Mission Statement: Educating and enriching the lives of the youngest children in Japan’s orphanages with drama, puppets, music and storytelling in English.
History and Information:
JOEE – Joyful Opportunity English Education – was established in 2018 as a nonprofit foundation, or an “Ippan Shadan Houjin.” Our organization consists of a founder, Ruth Gilmore Ingulsrud and an administrator, Hiroko Sasaki. We also have a Board of Directors and a Treasurer. We can send a profit and loss sheet to potential donors as requested. Our current donors include the Wesley Center, Tokyo Union Church and West Tokyo Union Church as well as several individual monthly donors.
Volunteer teachers and assistants are trained to provide lively, puppet-assisted English lessons to teach and delight the children using skits, songs, books and games. Our focus age group is two to seven years old, when much of a child’s language learning happens. Currently, JOEE provides free English language lessons in five children’s homes in Japan:
St. Francisco Children’s Home in Ota-ku, Tokyo
Harukaen in Chiba – Matsudo
ChofuGakuen in Chofu, Tokyo
WakamatsuRyo in Nagoya
Shinai Children’s Home in Kobe
Email addresses are: ruth@joee.jp (English language) and hiroko@joee.jp (Japanese language).
Website: https://joee.jp