How to become an APRICOT NPO Ambassador for the Children of Tohoku

"At Apricot we often get emails asking about how people can get involved beyond donating. There are many ways, as this reply (below) I recently sent to a potential volunteer show..."

Hi Laura*,

Thank you for your kind wishes ~ responses like yours are both a little rare just now as we are in the early days of growing the APRICOT NPO worldwide, and at the same time very very encouraging!, and I thank you for that too. It is a pleasure to be contact with you here with you, and I am very grateful for your kind offer to help out the with the growth of APRICOT! (:

What I am aiming and hoping to do is not only for APRICOT NPO to be supported by donations and grassroots fundraising activity from within all regions of Japan, but also in time we hardly have to carefully further its growth onto the worldwide stage to show that potentially millions of people all over the globe care about the mental health care of the children of the Tohoku Region.

The Tohoku Region has six prefectures which include Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures ~ the three coastal prefectures that were so devastated by the catastrophe of the triple disasters of the tsunami, earthquakes and three nuclear reactor meltdowns which resulted in a historically unprecedented catastrophe of a combination of three large scale natural and manmade disasters.

So I am contacting friends and making new friends like you in cities on every country (as far as possible) on every continent in this beautiful world we abuse so much. In APRICOT NPO we are a non secular coalition of people of all professions who will not tolerate the children of Tohoku being forgotten, with their health suffering both mentally and physically in the way that so unfortunately and tragically has been the case in Chernobyl.

So Laura, if you and your friends, families and colleagues have any ideas, suggestions of how to raise much needed funds to provide professional mental health care for the children I would be sincerely grateful to you and them for your support.

There are already children showing symptoms of mental disorders (1 in 4 according to a scientific recent research report from Fukushima City Hospital ~ 26.3%), and emotional and psychological support for those children who are also at risk of developing mental disorders. In addition the stress and feelings of hopelessness for the future are taking their toll. In Japan the national average for people suffering from clinical depression is 15% whereas the figure in Tohoku is 24% and rising. Even the most stoical of people can only go on in living in constantly traumatic environments. Living with fear and worries for the heath and safety of their children now and in the future is stressful for mothers who are fearful to let their children play outside the home and this added to a sense of hopelessness and abandonment by central authorities is wearing away hope for any way to rebuild and recover emotionally and psychologically from the ongoing crisis which has prevailed over the three years since the catastrophe on 3.11.

As a coalition of like minded humanitarians we don't want to have any strong leadership, but for the power of projects domestically and internationally to raise awareness, gather funds through donations and social events, big or small, to raise funds. If you can individually or with family or friends come up with ideas how to this that would be wonderful as we can learn from others worldwide and upload reports and results of these international Apricot Ambassadors (a term we use to describe anyone who fundraises or advocates for the APRICOT ~ so welcome to join us as you will truly become a fellow Apricot Ambassador! :) I'm happy to be the one to invite you to join with us if you like!

Having said that we do want to support with some ideas, knowhow and examples to help people having to get going from a 'cold start' so I will paste in a few suggestions from a website page we are writing for the new APRICOT website coming out soon with a big Grand Worldwide Relaunch sometime in these early months of 2015.

Thank you again Laura for caring and being so big hearted to offer to help. With you the APRICOT has grown a little bigger. So yes, thank you for your natural compassion and kindness.

I wish you have a wonderful, peaceful and safe week.

Kind and sincere regards,

Andrew

PS Here now is the list of suggestions on how to help out on a small or large way. All contributions are like the stars in the sky, no one judges them but appreciate their collective beauty nevertheless.

* Laura is a pseudonym to protect the original inquirer’s privacy.

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Okay, so how can I become an APRICOT Ambassador?

There are several paths to becoming an APRICOT Ambassador. You can chose one or more from the following paths:

Motivate ~ fundraising projects that are established to support the ongoing work of Japan's mental health professionals providing counseling relief services for the children of , Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures and for the children evacuated from Fukushima's Hamadori area (the area where TEPCO's Dai-ichi nuclear plants meltdowns are). Much still needs to be done both now and for the long run. Tasks are aimed at healing and as far as possible, preventing the onset of anxiety disorders, depression, PTSD and other illnesses that can develop in children during both short-term and long term life events.

Take Action ~ actively spreading awareness of the needs of the children of Tohoku and asking family and friends, colleagues to make a donation together which once that is done you take the money to the bank and transfer it to APRICOT account under your name (we want to thank you when the funds you gather arrive at the APRICOT.

Broadcasting ~ the original meaning of broadcast was "to cast or scatter abroad over an area, as seed in sowing" and to "disseminate information as in "She broadcast the good news all over town".

Creating ~ social events to fundraise at the same time by each participant giving the social party or event a ¥500 or $1 or 1 Euro to be collected by the organizing ‘Apricot Ambassador’ and later be paid in one sum as a collective donation to APRICOT NPO. (please see http://apricotchildren.org/en/donation/) This can be a good way to give collectively by a group of friends, family or your social media events.

Finally APRICOT's ultimate need and purpose: all funds given will be used 100% directly for treatment of the children and group projects and programs to heal the children already currently ill and to prevent children at risk from developing stress based disorders.

Please think about what you can do and also please feel free to share this message to your friends and social media circles by using the social media buttons at the top of this article. Thank you Laura ~ Team APRICOT Children.

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APRICOT NPO is the Allied Psychotherapy Relief Initiative for the Children of Tohoku (NPO Status approved by the Tokyo Government on 21st October, 2014).

http://apricotchildren.org

Mission Statement

Most importantly APRICOT's mission is set in our hearts and minds: that we will together volunteer and work to protect the mental health and the healthy emotional and psychological development of the Children of the Tohoku Region over the coming seventeen years, that is until all of them enjoy their Coming of Age Days, when they will become young adults, healthy, happy and hopeful for a brighter and more promising future.

http://apricotchildren.org/en/donation/

Please Support the Team Apricot Children by making a donation to secure their mental health and promote their healthy emotional development.

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APRICOT NPO on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/apricotchildren

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APRICOT NPO on Twitter:

@andrewtokyo

Andrew Grimes JSCCP (#4572), JCP (0061)

© APRICOT NPO 2015