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Japan Hope Builders 08-1 Update: Arrival in Bangkok! (8/27)
Bangkok, August 27
The 17 members of the Japan Hope Builders Team have arrived safely in Bangkok! Among the members who gathered from all over Japan, some came by overnight bus to Narita Airport in Tokyo, while others spent the night at internet cafes or restaurants in order to make the early morning meeting time.
After resting up at the hotel in Bangkok, we spent the evening at the night bazaar. At the welcome dinner which included members of the Habitat Thailand staff, everyone introduced themselves and explained why they chose to participate in this program.
The majority of this team is made up people participating individually, and so the meeting at Narita Airport was the first time the team got to see each other’s faces. Although some seemed nervous at first, tomorrow’s first day of work on the construction site will surely bring everyone together.
The Voice of Participants
Koudai (Third year high school student, Osaka)
The reason he decided to participate in this program was because his sister strongly encouraged him. Since he wanted to take part in a volunteer program during his summer vacation, he thought why not take part in a program abroad? And so he decided to apply to this program which was led by a tour guide. Although he is the only high school student, he is very friendly and got to know everyone in no time.
Tomoya (Third year college student, Shizuoka)
This trip is Tomoya’s first time abroad. In order to make it to the early morning meeting, he took an overnight bus to Shinjuku and spent the night in an internet café in the city.
Originally, he had intended to travel to Thailand by himself to view the work of an NGO he was interested in. When he heard about this program, he decided to apply because he wanted to “actively get out there and move his body rather than just observe” and because he was moved by Habitat’s motto of ‘not simply giving a house, but working together as equal partners to build the house.” He was not worried about taking part as an individual participant.
