Nikkei

Opening thought was given by Anndrea Miller today, Nov 17-last day in Lima. She read the Paradoxical Commandments. Here are a few I wrote down:

1. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
2. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
3. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
4. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.

I really enjoyed these and had never heard of this. It set the stage for our visit to the Japanese Peruvian Center.

In Peru, the Japanese Peruvians call themselves NIKKEI- Peruvians with Japanese roots. This term was introduced in the eighties and there are around 8,000 Nikkei;almost 6 generations but not all are identified. Here the focus is on 3 areas: Maintaining identity, total integration, and transformation. From what I could understand, the idea is that Japanese Peruvians are Peruvian first, they are encouraged to speak perfect Spanish, learn English and maybe a little Japanese. By doing this and participating in various other cultural activities, they are promoting their country, Peru, where they live, work and play. 

The Executive Director of the center put it best when he said, "if we have to choose between Peru and Japan, we should choose Peru. We are Peruvians in the way we act, look, dress, live..." "In supporting the development of Peru, we must strengthen each other."

The center hosts a Policlinico, a general clinic with services from x-rays to pharmacy that serves the community. As we walked through the clinic we saw a variety of people and staff that encompasses the diversity of Peru. Additionally, there is a theater that seats 1,000; opened in their 50th year anniversary. The Johnston YMCA can appreciate the large active adult program with around 500 participants, I saw an intense game of Cricket! Other programs include free cultural classes and martial arts. The Center also runs and operates a hospital, Centenario, near the YMCA.

The Director had a lot of questions about the YMCA, our religious focus, the relationship of our board members and how we are funded. It turned out to be a rich discussion that went way over our allotted time.

What I learned from this visit is that although you your best attempts at strengthening your community may be met with opposition, Attempt it anyway!!