KATAGIRI CHILDREN’S VILLAGE

The Katagiri Children’s Village is the dream and vision of Mr. and Mrs Katagiri, Niigata, Japan. It is their dream and vision that if they provide the infrastructure – buildings and equipment, New Hope will be able to care for children who need a home, a safe haven.

Many ears ago Mr. and Mrs Katagiri came to visited New Hope with a study tour group of People to People Aid (P2) Japan. It gave Mr and Mrs Katagiri the understanding that New Hope is an organisation through whom they could realise their vision.

The first Home was for city children who wished to have a ‘holiday learning home’ – children who were young, working hard and having no or poor family backgrounds and situations. From this one home the idea has grown beyond our dreams. We now have 25 small boys.

In the Katagiri Boys Home and in the adjoining Home 27 small girls. These are children who are orphans; children found living on railway station platforms, and children from poverty line backgrounds whose family can not care for them. Each home has a senior boy or girl to care for them under the supervision of a Home Supervisor. The children also have their own ‘child to child’ brother or sister. One older child has two younger children to care for. They go together to the dining room, are helped t bath and keep the clothing in order. They are a mini family within themselves. This gives stability and a sense of togetherness for the children.

2008 photographs of the children’s homes.

The Katagiri Kitchen and Dinging room has changed the style of dining for the children. It has made the food preparation of a higher standard and it has made the economical of cooking very cost effective.

The Kitchens is tiled and has a special area for cleaning vegetables, and a separate area for cleaning all of the pots and vessels used in the food preparation. In the monsoon rains we use gas to cook and in the dry seasons and winter firewood. Much of the firewood is collected from our own land.

The dining is a long building with suitable sitting for the Indian meal. There are areas for the children to wash their hands and later clean their plates and glasses. The serving of the food is done by the senior girls in the Home care programme.

The Vocational Training Centre is a very important part of the Katagiri-New Hope Development plan. It has eight (8) rooms for different leaning and work experience. The Computer room for the students is well organised and children can come from 7am to 6pm for classes or to use the computers for their own study.

The Central Utilities Storeroom keeps all of the material for maintaining the project and is a training centre for learning about tools and equipment and record keeping of stock.

Next to this is a Diesel learning room together with other mechanical equipment. This room is also used for making sandals for the project.

The building is in two sections in an L shape. In the second wing we have the Central Food and Business Management Room. Here senior girls learn how to manage and keep records for food and provisions. Twice a day senior girls go to the Central Store with a Teacher and measure and record all of the food items used for the three meals cooked each day. They have a system of knowing the wholesale price, rate per kilo and the way to bill and debit the food to the projects. This very important long term training skill, for the girls.

Next to this room is the always busy Tailoring Centre. There are always 3 tailors working with two or three apprentices. Boys and girls from the 5th class upwards also attend the Tailoring Centre in the afternoons for hobby classes in stitching – The repairs to children’s clothing is done under supervision by the hobby class. Presently there is also a small embroidery group.

The project makes its own notebooks and exercise books for the School at the Community Centre. Bookbinding is learnt and done by children who have stalled with us from being beggars on railway station platforms pr who are disabled. The Screen Printing carried out in this Unit provided the project with all the basic printing needs of the project.

(Tee shirts made in the Screen Printing room and stitched by the tailors in the Vocational Training Centre.

The Cycle and Repair Shop is an ideal place for senior boys who do not wish to do High School studies. Many of the poorer children have missed years of schooling and when they get to 14 or 15 years of age find it too hard to go back to school. A young person with simple mechanical skills can always get a job or even start there own small business. India is still a nation of cycles.

The Katagiri Meditation Centre is a quiet area within the always busy and active community centre. Three meditation open plan pagoda type buildings surround a music pagoda and there is a peaceful pool cum fish pond.

The Katagiri has helped us set up an irrigation centre that allows us to grow our own vegetables and food for animals.

The Buffalo Yard is a well fenced area where we are able to manage Milk Buffalo. We have a well organised breeding programme. The milk is all used in the children food programme. The older boys in the programme and widowed HIV mothers all participate in this project. Several of the senior boys have learnt to milk the buffalo and the women cut grass for the animals. The cow waste is composted for the spil to improve the quantity of vegetables grown. We use no chemicals or artificial fertilizers..

THE KATAGIRI IRRIGATION GARDEN To be more self productive and self suppooprting Mr and Mrs Katagiri raised funds to have an irrigation system organised for the growing of vegetables and grass for the milk buffalo to eat (fodder). The vegetable garden is a great activity for the children after school.

Christmas 2007 – Celebrating with gifts sent by Mrs Katagiri and friends in Japan.