Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Welcome, Yayoi Sogo, Volunteer Coordinator!
In July, Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) was pleased to welcome Yayoi Sogo as volunteer coordinator. Entering this new staff position, Yayoi fulfills the need for a central point person to manage the soup kitchen and other volunteer activities, which had always been largely volunteer-run. These activities have grown and evolved over the years thanks to the hard work of volunteers. Now, with Yayoi’s help, 2HJ will develop even more as we continue to depend on the good will and dedication of volunteers.
I know that the other volunteers will join me in welcoming Yayoi to the team, and I hope the below interview provides a good start for getting to know her!
Yayoi Sogo (left) with Patricia Decker, who served as volunteer coordinator since 2003.
Q: How did you find out about 2HJ?
Actually, I only found out about it recently. I had been interested in social entrepreneurship and non-profit organizations (NPOs) that support the socially disadvantaged, and I wanted to find a job that would let me provide such people with the things they need, thereby delivering hope and strength to them as well. At the beginning of 2008, I went to New York to visit some NPOs and find out how I could get involved but, since I also do other work, I was having trouble figuring out how I could balance my time and attention between both types of work. Just then, a friend saw a program featuring 2HJ on TV and told me about it.
Q: What made you decide to work at 2HJ?
I believe that at the very least, as we all carve out our path in life, each and every person should be ensured a basic living standard and a fair start. The fact that 2HJ’s activities focus on providing that most basic necessity—food—really resonated with me. My particular interest was in fighting poverty, but I learned that 2HJ’s deal not just with helping the needy, but also with making good use of foods that would have gone to waste (because of nearing expiration dates and other reasons), so we’re naturally involved in addressing environmental and other societal problems.
What really sealed my decision to work at 2HJ, though, was the fun experience of working together with the volunteers. Seeing such a large number of volunteers come together to make a huge amount of food for the soup kitchen, and the feelings of happiness and fulfillment I got from working as a team to make the food, brought back memories of the fun I’d had at my high school culture festivals.
Q: What do you do at 2HJ?
I basically coordinate the volunteers. The main volunteer activities happen Thursday through Saturday, so throughout the week I act as the point person for recruiting and signing up the number of volunteers needed for the activities, and on the day of the activities I assign the job responsibilities and oversee all the work.
Q: How do you spend your time when you’re not at 2HJ?
I work as a conference interpreter. Doing simultaneous interpretation, you work in a booth in total isolation; if you lose your concentration for even a moment, you miss what’s being said and can’t do your job. For me, it’s almost like some kind of ascetic training, trying to find that point where I cease to be aware of my own existence and can truly focus. The active cooperation of working with various people to produce something at 2HJ is the polar opposite of interpreting, and I feel that both are necessary jobs for my life.
Q: What are your hopes for contributing to 2HJ?
My first impression of 2HJ’s volunteers was of the overwhelmingly abundant number of people who signed up for or were interested in volunteering, as well as the fact that many of the volunteers were non-Japanese and had experience volunteering in their own countries. The volunteers are diverse not just in terms of nationality; they represent a variety of ages, viewpoints, and backgrounds. I’m realizing day by day what a treasure trove of resources this diversity amounts to. I think the richness of its volunteer base is 2HJ’s strength, and my goal is to make the best use possible of that invaluable power.
Interviewer: Patricia Decker
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