Where there is a will, There is a WAY...

Today...The T-shirts...all 1000 of them....were Packed ! Sealed ! and Shipped to JAPAN....

It all started in May 2011, when a group of our volunteers decided they wanted to do something for the children of Japan who had been victims of the tsunami and earthquake earlier in March 2011. Not only did this natural disaster disrupt their lives but it brought on bigger danger to the communities of Fukushima, when the Diachi Nuclear Power Plant got damaged.

We wanted to do something for the kids who suffered in 2011 and we also wanted to tell this story to our children in Goa and other projects, to make them aware of such disasters and also help instill a spirit of sensitivity and concern for other human beings.

We started the 1000 T-shirt Painting drive.

We did not know where we’d get the 1000 T-shirts from because we are not a large organization with huge networks or even famous for that matter… but friends came forward to help and support and LEVIS generously sent us a 1000 T-shirts to paint !

We did not know how much of paint will be needed for the painting all 1000, but a bottle here, a tube of paint from there and we managed to have enough resources to provide the children to paint.

So, we started the T-shirt painting drive in October 2011 with the first 1000 Crane art-camp, conducted nearly 15 satellite workshops in village schools of Goa and some other organisations, and the T-shirts were all painted and done by early 2013.

How do we send them now to Japan? Who will sponsor it? When will we be able to send it?

MANY QUESTIONS…

Meanwhile the work on other projects had to be handled….with permanent team of 2 and aspirations which need atleast a team of 12, but an amazing set of very passionate and dedicated volunteers !!! We stayed hopeful.

And then March 29^th, 2013 – it was almost like God heard our prayers….I am talking to an audience of designers, artist, entrepreneurs in a forum where I was presenting our journey and concept about the 1000 Crane Project . In the my last 3 sentences of the presentation, I mentioned it as a passing statement – “So now we are ready with the 1000 T-shirts and are looking for a sponsor to send them to Japan” ….and there in the audience, I heard a voice saying “DONE ! I will help you”

That’s it…. We quickly got together an packed and ironed each T-shirt nicely and as professionally possible into neat polybags.

Thank You Rahul Narvekar, our sponsor from New Delhi and Thank You DHL and Thank You LEVIS.

Thank you Katha, Sophie Morbe, Nancy Mascarenhas, Abhishegh Menon, Lina Talke, Sarika Ugar, Kerstin Temmel, Bea Hajek, Laura Dresse, Lotta Mantheny, Johanna Eckmuller, Hanni Schmidt, Soraiya Moraes and all the volunteers who have been a part of this project from its inception.

With the help of our friend and supporter - Chikako Yamamoto who is now based in Tokyo, we shall be able to distribute it amongst the groups of the children not only in Fukushima but other parts of Japan where the tragedy was so grave that people are still suffering due to the aftermath. 

The 1000 Crane Project is now a permanent initiative of Tara Trust, and using the crane as a symbol of flight, we aspire to help the underprivileged children we work with to travel to other parts of India for a 10 day camp, to be motivated to better their lives and also feel important and valuable.