Events in 2002

Township kids, Capetown South Africa.
"Shopping Cart converted into a car!!!"
What if they could produce some kids film? That would be interesting?
J Productions is trying to make it happen!!!
If you are interested, please contact us>contact@jproductions.tv

買い物篭を車に改造。南アフリカ、元気なタウンシップの子供たち。
Jプロダクションズでは彼らに映画を作ってもらいたいと考えています。
この企画に興味関心のある方は,ご連絡ください。>>>contact@jproductions.tv

Thank you for supporting J Productions. In 2002 we managed to accomplish one of our many goals to help Wakinbisi Skills Training School in South Africa. We appreciate your help and encouragement in assisting our projects and we will continue to support projects all over the world.

One of our aims is to motivate local children to produce their own films, for we believe that all people love films and that films create dreams and eventually that dreams come true.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperations.

Junji Kashiwagi
Program coordinator

Dear Friends

FROM LULU: for the poorest of the poor in South Africa. Please send your old clothes etc. Also see attached photos I took when I visited there.

Like every year, once again, I would like to send this letter to all of you, and if you know people who would like to help, it would be nice if you could forward this on, and maybe we can make many people happy during this time of the year.

The government of South Africa brought a new program onto its legs to help and educate the poor and underprivileged. This programme is called the RDP--an abbreviation for Reconstruction and Development Program. A friend of mine is in charge of such a program nearby Cape Town. They educate and help people to help themselves and teach them how to carve out better lives for themselves. But most of those people have a life so basic that it is hard for anyone of us to believe that such circumstances really do exist. And with basic I mean that what you have is what you wear, and that is it. I visited one of the shanty towns the previous time I visited SA and plan to go again when I return in December. As part of the RDP my friend already helped them to bring day-care centres for house-help mothers to existence, taught them how to make their own bricks, and brought a night shelter to existence which is now run by the tramps themselves-yes they are now proud tramps. For these street men, it is most probably the first time in their lives that they were given responsibility, and they are making the best of it-walking around with their tattoos, yellow teeth and red eyes as if they have just closed a million dollar deal-but for them that is a million dollar deal.

During my last visit to SA I visited a play group I was astonished to find a dung-floor play school, 80 children for a space not bigger than 35 square meters. Their mothers leave them there everyday when they leave for work, and pick them up again in the evening.

But education begins here, and 4 years ago, I launched a project asking people to help these people. Too often people say that they don't know what to do with their old clothes.

This is what you can do: Yes, useful stuff is thrown out, and there are others who need them.

Toys, books, towels, blankets, old clothes, educational material, even adult clothes would help them. So very often in Japan we are stuck with things we don't know what to do with. It would be wonderful if any of you who read this article can send old clothes, books, toys or whatever on to these people who will only appreciate your kindness. Most of them do not even know that places such as Japan or America exist, or where it is, or that one can really get there, but we can help them learn more about the world, widening their perspective on life, and help them to respect what people do for each other even more. Most of the children there have never even possessed their own toy.

Postage is not that expensive. To mail a large standard post office box to South Africa, Surface mail, costs about 3000 yen. Three thousand yen is the price we pay for 12 pieces of sushi without even blinking an eye. I would appreciate it if people can send parcels directly to South Africa, for I do not have the funds to finance the program personally.

So far, quite a few people have sent them goods, and they were immensely happy about it, and they even wrote a piece in the local newspaper about the goods they received. One church group in the US have become so active that they send quite a few boxes every year. At times, when they have surplus goods, they even supply the hospital in Hermanus with clothes from this project. Tilla told me that one shipment of goods arrived DIRECTLY after a big flood and it was as if it was sent from heaven. Do not send cash, it makes things too complicated, for this is a non-profit organisation and the handling of cash makes things very complicated. Rather send them pencils or something. Warm clothes are welcome too, even though this is Africa, for these people experience rather cold nights, and wet winters. Please don't refrain from sending warm clothes too.

Anyone who would be kind enough to forward items to these people, can mail it surface mail/air mail (Please mark the parcel as second-hand goods) to: