Out of Country Seminar Reports
AHAN Rio de Janeiro, Nippon Kan Brazil Awareness and Support Raising Seminar.
October 8-10, 2004
Gaku Homma, Nippon Kan Kancho and Rudy Landry, Nippon Kan Instructor traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this past October to teach at an AHAN Rio de Janeiro Nippon Kan Brazil awareness and support raising seminar organized by AHAN Rio de Janeiro, Nippon Kan Brazil IISA Instructor, Luc Leoni Sensei.
The seminar was held at the Forte Sao Jao, Ursa Brazilian Army sports training facility where over eighty Aikidoka of different styles and organizations attended.
 Practice. |
Practicing at this seminar was Mr. Ikeda, Consul-General of Japan at Rio de Janeiro. Mr. Ikeda began his practice of Aikido in college in Japan and has practiced since as his schedule as Consul-General has allowed. Mr. Ikeda practiced well with his Brazilian partners at the seminar. It was refreshing to see a man of his position join members of his community so readily. Everyone was happy to have him there and were quite respectful of his open attitude. We appreciate him being there as well and thank him very much for joining us.
 The Elizaagera Barreto family at the seminar. |
 |
 Orphanage representatives. |
 Donation to the Japanese-Brazilian Cultural and Sports Association. |
|
 Consul-General Ikeda gives a closing speech. |
After the seminar, Homma Kancho, Luc Leoni Sensei, Rudy Landry Shidoin and other AHAN members drove from Rio about thirty minutes over the Niteroi Bridge to Sao Gonzal. It was in this area that we found the Barreto family home. The Barreto family had come to the attention of Luc Leoni Sensei who found out that some of the Barreto family members were having trouble with allergies to dust, especially the baby of the family who had developed a sever allergic reaction in the form of a skin disease. AHAN Rio de Janeiro, under the leadership of Luc Leoni Sensei had taken the Barreto house on as a remodeling project last summer to make the environment more comfortable for the family members. Volunteers resurfaced the outside of the house with stucco, and laid tiles on the floors and walls on the inside. The remodeling helped to control the dust, and the health of the Barreto family, especially the littlest one improved! AHAN Rio de Janeiro plans to help other families in need in the future. AHAN is already becoming a familiar word in this neighborhood.
Outside
the Elizzangera Barreto family home.  The kitchen before reformation. |
|
 The Barretos in the kitchen after reformation. |
Unemployment is an all too common problem in the neighborhood where the Barreto family lives. There are many children living there whose families do not have enough resources for basic needs. While in the area, Homma Kancho and AHAN Rio de Janeiro members paid a visit to some of these children, bringing to them fifty soccer balls for the boys and about 300 hair decorations for the girls. AHAN has a policy for giving gifts. We have found through experience that it is best to make sure that the gifts are given directly to the recipients and are not something that adult supervisors can keep and sell for money. It is important to make sure that the gifts are used for the children as intended.
 Neighborhood children wait for the soccer balls. |
|
 The children are delighted! |
 Giving out hair decorations to the girls. |
In the Rio de Janeiro area there were six dojos of different styles and affiliations that have joined together to participate in AHAN Rio de Janeiro projects and seminars. It was wonderful to see so many different Aikidoists finding a time and place to share, communicate and do something positive for their community at the same time.
On April 15-17th, 2005 AHAN Nippon Kan headquarters in Denver and AHAN Rio de Janeiro will be coordinating a seminar to be held in Rio de Janeiro. This seminar will be guest instructed by IISA Instructor and Advisor, Shin Shin Aikishuren Juku, Hitohiro Saito Sensei of Iwama, Japan. Details coming soon!
Written by
Rudy Landry
Nippon Kan Staff Instructor
AHAN International Activity Report.
Phase I of the Brazil Okaeri Dojo Japanese Garden Project Begins.
Oct 10-18th, 2004
After the completion of phase I, the
crew poses in the new pond.
After the AHAN Rio de Janeiro awareness and fundraising seminar
in Rio came to a close, Homma Kancho set out for the village
of Santo Aleixo; home of Okaeri dojo. The project at hand was
the building of a Japanese garden and expanded retreat facility
for Okaeri dojo. The date for completion has been set for 2007
with the goal being the development of an economic and cultural
base for Okaeri dojo.
In the village of Santo Aleixo, Homma Kancho organized and led
the massive construction project. He, along with AHAN Rio de
Janeiro Nippon Kan leader Luc Leoni Sensei, other Brazilian Aikido
instructors and local young people worked around the clock to
get the project off the ground. Everyone slept and ate together
at the dojo between exhausting shifts of hard labor. It is the
dream that in the future this facility will become a practice
retreat for Aikidoists from all over Brazil and beyond regardless
of style or affiliation.
Homma Kancho has written an accompanying article “Development
of Dojo and Community in Brazil; A Garden in the Village of Santo
Aleixo” click here.
Accompanying article by Luc Leoni Sensei click here
Statements by Okaeri crew click here
AHAN IISA (Instructors in Support of AHAN) Education, Exploration
and Training Tour of Japan.
Oct 25-Nov 5th 2004.
 Iwama dojo, monument to the Founder. Center: Fernando right: Jose left: Ed. |
Fernando Roman Sensei and his wife Rocio Aguero Sensei of Mexico Aikido, Take Musu Aiki in Mexico City are the official AHAN representatives for Mexico. AHAN Mexico has an important role in organizing AHAN activities in Mexico and in the future, will have an important role in organizing AHAN activities in Central America.
For these IISA leaders, direct experience and education about Japan is an important tool for developing a wider point of view and greater level of understanding of Aikido and its place in the world. This AHAN IISA education, exploration and training tour of Japan was attended by Fernando Roman Sensei, Instructor Jose Alvarez, both of Mexico Aikido and from Milwaulkee, Instructor Edward Deiro. All three were accompanied and guided by Gaku Homma, Nippon Kan Kancho.
AHAN allocates a portion of the yearly budget for educational tours to Japan and projected tours for 2005 and beyond are now under consideration.
Please read the accompanying article written by Fernando Roman Sensei about his experiences on this trip. IISA (Instructors in Support of AHAN) Education, Exploration and Training Tour of Japan Oct 2004. Click here.
First Shipment of Thirty Computers Shipped to Mongolia.
November 5th, 2004
Wait just a little longer, they’re on their way!
AHAN Nippon Kan’s used computer distribution campaign began officially earlier this year. In less than a year, over 230 computers, printers, and other computer accessories have been donated. Out of these donated computers, not all were in working order, and our staff has worked diligently to clean, reprogram and consolidate the computers into sets ready to ship to where they are needed most. This November the first set of thirty out of one hundred computer sets designated for Mongolia were packed and readied for shipping.
The computers will be received in Mongolia by the Zorig Foundation, and the AHAN Mongolia Nippon Kan staff will be on duty to monitor distribution. The School named Hope is one specific destination for these donated computers. This school has become a destination project of AHAN and Nippon Kan since Homma Kancho visited the school personally last February. As a private school, it does not receive government support and is severely lacking in basic school supplies and operating funds. Homma Kancho determined in his February visit that AHAN and Nippon Kan would be able to assist the children and teachers in this school by supplying computers, school supplies, funds for an adequate lunch program, phone lines, and even musical instruments for a traditional music program. Last February Homma Kancho commissioned the making of ten Morin Hur string instruments to begin this program, and an update from the School named Hope can be found later in this article. A shipment of basic school supplies have already been distributed, and after the five computers designated for the School named Hope have been installed, donated portable sewing machines are scheduled for shipment to begin a vocational skills course.
To ship the computers, space was reserved on a previously scheduled container from Denver. It helps to save shipping expenses to reserve partial space on a container than to try to ship the computers individually. The travel time for the computer shipment is about forty days which means the container should arrive before Christmas. Our AHAN Mongolia team is standing by to take inventory or the shipment when it arrives in Ulaanbaatar.
This used computer distribution campaign is also being developed in other countries AHAN is currently involved with. Many thanks to all who have donated computers, their time and expertise to make this project possible.
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
For more information on donating used computers, see:
100 New -Used Computer Set Donation.
Sept 9, 2004
Updates from the School Named Hope in Mongolia.
Nov 2, 2004
On November 2nd, we received an update report from the School named Hope in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and AHAN Mongolia staff coordinator Alimansar Namjildorj and staff member Bold Tumenjargal.
The School named Hope was built with funds donated by a non-profit organization in Japan. This generous donation allowed for the building of the school, but did not leave much left over for operational costs. Since 2001, AHAN Nipppon Kan headquarters has been supporting orphanages in Ulaanbaatar. At the beginning of 2004, we assessed that the orphanages we had been supporting now had sufficient government support to warrant us in looking for a child welfare organization that was not well funded and in need. That was when Homma Kancho found the School named Hope.
The President of Mongolia and First Lady visited Nippon Kan in Denver last July and commended AHAN and Homma Kancho for works with Mongolia’s children. (Click here to view an article on the President of Mongolia’s visit to Denver and to Homma Kanchos visit to the School named Hope in February 2004.) In Mongolia there are many reasons for children to miss normal school cycles. Many families live a nomadic life-style for example which takes the children away from the schools for extended periods of time. The School named Hope is a private school that focuses on these special children and their needs. Private schools in the United States have a connotation of wealth. In Mongolia it means that they do not receive any government support which leaves them in desperate need of textbooks, school supplies and operating funds. When Homma Kancho visited the School named Hope, the books that were being used for texts were worn and tattered. Pencils were shared until they wore down to nothing. Exam papers, hundreds at times were written out by hand as there were no copy machines available. The only lunch that the school could afford for the children was a cookie and a cup of salty tea.
Since February 2004, basic school supplies have been delivered, and the musical program featuring the ten Morih Hur instruments commissioned by Homma Kancho has begun. This coming December a shipment of refurbished computers, printers and portable sewing machines are due to arrive at the school as well.
 |
|
|
| Outside view of the school neighborhood. | ||
 |
|
|
| The School of Hope. | ||
 |
|
|
| Inside the classroom. | ||
 |
|
|
| Serious chess matches. | ||
 |
|
|
| Music classes with instruments donated by AHAN. | ||
AHAN Domestic Activity Report
14th Annual Put the Beds to Bed Community Volunteer Project
Oct 16th, 2004
Fall comes to Denver with the annual “Put the Beds to Bed Project”. Today this project is administrated by the Denver Parks Department as a city-wide effort to turn the city park flower beds for winter. Fourteen years ago, Nippon Kan started this project. Back then, no one would have guessed that the project would become a yearly Denver Parks Department event.
When visitors come to the city of Denver, a favorite downtown destination is Civic Center Park which is located between the State Capitol and the City and County Building. This particular park has been cared for by the “Nippon Kan Army” for over a decade. The Nippon Kan Army is the name that the Denver Parks Department Staff Coordinators have given Nippon Kan volunteers for their enthusiasm and hard work.
This year Homma Kancho was teaching a seminar and working on other AHAN projects in Brazil, so the project way organized by Emily Busch, Nippon Kan Vice President and Nippon Kan Instructor Mary Powell. Over seventy Nippon Kan volunteers joined in to turn the beds and under Mary Powell’s direction the beds were turned by noon.
This year Nippon Kan has adopted two perennial beds year round that a smaller volunteer staff takes care of on a bi-monthly basis. Thank you to all of the volunteers for donating your time and energy to this yearly fall project.
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
October-November Homeless Food Service.
Oct 17, Nov 21, 2004
Next year Nippon Kan will pass a milestone with fifteen years of service to the homeless in Denver with meals served monthly by Nippon Kan volunteers and students. The meals are served every third Sunday of the month, and to date over 37,500 meals have been served. Homma Kancho has been there to serve almost every one of them.
Usually when Homma Kancho is traveling to teach, the meal service is rescheduled to a different Sunday of the month so that he is able to attend. This fall was a little different in that Homma Kancho had a busy travel schedule to Brazil and Japan.
For the first time in fifteen years Nippon Kan volunteers, with the help of Domo kitchen chefs served the meals without him. The service went smoothly for both October and November with the exception of inquiries by the mission staff and regular guests as to the whereabouts of Homma Kancho. Special thanks to all of the volunteers who took over in his absence. Everyone did an outstanding job.
In keeping with mission policy no photos were taken at these events.