the Way Into the New Generation! W.I.N.G!
Activities
We support people with serious mental and physical disabilities in the community to live independently and also be self-sufficient. We organize events on a regular basis because we appreciate that there should be more to life than merely traveling to and from their house and our facility. Some of our activities include help with meals and bathing karaoke during the day, organizing overnight holidays, going for walks, and drawing. Not to mention all the cultural events we host and trips we continually take to all kinds of different places.
Our clients and staff
A person with serious mental and physical disabilities is a person who is severely disabled both intellectually and physically. Majority of our clients fall into this category, and apart from some who have been disabled due to accidents, most of them have congenital cerebral palsy. Some of our clients have progressive illnesses such as muscular dystrophy.
Unlike us, they have difficulty communicating verbally. We perceive what the client is trying to say by reading their facial expressions and body movement.
Eating is a very important activity for everyone. However, the seemingly simple action of putting food in the mouth, chewing and swallowing are situations that require a tremendous amount of energy for our clients. When a person has difficulty breathing due to obstruction in the windpipe, he/she can develop a bluish discoloration of the skin due to lack of oxygen. Eating involves risks, but it is something that is enjoyed under normal conditions. Our staff endeavor to engage in a pleasant conversation while paying attention to the client's condition.
Working Holiday
Since 2000, for the purpose of fostering exchanges with people overseas, we have been accepting youths from all over the world to our facilities. We have had young people from Korea, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Germany and France.
Our Working Holiday staff carry out the same activities as our Japanese staff. As well as providing everyday assistance with bathing, eating and the toilet, they also participate in activities such as overnight duty, trips and helping out with the Christmas party. They also will have the opportunity to create strong bonds with a supportive group of staff, and especially with the people who are in their care..
Friendship continues by keeping in touch even after they return to their own countries or visiting Japan on holiday after getting a job in their own countries. Some of the Working Holiday staff become interested in welfare through the activities carried out here, and go on to study in college that specializes in welfare or gain a welfare-related qualification in Japan.
Participation
Would you like to work with us? Quite a few of the foreign youths that come to Japan on a working holiday become language teachers. But why not have a genuine interaction with the Japanese people by working in Japanese among Japanese staff?
Experience in welfare is not required. Many of our Working Holiday staff participate in our activities even though they are anxious about their lack of experience. By the time a year has elapsed, they develop as essential staff.
Osaka is Japan's second largest city. It is close to famous tourist areas such as Kyoto, Nara and Kobe, and is a very convenient place for sightseeing Japan during the holidays. It is a very attractive city that is home to the professional baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers with many enthusiastic fans, two professional soccer teams, the Gamba Osaka and Cerezo Osaka, and the Universal Studios Japan theme park.
Our hourly wage is 1,000 yen. The hours of work are between 08:30 and 18:00. Although you are expected to perform overnight duties, you will be paid wages that are enough for you to live on for a month.
We look forward to your participation. Send us an email if you are interested or have any queries.
Comments of past participants
Here are some of the Working Holiday staff that participated in our activities.
Daniel Weisman (Canadian) 2003/6/3~2004/4/15
If you are reading this, something about the ad has probably caught your eye and you are trying to figure out exactly what working at WING is like. It's hard to find the right words to sum up a year of experience in a brief composition, but I hope you'll bear with me because I don't think you'll regret it.
At this point, I understand you're looking for jobs and probably living in an expensive country like Japan, your primary and most urgent worry at this point in money. However, I think you should ask yourself what you came to this country to do? Was it for money? Was it for something else?
Personally, I came to Japan to learn more about the country, the people and all the things that were going on here. I also went to try and learn more about myself in the process. Of course, learning Japanese is an added benefit.
Let's get the advantages out of the way first so we can get into the details of job later. When I first came to Japan, I couldn't have a conversation in Japan, I knew a couple random words and some basic Japanese grammar but nothing significant in any way. These days, I read at maybe a 5th grade level and most of my conversations with Japanese friends take place completely in Japanese. I'm not as good as a person who was born in Japan, but I promise you if you work there for a year, there will be few non-Japanese people who can speak Japanese quite like you do. And on top of that there will be even fewer gaikokujin (Foreigners) who can speak Kansai-ben quite like you. Kansai dialect is probably the hottest and coolest accent you could have and I promise you it will come in handy.
On the financial issue, I had enough to travel to basically every prefecture in Japan including Okinawa. I had enough to do a third of the 1300 km walking pilgrimmage in Shikoku and I had enough to hitchhike around Kyushu and Hokkaido. Just to mention a couple things.
I also made connections with people in Japan that I will never forget. Getting to understand and experience the holidays and really proceed past and far beyond the typical "soto-uchi" (Outside-Inside) mentality of relationships that you may have in Japan. You will probably have few chances to experience Japan quite like this.
Some things I should mention in advance: if you just don't like people, you might not like this job either. If you are unflinching and very stubborn, you may not find this job as rewarding as someone who approaches it with flexibility and an open-mind.
I learned a lot about respect and community while I worked there and also learned about taking care of people while still appreciating that they are your equals and deserve the respect of being treated that way.
In terms of the job itself, you will have to do something you probably have experienced before (and other things you have not). You will have to take people's temperatures and likely feed them too. You will also have to pretend you like karaoke and go along with it at times. You will likely wind up bathing a person once or twice a week. You can participate in roll call in the morning if you want or at least acknowledge you are conscious at the time. You will be bombarded with questions for the first couple days and people may take a deep interest in you beyond that, but once you survive that, you'll be in the clear. You undoubtedly will have to change diapers at some point. Although it was surprisingly to me at first, being only a 19 year old University age Canadian at the time, it didn't really bother me and you get used to it quickly, its 30 seconds out of your day. You will also get to go on a lot of outings to places you wouldn't normally see and chances are you will get to know your co-workers very well, sometimes better than you wanted to. Japanese names can be difficult until you get used to them, but people will be considerate of your situation and some of them speak English (though I personally made a point of trying to speak in Japanese).
The day is remarkably relaxed with the exception of lunch and when everyone leaves and you will have a lot of time to play around with everyone.
I can tell without a doubt in my mind that if my working-holiday visa hadn't run out I would likely still be working there today.
If you have any questions at all, it would be my pleasure to answer them. From someone who has run the gauntlet himself, I wish you all the best of luck with job searching even if this job isn't for you.
My e-mail is kanarazu@hotmail.com and though I can't promise a swift reply, I do promise a considered and thoughtful one.