AHAN Project Report
Special Fundraising Seminar in Memory
and Support
for the Victims of September 11, 2001
Conducted by Kancho Gaku Homma Sensei
September 22, 2001
By Emily Busch, AHAN President
Click any photo
to see a larger version.
Under crisp blue skies, there was a familiar feeling of fall, a change
of color in the leaves, a chill in morning air. The Nippon Kan gardens
still had not lost their bloom, but something was different this September
morning…the flag in the garden was flying at half-mast.
After
witnessing the tragedy of September 11 on the news, Homma Sensei
acted with a sense of urgency and purpose and on September 12 called
his students together for a fund raising seminar to support the
victims of this travesty.
With
only a few days notice, over seventy Nippon Kan gathered for a one-day
seminar to raise funds to be donated to the American Red Cross.
The mood at the seminar was purposeful as everyone practiced hard under
Homma Sensei’s direction. The seminar raised $4,250 which will be
sent on as a token of our support of all those affected by this tragedy.
This
seminar was a project of AHAN (Aikido Humanitarian
Active Network) founded by Homma Sensei this year. As early
as 1990 Homma Sensei held a fundraising seminar for children of
the soldiers sent to the Gulf war. He has continued this tradition
and with AHAN will continue to support humanitarian efforts world-wide.
During
the seminar Homma Sensei spoke “I have lived in the United
States longer than I have lived in Japan. I have been able to develop
Nippon Kan and AHAN on US soil. In a time like this it is important
to give back the support that has been given. We all have sympathy
for the victims and their families. For those of us who were not
directly affected by this tragedy, it is our obligation to not waste
the lives of those who died. It remains for us to hold our heads
high, look straight ahead and continue the pursuit of our dreams.”