On January 28th 2024, HelloWorld Inc. held the first Machinaka Fund related program in the Kansai region. The event was conducted as part of the ongoing pro-bono initiative with Ashinaga Foundation, thereby extending the scope of the joint partnership to encompass a new region.
The partnership in the Kansai region took place at the Expo ’70 Commemorative Park in Osaka, where participants from Ashinaga Foundation took part in HelloWorld Rogaining. In total, 63 Ashinaga Scholars took part in the English-immersive scavenger hunt with English Speakers to solve missions at the park.
The Machinaka Fund So Far
In recent years, inequality in children’s experiences has risen steeply as it is difficult for many kids to access opportunities for active participation in cultural exchange, especially for those with a family background of economic struggle. To relieve that gap, HelloWorld has been actively fundraising to provide to an increasing number of students with high-quality cultural exchange opportunities over the past 2 years.
Some of these have been conducted in partnership with the Japanese non-profit Ashinaga Foundation.
On January 9th 2023, 13 Ashinaga Scholars participated in a 3-day program in Kanto. The children were positively impacted by this opportunity, as they were more focused on the joy that came from the various experiences they had, instead of English in itself.
The full report of the Ashinaga 2023 program can be found this page.
With the goal of expanding the program to even more students than the previous year, on January 6th, 2024 HelloWorld welcomed 23 Ashinaga Scholars to join a 3-day long cultural exchange in the Kanto Region.
The full report of the Ashinaga 2024 program can be found here.
The Growth of the Fund: Machinaka Fund in Kansai
In addition to the Kanto region, the growth of the Machinaka Fund has made it possible to expand the program for the first time to the Kansai region as well. Once again through the partnership with Ashinaga Foundation, 63 students were able to team up with English Speakers for a full day of Machinaka Rogaining, solving missions around the Expo ’70 Commemorative Park in Osaka.
The participants were happy to participate in the challenge in a familiar place, while at the same time learning more about the English Speakers’ cultures and home countries. Here are some comments from the scholars that joined the program.
“I was really anxious because I struggle with English, but the English Speakers were so kind and encouraging that I felt comfortable enough to challenge myself in conversations.”
“Not only did they help us solve missions, but they also talked about their home countries, which was very informative.”
I’m glad that I was able to learn about different cultures and the local area, which I wouldn’t normally have the chance to know. It was a satisfying event, as it was combined with the experience of speaking English.
In pursuit of its long-term vision to “create a society where it is normal to have a friend from every country in the world”, HelloWorld offers “Machinaka Ryugaku” also known as HelloWorld Cultural Exchange, a program where Japanese individuals can stay at the homes of international residents of Japan and experience studying abroad without having to leave the country. HelloWorld also offers “Machinaka Rogaining”, a scavenger-hunt activity in which participants walk around the city with people from all over the world and communicate in English to solve missions.
HelloWorld’s goal is to help children broaden their perspectives and cultivate an open mind to diversity by providing high-quality English learning and exchange opportunities to a wide range of people.
With the mission to create a world in which all children have access to high quality educational opportunities, HelloWorld has created the Machinaka Fund initiative. The Machinaka Fund is a fundraise that thanks to the many partner organizations and individual donors provides children from disadvantaged background with participation to HelloWorld’s cultural exchange programs free of charge.
For more information on the Machinaka Fund, you can visit this page.
