JOEE brings joyful English-language lessons into orphanages, preparing kids for future jobs in the globally-connected, wide world. This project ends on December 31, 2022. Please help us reach our goal of $50,000! Help change these children's lives for the better. JOEE's goal is to teach 1,000 English lessons this year. It costs about $50 per lesson for materials and transportation for teachers. Supporters have donated $38,000 so far; we still need $12,000 to reach our goal. Can you help?

Challenge

Close to 45,000 children live in institutionalized care homes across Japan. Because adoption rates are extremely low and because Japanese laws prevent these children being adopted by foreign families, most of these children will spend their entire young lives in the home. At age 18, they must exit and try to make it on their own. Without a supportive family system, they struggle to enter college or to find work. Homelessness and unemployment are common; orphans are often discriminated against.

Long-Term Impact

As the birth rate in Japan drops and the population ages, Japan is more than ever in need of competent and well-balanced citizens who can contribute meaningfully to society. Thousands of orphans are growing up in institutionalized care in Japan and they are a desperately needed resource. They are not "throw-away" children as they are sometimes labeled by Japanese society. They can be future bilingual leaders, empathetic to others in need and able to think globally, beyond the borders of Japan.

References

1. http://www.youmewenpo.org
2. https://joee.jp
3. https://youtu.be/_FsqBkQmll4

Additional Documentation

https://www.globalgiving.org//pfil/48043/projdoc.pdf

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