Infant Massage Volunteer Program with Orphans in Japan

Introduction

In this program volunteers regularly visit and massage babies living in orphanages in their own communities. The volunteers foster orphaned and disadvantaged children's well-being and development by helping meet their need for nurturing touch and one-on-one interaction.

Kizuna Baby provides volunteers with training in the infant massage program of the International Association of Infant Massage, arranges for them to do baby massage volunteer work at orphanages, and provides them with ongoing support.

Calendar of Volunteer Trainings

dates location
2012
TBA Tokyo (for volunteers living in Tokyo, Kawasaki and Yokohama)
TBA Beppu (for volunteers living in Beppu and Oita)
May 27 Kobe
TBA Morioka

Background on Orphans and Orphanages in Japan

According to government statistics, there are about 3,000 babies living without parental care in institutions in Japan on a long-term basis. The children are typically institutionalized because their parents did not want custody of them, were unable to take care of them, or were determined by the state to be unfit to keep custody of them. Most of these children have living parents but are not expected to ever be returned to their parents' custody, and so for all practical purposes they are orphans.

Some of these children were neglected or abused before being put in the custody of orphanages. A substantial number of the children have mental or physical health or developmental problems. Some are premature infants.

124 institutions, most of which are privately operated, provide homes to orphaned babies and toddlers in Japan. The term for these institutions in Japanese is nyuujiin. Although conditions are generally good at orphanages in Japan and a high caregiver-to-child ratio of 1 to 2 is mandated by the government for baby orphanages, some orphanage directors say their staff have a hard time finding opportunities to give the children in their care the one-on-one attention they need for their well-being and optimal development. Japan's adoption and foster care systems are not well-developed, and only a handful of children will be taken out of institutions and placed with families by those systems each year. Unless the adoption and foster care systems grow considerably, most children in Japan who are living in orphanages will spend the rest of their childhoods living in them. Therefore the quality of care the children receive at the orphanages will have a great impact on their well-being, development and long-term quality of life.

Note: The above information about orphans and orphanages in Japan is drawn from publicly available government statistics published at www.e-stat.go.jp and from conversations between Kizuna Baby staff and the directors of several orphanages.

Infant Massage Volunteer Work as an Important Service to Orphans and Orphanages

Babies need an abundance of nurturing touch and attention from their caregivers. Babies who have been separated from their parents are particularly at risk of receiving less one-on-one interaction and affectionate contact than they need for their optimal well-being and development.

Baby massage volunteers can be important providers of supplemental care to babies living in orphanages in Japan. By regularly visiting the babies and providing them with one-on-one attention including massage, volunteers bring more nurturing touch and interaction into the children's lives than they would otherwise have.

Massage is a particularly important service to provide to orphan babies because it has been proven through scientific research to bring children a number of health and developmental benefits. These benefits include increased weight gain for premature and low-birth-weight infants, strengthening of the immune system, reduction of stress, and improved sleep. See the article Benefits of Massage for Children for more details.

Staff and directors of orphanages which receive baby massage volunteers often report that the service these volunteers provide is needed and appreciated.

Program Description

In this program volunteers regularly visit and massage babies living in orphanages in their own communities. The volunteers foster orphaned and disadvantaged children's well-being and development by helping meet their need for nurturing touch and one-on-one interaction.

Kizuna Baby provides volunteers with a one-day training in the infant massage program of the International Association of Infant Massage. Some trainings conclude with a group visit to an orphanage to meet the staff and babies.

Kizuna Baby arranges for trained volunteers to regularly visit orphanages in their own communities to give babies gentle massage and nurturing attention. Kizuna Baby also provides volunteers with ongoing support and offers them opportunities to continue their education in massage for children.

Currently Kizuna Baby operates this program in cooperation with orphanages in Beppu, Kobe, Morioka, Tokyo, and Yokohama. We are working to expand the program to other regions in Japan and abroad.

Requirements

1. medium to long-term committment to provide consistent service
It is important that volunteers be committed to providing regular visits to a local orphanage on a medium to long-term basis. Please only join this program if you have the intention and ability to visit a child at an orphanage for at least 30 to 60 minutes an average of once per week for 3 months. Longer-term commitments and more frequent visits than these minimum guidelines are preferable.

2. absence of contagious diseases
Volunteers are required to be free of diseases which babies could contract by sharing your airspace or being touched by you. Please only apply for this program if you do not have any symptoms of infection and know yourself to be free of contagious diseases.

3. Kizuna Baby Volunteer Training
Please attend a baby massage training presented by Kizuna Baby. See the calendar of volunteer trainings above for dates and locations of upcoming trainings. Because the Kizuna Baby training includes unique content specific to the Kizuna Baby program and volunteer work in orphanages in Japan, baby massage trainings and certifications completed through other organizations are not acceptable substitutes for the Kizuna Baby training.

How to Join the Volunteer Program

1. Please complete and submit the application form on our website. After we receive your application form, we will send you a message with information about an upcoming baby massage training Kizuna Baby is offering near you. If no training is scheduled near you yet, we will add you to a mailing list so you'll be informed of upcoming trainings.
2. When you receive a message with information about an upcoming baby massage training Kizuna Baby is offering near you, please reply to this message to let us know of your intent to attend the training.
3. Attend the Kizuna Baby training.
4. Complete any volunteer application forms and meet any health check requirements of the orphanage where you will do volunteer work. Each orphanage has different application form and health check requirements for volunteers, and many require no application forms or health checks. Kizuna Baby will inform you of the details of any such requirements for the specific orphanage where you will do volunteer work.
5. Kizuna Baby staff will make arrangements for you to begin doing baby massage volunteer work at an orphanage in your area.

FAQ

Who can apply to join this program?
Any adult may apply for this volunteer program as long as they are able to meet the requirements listed above.

Is this program open to both male and female volunteers?
Yes.

Do I need to be able to speak or read Japanese to join this program? How about English?
Either Japanese or English language ability is needed, but not both. Kizuna Baby trainings are presented in English, and interpretation of all training content to Japanese is provided whenever Japanese-speaking volunteers attend a training. Kizuna Baby staff can provide help to non-Japanese-speaking volunteers with filling out orphanage volunteer application and health check forms, making appointments for volunteer work visits and health checks, and arranging interpretation for appointments as needed.

Are there any fees for attending a volunteer training or participating in this program?
Yes. The fee required to attend a Kizuna Baby training is 8,000 yen or the equivalent in US dollars. This fee covers the cost of holding the training and administering the volunteer program. Kizuna Baby does not charge volunteers any other fees.

What other expenses should I expect to pay to participate in this program?
You will need to pay your transportation costs to the Kizuna Baby training and to the orphanage where you do baby massage volunteer work.

You may also need to pay the cost of health checks. Health check requirements vary from one orphanage to the next, and health checks are often not required. The health checks can sometimes be covered by your insurance. Sometimes the health checks are offered by an orphanage at a discounted price to volunteers. A typical total cost for health checks is 1000 yen.

If you do not already have a baby doll that has human form including facial features, toes, and fingers and that is of a realistic size, you will need to purchase one for practice during the Kizuna Baby training. Kizuna Baby can recommend a widely-available practice doll that costs about 1500 yen.

What health checks may be required?
At orphanages which require health checks, typically a chest X-ray and a fecal culture test are required. The chest X-ray is a check for tuberculosis, and the fecal culture test is a check for viruses. Many orphanages do not require these health checks.

I don't live near the areas where you currently offer this program. Can I still participate in this program as a volunteer?
We are working to expand the program to other geographic areas in Japan and abroad. Please contact us to request we implement it in your area and we will make an effort to do so as soon as possible. If you have advanced English and Japanese language skills and wish to work as a volunteer interpreter, translator or administrative assistant for Kizuna Baby, please contact us.