“While other students went back home because of the earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear accident, Mr. Liu Hong Jun, one of our Chinese students from Beginner II, offered to do volunteer work in Japan.

When we asked him why he wanted to stay in Japan and be a volunteer, he said “My dad told me to help out Japanese people since Japan is in a serious situation. I completely agreed with him. I would love to do some volunteer work but I don’t know where I should go.”

Since we know some staff members from Universal Design Research Institute in Japan, we contacted
Mr. Kiyohiko Ueno, communication leader of the earthquake team at the institute. He agreed to see him right away
and conducted an interview with him. Because Mr. Lu has been in Japan for only half a year, one of the SNG staff members went with him as an interpreter.

“Are you not scared of earthquakes?”
“No I’m not”
“Why do you want to work as a volunteer?”
“When I arrived in Japan, Japanese people really took care of me. It’ll be a shame if I go back to my country.I want to help Japanese people in return.”
“Since working in the devastated area is too risky, we will probably ask you to work in Tokyo. There will be some boring but tough work as well, would that be okay for you?”
“Yes.”
“We do not have anyone who can speak Chinese on the team. What are you going to do if you have some problems with the Japanese language?”
“…I will bring my dictionary everyday”
“Okay, let’s work together.”
“Great. Thank you very much.”
They firmly shook hands.

Until the new term begins, he will be working from 9am to 6pm. It takes more than an hour to get from his house to the work place. He helps send relief aid to the affected area. When our principal contacted Mr. Ueno about Mr. Lu, he was told that“Mr. Lu is working very hard with the Japanese staff members.” The work must be tough. We really appreciate his kindness and effort.

“