to society by what we’re good at and what we like,regardless of our Japanese ability. We promote foreign residents’participation and their advancement in society.

What is SCC?

Rujida Kuga

To raise children who understand each individual is uniqueand who recognize our differences through multicultural,diversity and inclusion activities.

MissionWe create a community and society that celebrates cultural diversity
based on mutual respect.

VisionOrganized and implemented by the parents from all over the world,
the values of this project will be:
・Empowerment
・Community engagement
・Self-expression
All of these will have a positive impact on their children's identity or
cultural roots.

Value

How to tell my home country’s culture to children
as a foreign born mother …

Hi ! My name is Rujida Kuga. You can call me Eve. I haveparticipating in a multicultural

lived in Japan for 14 years. I have a son and a daughter. My

playgroup with her eldest

children are half Thai and half Japanese. I’m fortunate to work

daughter, Ren. It was the year

as an instructor. I teach Thai culture to Japanese students

we started SCC as a voluntaryat Yokohama elementary school, using English. I’ve beenorganization. Using her talentteaching for 8 years. I found that teaching is my passion. I am

in cooking, she has held five

proud to be Thai and I really love to share my culture. SCC

Thai cookery classes in English,(Sharing Caring Culture) is an organisation which has thefor both adults and children. In

same goal as I have. “kruco x kruco” is a project that answers

addition to the cooking classes,my question. kruco x kruco’s activities aim to promote diverse

she read Aesop's Fable "The Ant and the Grasshopper" incultures to non-Japanese families. As I’m a mother, I would

the Thai language at our multilingual story-telling time. We

like my children to be open-minded and to understand otherwere concerned that the children would not be interestedcultures, not only Thai and Japanese culture. We all live in thein it because the Thai language was an unfamiliar language

same world, with differences and a variety of cultures. It isfor most children. However, she used gestures and songs to
express the difference of the characters in the story to get
the children’s attention.
She is not only working as an instructor in SCC, she also
launched a social group to support children who areconnected to Thailand in September 2019. Having children
who have Thai heritage, she is responsible for teaching
her language and culture to them. Most children withThai heritage who were born and raised in Japan don’t

We want to solve the problems of…
Information gap due
to Japanese language
skillsDifficulties of careerdevelopment in Japan

Isolated parenting

Culture stress

important to survive and stay together peacefully. “Culture

have many opportunities to learn Thai language. Sheshock” will not happen if we know and understand eachhas gathered those children to teach the Thaiother. “kruco x kruco” means Cross(Cross country and culture

language and culture, which are connected

through education activities). We can learn and have fun

to their parents’ roots. At the beginning ofthrough kruco x kruco‘s activities. The preparation for kruco x

every activity day, a student on duty leads

kruco activities is to clean your heart, open your mind, learn

to sing Thailand's national anthem. Also,

new things and have fun with other cultures.

she carefully teaches them how to greet

Thank you, Evein Thai. She teaches them in the same way

Eve launched a social group in Japan tomaintain her mother tongue and culture

Unleashing the POWER of DIVERSITYSCC is a community where each person with diverse
cultural backgrounds can maximize the use of theiruniqueness, and can fulfill their potential in the area.

Eve became involved in SCC’s activities in 2014 after

Multiple Languages

Multicultural Eventthey should bow deeply while holding theirhands together if the other person isolder than them.

Online Family Thai Cooking Class 2020.7.25
Since March 2020, it became difficult to hold family cooking classes in person due to COVID-19
pandemic. We held an online Thai cooking class for parents and children for the first time. We cooked
Thai pineapple fried rice. It has unique ingredients suchas jasmine rice and nam-pla (fish source) that were mailed

Parenting Support inshe was taught by her parents. For example

Co-Production Projectfor MulticulturalSociety

to each participant together with the recipe in advance.
On the day of the event, they were cooking at home while
listening to the lecturer's explanation using an online
meeting room “Zoom”. We used Granjapon Co., Ltd. as thelive streaming venue.

Multicultural Family Cooking

Making rice balls at Tsuzuki MinkaenWith the cooperation of a Japanese instructor from H & K, anWe held a parent-child cooking class to make "Nashi lemak",children cut cucumbers,a Malaysian national dish. May, the instructor of this event

peeled the shells of boiled

Ward, we held a rice ball making class both in English andis a Chinese-Malaysian lady. She showed a world map andeggs, and enjoyed serving

Japanese. We cooked rice in a pot (kama) of the Tusuzki

explained Malaysia's location, the national flag, and thethem individually. WhileMinkaen. Also, they introduced a simple side dish using local

time taken to travel there by plane, etc. Also, she described

the children were eating,Japanese mustard spinach (komatsuna). While we were waiting

the diverse ethnic

the staff of JA Yokohama

for the rice to boil, we played with beanbags, a traditionalgroups in Malaysia.

introduced the agricultural

Japanese passtime, and read the picture-story show of "The“Nashi lemak”

products of Yokohama city

Monkey and the Crab" in English and Japanese. At

is usually eatenby using a map and a video.

the end of the cooking class, we wiped the floor withwith some special

They gave notebooks towet rags in the traditional Japanese style of cleaning.

sauces, so parents

the children as a souvenir

The international children were particularly excited

mainly madefor the cooking class. All

because it was their first time to join this kind of

the sauces. The

the participants were very

event. A German mother who had just started living

Location: Tsuzuki Minkaen (2 Odananishi, Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama)in Japan said, "I wanted to make some time for myParticipants: Four children having heritage

child to get to know more about Japanese culture.
I'm glad we had a valuable experience today." Aand two from China) and six JapaneseChinese mother said, "I wanted to make rice ballschildrenwith my son who was born in Japan."satisfied with the outcome
Date: Sunday, February 8, 2020 10:00am -12:30am
Location: JA Yokohama Cooking Studio(1-26-6 Nakagawachuo, Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama)Participants: four children having heritage to foreign countries(three in Germany, one in Malaysia) and five Japanese childrenof the event. This event
was successful because of
the cooperation of local
companies.

7.4 “Multilingual Storytime in English, Spanish and Thai”

2020.1

2019.10Making Malaysian food - Nashi Lemak

NPO that works on dietary education for children in Tsuzuki

Date: Sunday, October 20, 2019 10:30am -12:30am

to foreign countries (two from Germany

Multicultural Family Cooking

1.18 “Chinese New Year”

World Event"Loy Krathong Festival" in Thailand

9.20 “BONSAI making”

7.25 “Multicultural Family Online Cooking - Thai Pineapple Fried Rice”

9.26 “Explore India!”Multilingual story time

Story of India, China, and Indonesia

In Thailand, it’s customary to hold a water festival called "Loythanked the God of water. Mothers from Thailand gave us

We had a multilingual story time session and read picture

Krathong" every December of the lunar calendar (currentlyan opportunity to learn about Thai musical instruments

books in English, Chinese, and Indonesian.

October or November). Although it is an unfamiliar eventand performed Thai dance. We immersed ourselves in Thai

The first book, "Asian Spice Kids", was read in English by anin Japan, we held this world event to introduce children toculture all day.

Indian lady. The book is about Eastern and Western spices.

“Loy Krathong Festival” in an open space on the 3rd floorof Kohoku Minamo, a commercial facility in Tsuzuki Ward.
"Loy Krathong" is a traditional event. Thai people releaselanterns (Krathong) into rivers (Roy). In the beginning ofShe let children smell the actual spices. We used spices as
the characters of the book. The children read the book, andDate: November 2, 2019 10:30am -12:30am

also reenacted the characters in it. The second book wasLocation: Kohoku Minamo

an Indonesian one named “Krauk! Krauk!” The story is like a(2-7-1 Nakagawachuo, Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama)this tradition, people placed candles and incense sticks on

Participants: 15 children having heritage to foreign

race for eating buns (Pan kui kiyousou) but instead it is rice

the lanterns made of banana trunks and leaves and threw

countries (14 from Thailand, one from Indonesia) andcrackers. An Indonesian lady read the story both in Indonesianthem into the river. We made lanterns with children andfour Japanese childrenchildren

and English. As the book showed, we had a competition to eat
rice crackers with children and we had a fun time together.
The last one was a Chinese book about a pig that had eaten
papaya seeds and was worried
Date: Sunday, February 15, 2020 10:30am -11:45am
Location: Tsuzuki MY Plaza(5th floor, Northport Mall, 1-25-1 Nakagawachuo, Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama)Participants: Nine children having heritage to foreign countries(nine children from Thailand) and two Japanese children

the seeds would grow inside hisstomach. We enjoyed the story byusing a panel theater style inside adarkened room.

Report of the Indian cultural event,from a child who has a heritage toa foreign country

Activity ReportEdward Dons
I really enjoyed the Indian culture event in September. It waspotatoes, carrots, onions, and meat, but Indian curry has

The Children’s Multicultural Exchange Program aims to develop an inclusive community to respect other countries’ cultures and differences. We

fun to learn about Indian culture with lots of children. First

different ingredients." Children learned that Indian curry iswould like to create opportunities for both children who have foreign heritages and Japanese children to experience various cultures and diverse

we looked at a map of the world and found India on the map.

made of spices. Akihila opened the bottles of spices onepeople. Then, we started this program in October 2019.

The instructor, Akhila Mohandas, put a bindi on our heads.

by one, and the children smelled them. An 11-year-old boy

Our intention with this program is for children to enjoy learning through participation rather than learning passively. We always strive to evoke

Bindi is a coloured powder that you put on your head. Then

whose father is from Israel said, "My dad makes chai tea

children’s sense of “fun” and their “inquisitive mind” through our cooking classes and multilingual story events. At the same time, we would like to

she let us smell some different types of spices and she let us

with cinnamon." After explaining about Indian food, shedevelop children’s awareness of global citizenship and human rights, as well as their own roots and cultures.

eat a tiny bit of a very hot spice. Akhila showed us a colourful

introduced the Indian sari and described the differences

Foreign families are favorably involved in our activities as instructors and also providing operational support. As a result, we were able to hold nine

Indian dress called a sari. She said it was about 10 metres

between it and a Japanese yukata, which a volunteer wasevents from March 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

long. She wrapped it round all of us at the same time. At thewearing in the event. The children tried on a sari and saw

We held a family online cooking for the first time. It was a very good opportunity for us to learn effective management styles using a small amountend Akhila wrote my namehow long the cloth of a sari is. Finally, Akhila introducedof resources through careful preparations and cooperation with our instructor.

in Sanskrit on a piece of card

Indian festivals. Children learned about the Holi Festival.

that I took home. Also we took

In this Hindu festival, people use a lot of colored powdersa photo together. I had a veryon their bodies. In the beginning, the children were a little

fun time, and I want to learn

scared but one brave child put them on his hair! Then they

more about India.

found out this tradition was very interesting and they started"Differences" and "Similarities" that canbe noticed during childhood

to add the colorful powders on their bodies. Akhila was very
pleased to see the children’s positive reactions because it
was much more than she expected. She says "It's just like

Indian instructor, Akhila, invited children to “travel” to India

an Indian festival." Also, she introduced “Henna tattoos” asfor an Indian culture event. She created scenes to let children

an Indian tradition. In India, people use henna tattoos as aexperience Indian culture and customs. When Indian peoplebody decoration or an amulet. Akira let the children wear

invite others to their homes, they burn incense. Therefore,

the gloves drawn with “henna art.” After experiencing all

Akhila put her hands together in front of the incense plate

the activities, Akira wrote the names of each child in Hindi

and greeted the children. Also, she introduced “bindi”. A

on the whiteboard. The children were attracted to theseven-year-old girl (Edward's sister) whose father is fromshape of letters, which is very different from the English

England stepped forward and had a bindi on her forehead.

alphabet, and they enjoyed that their names were written

Next, Akhila showed them pictures of Japanese curry ricein the unfamiliar language for them. When they wrote

and Indian curry and the children thought about their

their comments on the event review sheet, a child whose"differences". They gave their opinions about what they

father is from Israeli wrote, "I realized that there is “henna”

noticed, such as "The ingredients of Japanese curry rice are

in both India and Israel." His comment shows how he wasable to connect to his own roots. We felt thesignificance of this project because we103 people

Number of participants

65 children having heritages to foreign countries, 38 Japanese children

Counties connected with the participating

India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, Israel,children

Kyrgyzstan, Hong Kong, Japan, China

The instructors’ home countries

India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Japan, China

Sponsorship and Cooperation

We sincerely thank the NPO Mobile Communication Fund for providing a subsidy for this project. Also, we appreciate the great support from theRegional Promotion Division in Tsuzuki Ward, and all the people and companies who cooperated with us.

NPO Mobile Communication Fund / JA Yokohama / Tsuzuki Ward Office / Tsuzuki Minkaen /Minamo Kohoku / Granjapon Co., Ltd.

provided an opportunity for the children
who have heritages to foreign countries
to discover their own roots.

We do event planning and management!

Indian instructor, Akhila Mohandas: her thoughts

Because of this project, we have received requests from local nurseries and libraries, etc. They asked to plan programs to promote multicultural

Akhila, the instructor of this event, has just moved to Japan from South India last year. This was due to her

understanding for children, to coordinate with foreign instructors, and to facilitate events. Please contact us with your questions and your requests

Indian husband’s job-transfer. In her home country, she had studied at a science university and had worked onusing the contact information provided below. Include details of the nationalities of the participants, their languages, and the project budget.

creating educational content. She has a five-year-old son. She worries about raising her child in Japan because
she is not familiar with Japanese parenting style. However, since meeting us, SCC, she often comes up withideas for activities to do with children. She told us she feels fulfilled by putting her skills to use, even though
she cannot speak Japanese well.

Get in Touch

Mail Address info.sccjapan@gmail.com ｜ Website https://sharingcaringculture.org/