Our Planet

Text : Tomoko Nagao

Everyday for the last 3 months since March, I felt it sincerely that if every person changes, the community changes impactfully. It is understandable that if one baby is welcomed into a family, then the whole dynamic of the family changes. In the same logic, if one person changes, the impact within the community is changed. It was very impressionable that due to the shift in the staff members as well as the change in our lives brought by the effect of Covid-19, we are in the midst of a huge change in our community. 

 

The Shift in Our Community

As for adults, we have said goodbye to R-san and M-san and welcomed N-san and N-san, who has returned from a parental leave. As for children, we have said goodbye to H-chan, and welcomed S-kun and R-kun. A-kun, A-kun and K-kun went to Yamanoko.

On top of the shifts affected by these newcomers, there was a change brought by other factors such as not being able to spend time with children whose parents corporated to stay-at-home during Corona as well as not being able spend time with other friends from Yamanoko because the interaction between Yamanoko and Home have been incredibly limited.

When the interaction that was once normalized became difficult, we think of other ways to interact. Originally, we would have liked to get together with the parents to say goodbye to the staff who is leaving, but it was impossible in these circumstances, therefore there does not seem to be a closure. But perhaps, community does not have to have a closure, and it only continues to live even if we are apart. We wish to live inside of children’s hearts even after they graduate. In this regard, my mentality has shifted from a desire for closure but not seeing the necessity for one and I have become more hopeful for new ways of interacting. R-san is currently living while interacting with nature around her with so much happiness, and when she thinks of everyone in Yamanoko, she feels supported by our existence. M-san told us that she reads the letter from parents often because she feels touched by them. It is true that Yamanoko lives in everyone’s hearts even after they leave.

Also, everyday without the children and the parents that are cooperating with stay-at-home but feeling the presence everyday made me realize how just we are supported by people who are not present with us.  Just the simple act of meeting is no longer normalized, and we were asked to interact with each other in a non-linear way. New ways of interacting with each other including gathering online, conducting “hearings” on phones, and finding ways to interact with all of you in times besides pick up and drop off gave me a hint in designing the community. We appreciate from our bottom of ours for cooperating.

Community Named Yamanoko Home

From 2018, we have spent our days with the conscious “Yamanoko as two centers as one”. However, in an emergency situation such as Covid-19, the scale (of the number of children, staff, and rooms etc), the situation in terms of age composition, building location and structural conditions. A precise judgement became important,  and it became inevitable to look into Yamamoko Home like magnifying glass.

What kind of community is it here, what are its components, location, and needs? Sensitivity to those who and what make up this community has increased: components include not only children, but also siblings who are under the influence of school closures, parents who are working with changing work styles such as working from home, the existence of grandparents who support such family changes, parental leave, those who cooperated with home care while family. Also, as it is mentioned by M-san, these interactions have made us more aware of who we interact with, as well as the environment composed of garden, two childcare rooms, and a kitchen. By taking a closer look at our composition of our place and having an increased sensitivity, what Yamanoko  is became a lot more apparent to us. My way of approaching people have become more person to person than ever, as opposed to categorizing people as parents or children.

 

What We Are Doing Now

Our foundation is sheerly reality and we stand face to face with reality with numbers of perspective. Where we are right now is creating a community with positionality and values that do not confine the conventional ways. Currently we are reviewing our environmental composition, every friday and saturday we are updating and redesigning our rooms with the improvements as reviews of last week’s issues and next week’s situation.

Recently, we have changed the environmental composition and employee system by everyone in the community, I have deeply of what I stated earlier “when one person changes, the community as a whole changes”. Until now perhaps we have looked at the fact that children coming into Yamanoko perhaps too matter-of-factly such as “the next child who will be entering Yamanoko belongs in Fuki”. The fact that there was an immense amount of joy and curiosity filled in the room by welcoming new friends showed that everything is related, and everything is woven together like a web.  Just like a big family living under the same roof, we are the community that continuously transform and grow. We will continue to plow this community with children, parents, and members of our team.