On February 3rd, six students at Tokyo Jogakkan Middle School visited Habitat Japan. They have volunteered their time at the office as part of their school activity for social responsibility.

These young students first heard of Habitat at the GLOBAL FESTA JAPAN 2009. Approximately 10,000 people gathered at this tow day event, and almost 1000 visitors came to learn about Habitat. 6/1000 of which were those who decided to take step further with Habitat Japan today.
Listening to the stories by volunteer teams who's been on the Global Village trips and learning how students can participate in this worldwide movement first hand, these students' curiosity led them to visit us.
Their day started with viewing video on Habitat's work in the field, then moved on to filing pictures sent in by the Global Village volunteers and preparing the organization's quarterly newsletter for shipping. During, they each were looking for clues to answer their questions, including "Why did Habitat's work start?" "How does Habitat work?" and "What does Habitat staff do all day?"
At the end of the day, they all seem to have found answers. Here are the comments by the student volunteers:
*************************************************************************************************************
▼Ever since my visit at GLOBAL FESTA, I have been very interested in Habitat's work. I am glad that I came to visit the office today because I got to learn about the countries far away and their situation. I would like to join a program where I build houses for the needy, with my friends! (A.T.) ▼Now I know that Habitat doesn't only build houses but through which the victims [of natural disasters and conflicts] can gain a sense of achievement and cooperation with others. It made me want to join the program and start my own volunteer groups (C.I.). ▼ I learnt how Habitat has been working to build clean and durable houses one by one, over a long time. Like that, I felt that finding the needs in the world is important. Now I want to meet many new people and learn about them. I've had a great time today, thank you! (N.S.) ▼Talking to several people at Habitat, I realized that having a house may seems all so common to some but not so much for some others at the same time. I would like to be a person who can naturally give a helping hand when someone needs me. I think I will start with volunteering (K.F). ▼Because we are from different cultures, it must be hard to work together sometimes. But building houses with different people overseas seems fun as well. I think I would like raising funds for the needy and sharing the stories with people around me (M.H.). ▼Through this visit, I learnt how important to have a house to go home. Seeing how Habitat's programs are worth giving a try, I would like to sign up for it when I am in college (S.A.).
*************************************************************************************************************
Thank you for your visit and the help for all six of you. Practice makes perfect! Keep your curiosity and interest; we are looking forward to working with you in the near future.