Today, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital (Holland Bloorview) welcomed forty guests for an exciting morning of cultural exchange and celebration of diversity and sport.
Among the guests were 9 students from the Tohoku area of Japan who have been affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. The travel has been facilitated through Support Our Kids, a Japanese not-for-profit organization aimed at providing support and nurturing children who have survived through the devastating circumstances of the resulting tsunami into becoming “future reconstruction leaders” back home.
While in Toronto, the Japanese children are hosted by Toronto-area philanthropists and Rotarians, Chako Setoyama and James Matsumoto, who also raised funds for the children’s travel. The Consul-General of Japan, Ms. Takako Ito was also present, as well as 6 local students, youth facilitators and an interpreter.
“These Support Our Kids children have experienced the trauma of the disaster from the 2011 tsunami and are recovering and growing,” said Matsumoto and Setoyama in a joint statement. “As we partner together to help, we are watching them take steps to thrive with a greater hope and global outlook.”
“The program gives [the children from Tohoku] opportunities to see that there are still people who care about them, and thereby gives them renewed hope,” said Consul-General Ito, and she wished that they will always treasure the ties they now have with Canada.
Celebrating diversity in Spiral Garden
The group spent the morning participating in Holland Bloorview’s Spiral Garden program, an innovative outdoor summer camp that welcomes children with and without disability to play and engage in a variety of activities such as art, gardening and play.
“Spiral Garden is the perfect place for this event,” said Julia Hanigsberg, president and CEO of Holland Bloorview. “Art and play is so important for a child’s growth, and not just because they are a lot of fun but they can also break down barriers and act as a common language between people who may not understand each other otherwise. They allow children to express themselves when they can’t find the right words and can have tremendous healing powers that can help move through difficult or traumatic experiences.”
With art as a primary focus of the Spiral Garden program, the Japanese children gifted a traditional flag along with paints and stamps. Together, the participants decorated the flag that will fly during the Rugby World Cup in Japan this fall. Canadian rugby champion and World Rugby Hall of Fame and Rugby Canada Hall of Fame inductee Al Charron was present at the event to accept the flag. The flag will return to Holland Bloorview after the tournament and will be displayed at the hospital.
“What an honour it is for Rugby Canada to be involved in such a beautiful and symbolic ceremony today,” said Charron. “This flag will be flown proudly in Kamaishi during our test match between Canada and Namibia in October. It is an important match for Canada and we hope to draw on the inspiration of this flag and count on the loud and vocal support of the good people from Kamaishi!”
Blossoming friendships
As a token of gratitude, Matsumoto and Setoyama presented Spiral Garden with cherry trees which will be planted in the fall to commemorate the event.
Holland Bloorview has a close friendship with Consul-General Ito, who last year brought Daiki, one of Japan’s premier illusionists to the hospital for a special performance celebrating 90 years of diplomatic relations between Canada and Japan.
