Soothing Sendai (REPORT)

(PHOTO: Japanese & New York team at Sendai school for healing event/DRJUDYK)(HN, March, 22, 2012) - American psychologist Dr. Judy Kuriansky and famous Japanese and US  musicians traveled to the earthquake-affected area in northern Japan to do workshops and concerts for survivors, especially children, on the day after the one year anniversary of the 3.11 disaster.

“Many singers, sports stars, and helpers came to our town to help right after the natural disaster hit, but over time now, people have forgotten. The residents, and especially the children, are suffering now as ever before,” Go Osaka of The Recovery Assistance Center of Miyagi told international psychologist and NGO representative to the United Nations, Dr. Judy Kuriansky, when they met recently in New York at the United Nations concert in honor of the one-year anniversary of the Japan tragedy.

“Now we need to keep paying attention to the people and especially to their emotional needs,” Osaka told the noted psychologist.

Kuriansky, an expert in trauma who has done psychological first aide workshops and trainings after many international disasters, offered to help. That night, a plan was made for her to help design recovery workshops for the children of the affected areas.

The project is a partnership of The Recovery Center of Miyagi and Kuriansky’s NGO accredited at the United Nations, the International Association of Applied Psychology.  Another partner is the Stand Up For Peace Project that she co-founded with internationally acclaimed New York composer Russell Daisey.

(PHOTO: Japanese Soprano Tomoko Shibata and New York composer Russell Daisey performing in Sendai/DRJUDYK)

The Recovery Assistance Center of Miyagi plans to buy abandoned school houses and set up after-school programs for the children.  The programs will offer varied services.  Besides psychological help, famous musicians will give concerts and teach the children music.

Kuriansky enlisted the participation of two good friends who are famous Japanese musicians: world-class operatic soprano Tomoko Shibata and internationally acclaimed pop star Shinji Harada.  Both have performed concerts in the affected Sendai area, but are happy to do more, and to work with the two new partners.

“I feel pain and sadness over what happened in my country on 3/11,” says Shibata. “And I also feel the pain of America after 9/11 since I was in New York and saw the second plane hit the tower. I know that music has the power to heal, for myself, for all the people in Miyagi and all those who suffer.”

Harada feels similarly.  He has been devoted to performing Global Harmony peace charity concerts for years worldwide, including at the United Nations. He has a project helping impoverished children in the Philippines and he has written children's songs and a school anthem specifically for the children of Japan after this disaster.  Born in Hiroshima, he knows the pain of loss and devastation in his hometown from what happened in WWII. 

(PHOTO: Japanese pop star Shinji Harada singing for Sendai schoolchildren/DRJUDYK)

“The time has come to show how “kindness” is crucial to saving the world,” says Harada, and music has always been one way to send out positive messages.”

All concerts and workshops were free.  

On the night of the 3/11 anniversary, Shibata produced and performed in a memorial concert, the fourth in her series “Songs for Hope,” at the prestigious Yamaha Hall in Tokyo.  Kuriansky and Daisey flew to Tokyo from New York to be present at the concert and introduce their healing anthem `Towers of Light’ which they co-wrote after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York, and which Shibata recently translated into Japanese, renaming it “Souls Become Stars.” The song debuted on the 3/11 night.

For the two day mission in Sendai, Kuriansky organized her `Healing Hearts' workshop to teach children techniques to reduce stress, build energy and personal strength, and regain hope.  These techniques are part of her toolbox used in her `Global Kids Connect' project, which connects children of trauma worldwide. The Japanese children drew messages of hope on cranes that will be brought to children in Haiti who have also been traumatized by an earthquake and will return the favor.

“This creates a circle of caring and support that psychological principles prove helps people, and especially children, heal in the face of trauma,’ says Kuriansky.

(PHOTO: NY psychologist Judy Kuriansky making cranes with Sendai schoolchildren/DRJUDYK)Kuriansky has applied these techniques in her psychological first aide interventions and training of local supporters in other parts of the world, including after the Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina in the USA, and earthquakes in Haiti and in China.

“I know how well children respond to these experiences that are not only helpful but also fun, so children feel safer and not alone,” says Kuriansky, who has taught her students these techniques in classes at Columbia University Teachers College.

“As an international psychologist, it is my honor to teach the Japanese children techniques I have taught children all over the world, after many disasters that can make them feel stronger and also connected to other children around the world who care about them,” Kuriansky adds.

The centers in Miyagi will offer not only music, arts, drawing, theatre, but also sports training.  Kuriansky has already enlisted friends who will send sports stars to meet with and teach, the children.

(PHOTO: Sendai school children at healing event/DRJUDYK)“The project warms my heart, thinking of bringing so many people from diverse fields of expertise to continue with supporting the people in Miyagi,” says Kuriansky.

The other important aspect is to create sustainability.  “People need to know you will continue the programs, and not just ‘helicopter’ in and leave.  You have to set up programs that last,” she says.  “That’s why we will have many volunteers in these fields and also we will train the local people, like teachers, to continue this work.”

--- HUMNEWS.  Dr. Judy Kuriansky is a clinical psychologist at Columbia University Teachers College, an NGO representative at the United Nations for the International Association of Applied Psychology and a member of the HUM Board of Advisors.

The View From Here: How Does a Small Classroom Garden Become Part of a Big Solution?

(PHOTO: Birds Nest Foundation-Ground Up Campaign) By Judy Shapiro

Alarm bells are ringing nationwide in the United States regarding the rising obesity rates among children. Public figures ranging from first lady Michelle Obama to officials across the country are recognizing the severity of the issue and are looking for tangible ways to help reverse the trend. It can seem like a losing battle since kids are hit with a double whammy. First - easy, cheap and convenient access to junk food often outshines healthier choices (ABC News). Then, as kids become used to highly processed foods, healthy options seem tasteless by comparison.

Lots of attention in addressing this issue is rightly focused on school programs because students consume 30% to 50% of their daily calories at school. The solution seems simple enough -- properly fund school lunch budgets. But unfortunately with budgets as they are, on average we spend about 90 cents per day per child on ingredients -- less than many might spend on their pet's daily diet. Shocking isn't it?

That leaves a huge "nutrition" gap which explains the urgent need. There are many types of programs from lots of different organizations looking to help make a difference. Some focus on education (e.g. Whole Kids Foundation), others on cooking (The Creative Kitchen) while others like Together Counts, introduce a balanced of view lifestyle changes -- like family meals and activities.

Here's yet another example of an approach that gets at the root of the issue (pun intended). This program is called the "Ground Up Campaign" and it is about providing schools with indoor classroom gardens that let students grow and enjoy their harvests during the school year. I love this approach because it is a clever and cost-effective system for students to learn and appreciate the life process of food -- from seed to the table. Recent research done at the UC Davis Center for Nutrition in Schools, confirms the payoff in this low cost/high return type of program:

• Improves knowledge of nutrition, food preferences, and consumption of fruits and vegetables
• Allows for the integration of multiple subject areas
• Enhances overall academic achievement
• Provides children with an understanding of agriculture and the environment
• Improves life skills, self-esteem, social skills and behavior

Avis RichardsThat's' why this program has a lot of fire power behind it. Conceived and led by Avis Richards, CEO of Birds Nest Foundation. (a non-profit that provides video production and web-enabled content to numerous charitable foundations) it includes The United States of Food, Grow to Learn NYC, NYC Strategic Alliance for Health, The Green Bronx Machine and generous sponsors like Botanical Interests, Gilt City, Health Warrior and Whole Foods.

The result is an integrated set of elements orchestrated to connect kids with the value of healthy foods. Each of the 100 initial schools in the program will receive a raised-bed garden with 8" of soil space, trellis, grow light, organic soil and seeds, gardening tools to grow an edible garden in the classroom. A companion curriculum developed by Veggiecation is included to ensure students gain knowledge of the life process in addition to hands-on growing experience.

As important, the program will include 16-year old role model, Dylan Richards, who is proactively making changes to his own lunchbox to help young people find better ways to eat healthy food that is still delicious. Dylan travels throughout the five boroughs addressing many nutrition related issues including poor food quality.

The "a garden in every classroom" approach is best summed up by Mud Baron, the former Green Policy Director for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) whose name alone reveals his passion. His approach is simple: "Kids who grow good food, eat good food. Kids who cook good food, eat good food."

Sometimes it's the small things, like growing our own food that can make a big difference. Sometimes, big changes start from the ground up.

Judy is a regular contributor to AdAge.com's DigitalNext section. Her column, Trenchwars, is a top small business blog that provides insights on how to create business value on the internet and is currently chief brand strategist at CloudLinux, and is founder, CEO of engageSimply, a social media and direct marketing communications company. *This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post.  Follow Judy Shapiro on Twitter: www.twitter.com/judyshapiro

The View from Here: The Wisest Person I Know

Couples everywhere, as spring shone her eccentric self. Beautiful.

Belgrade celebrated International Women’s Day this March like I’ve never seen before. While not an official state holiday, it may as well have been. Women, young and old, roamed the city smiling, so many nonchalantly holding single wrapped roses—red, white, pink—in their hands.

In celebration of women around the world, the winter seemed to recluse to her seasonal hibernation, allowing for lovers to lock their hands and wander the parks and streets of Belgrade. It was a beautiful tradition—a legitimate reason to give someone a rose. And who lead this floral festival? The YOUTH! They had finally come out of hiding.

When I first arrived in Belgrade, Serbia—where I’m doing some media-communications work for the United Nations Development Programme—it was drab, cold, and old. The buildings, undoubtedly relics of the country’s communist past, as if shivering in the snow, stood grey and dreary. But beyond the weather, roaming the streets, searching for the best coffee and late-night food, I noticed that something was missing: young people. They seemed to have gone to sleep, waiting for weather that wouldn’t necessitate layers or brandy, or both. And now, they were out, and in drones.

Though I haven’t seen a lot in my first few weeks in Belgrade, I don’t get the feeling that youth activism here—the social change sector, so to speak—is even breathing. It seems dead. Unemployment, poverty, and apathy seem to have overtaken any youth leadership in the country; a far cry from the youth fervor that led to the fall of Slobodan Milošević’s dictatorship.

I was talking to some young Serbians at a coffee shop a few days ago, and it really seems that they don’t care. There is an unequivocal sense of … blah! The government is ineffective, they say. There is corruption. There are no social services. But, worst, at least from those I spoke to, they don’t think they can make a difference. Hope is gone. Maybe, I’m wrong. Maybe those that I talked to are a terrible sample. But I think I am right.

Thankfully, inspiration from my fellow youth came from elsewhere this week: the streets of Libya. As stories continue to emerge of the battles and blood, strange thoughts are stirring within my inner activist. Thoughts about child soldiers. I never thought I’d be writing this, or even thinking it, but maybe there can be a context for them. Maybe their existence isn’t always morally repugnant.

Before you instant label me a child-rights-hating-bigot, let me explain. Please.

I recently read an article about the revolution in Libya, which told of how there are young women and men, joining the resistance. These teenagers aren’t being kidnapped and forced to fight, like any traditional notion of child soldiers. Instead, they are protecting their homes, they families, their dignity. They believe in something. They are fighting for democracy.

The international community has long condemned the use of child soldiers. The United Nations, on numerous occasions—the Convention on the Rights of Children, the Rome Statute etc.—has outlawed the use of children in combat. I too have always been appalled at the very idea. And I am in no way advancing a cause for the use of children, especially young children, in the choice-less atrocity of forced combat. Never would I advocate for the abuses that we’ve seen in places like Sierra Leone. But could there be the exception to the rule?

Maybe it would make me feel better if I changed the name and didn’t call them child soldiers, at all. Maybe, they’re better called adolescent soldiers. Freedom fighters? Activists? Or maybe just change-makers? What’s the difference?

I am friends with a few former child-soldiers. Their experiences were horrifying, scarring, and grave violations of human rights. But this, this seems different.

Often, when faced with questions of such moral dilemma, I turn to my father: my mentor and the wisest person that I know. I wonder what he would say? He is the human being in the world that, almost surely, loves me more than anyone else. I wonder if he’d tell me to fight. I mean, he was kicked out of East Africa at the age of 10, his family forced to flee the persecution and danger of nationalism’s daunting face. If he had had the chance to fight, if that chance was there, would he have? Would he want me to, if it were my country? What if this was happening in Canada? There’s little doubt in my mind that I’d be on the front-lines, fighting for the soil that has given me everything. If I had children, what would I tell them? I really do wonder what Papa would say, but I don’t have the audacity or courage to ask.

My musings it seems have found no other form than this column. Revolutions, it seems, don’t only change the lives of those on the ground; they challenge the notions, the norms, and the perceptions of peoples all across the world.

I haven’t found an answer, but let’s see what Belgrade’s alcoves share with me. In the mean time, I’m praying: for the victims of Japan’s earthquake and for the people in Libya.

Today, that’s the view from here.

--- Nejeed Kassam is a Canadian youth activist and is the founder of the international NGO’s `End Poverty Now’ and `Networks for Change.’ Nejeed is currently writing two books including the sequel to the “High on Life” book and is a young activist, at the moment working on his international resume in Belgrade, Serbia for the UN Development Programme.