More about the Ashinaga Foundation, June 10th

The group of Japanese teens involved with Ashinaga Foundation had one more event in NYC before flying back to Tokyo.  I met up with Ariana Moir, a member of the education section of the Japan Society, and traveled with her and others to Gotham High School in Brooklyn.  We, along with several members of the press, teachers and a large group of students, piled into a small classroom to await a meeting with the Ashinaga kids.  The presentation began with the Japanese students introducing themselves and telling a brief story about their individual experiences with trauma.  Then the American kids took turns asking questions – the language barrier caused some difficulty, but the Ashinaga group was led by a wonderful interpreter.  The kids at Gotham were so excited to meet people their own age from Japan, and they loved being able to share their interest in Japanese culture and a little bit of their unique backgrounds.  After a display of choral music and rhythmic martial arts, the two groups exchanged large fabric banners they’d made for each other.  It was a confusing, messy affair, but it allowed the kids to share smiles and laugh at blunders as they passed the banners to one another.  After the Gotham kids bashfully bestowed a present of custom t-shirts, which were received with blushes and quiet words of thanks, the cultural barrier became less intimidating and the students became just a mix of kids – laughing, rough-housing and exchanging emails.  The Gotham kids, themselves from difficult backgrounds – brought smile to their guests faces, and excitement to everyone in the room.  Watching new friends form is always a wonderful experience, and in that brief two hours, it was magical to see that, even with fresh memories of disaster, these kids embraced their new friends with smiles on their faces.