2015-09-27
Hello from Yuka. Ogenki desuka, how are you?
Today, we like to show our favorite cafe. Where we live is a southern local city in Osaka. It is not center of Osaka. It is not like Tokyo or Kyoto, there is no special or famous place to see, but we have a very cozy cafe we can go easily.
Workers Collective Hand (they started from 1997 and became full-scale non profit organization (NPO) in 2013) who is doing all kinds of help for the residents, including care for aged, small children, and everyone who need help, made this cafe three years ago. Beause of the rapid aging society, public welfare sytem may not work as we expect and Hand was made to collect time and ability for care for others in the same community.
Their basic principles is care by local residents- to keep living in where we are. We all feel keeping living in the community but it becomes hard sometimes - illness, old age, raising children and so on and a little helping hand can enable to keep the life at our own house, that is their concept.
My father had Hand memebers visit when he was at our house. He now lives in a group home close to my house. When this cafe was made, we visited and had lunch and since then each time I see my father, he says `Let's go to the cafe'. At the cafe, he could meet the familiar faces of Hand members. He is usually very quiet, does not show his will but he tells me he wants to go to this cafe and when we go, we sit at the table at the terrace and enjoy the lunch and sweets. |