This is Li Shu, the organizer of the “Mirai（Future） Challenge” program.

The Mirai Challenge crowdfunding campaign has successfully ended yesterday, January 30th. Although we were not able to reach our goal, we would like to thank the 60 people who sympathized with the Mirai Challenge and gave us their support and warm messages. Every single voice is really encouraging and empowering. Thank you very much for watching over our crowdfunding challenge for about a month. Many many thank YOU.

Young people with immigrant background have to face many obstacles, such as difficulties in learning Japanese, mental and social adjustment, and career choices. The driving force behind this project was the support and content that Senpai and supporters can think of and provide to help them make a “satisfactory career choice.

As an ex-participant in the program, I thought I had come up with a good idea that took into consideration various aspects of the program, so I held a recruitment session. However, there were some comments such as, “This is a wonderful program, but don’t young people with immigrant background have the time to think that far ahead? Or, “The purpose of the program is good, but what’s the point of going all the way to Urahoro, Hokkaido? Do you really think this kind of program will make a difference? ” There was no one who believed in the feasibility of the project.

What gave me strength when I felt like I was going down was the words of one of the high school students who later became a participant.

She said, “I want to hear what you have to say! and attended the recruitment information session for parents on her own. When the explanation was over and the parents were again asking about the reliability of the program, she suddenly raised her hand. “Um, I’m going! I’m going to Urahoro.” Then, suddenly, she proudly presented to the other parents at the briefing session what she felt was the appeal of the program and why she wanted to participate. I felt like crying. I knew I wanted to make this program a reality.

She then became the first applicant for the program. In addition, the parents who asked the question after hearing her answer suggested that all the children participate in the Mirai Challenge Program.

The Mirai Challenge Program, which was held for the first time in COVID-19 pandemic, has faced various obstacles in its implementation. The pre-learning session was a hybrid of face-to-face and online, the summer camp was all online, and the post-learning session could not be held face-to-face. Still, I decided to try the Urahoro camp in March because I have seen the growth of the participants.

There are things in Urahoro that I want them to see more of, to know more about, and to think about. And I want to tell them that there are many people who support them in being able to do so. The month-long crowdfunding campaign that started with that thought reached more people than we had imagined and came back with donations and words of support. “Yes! I can still do my best.”

Due to the spread of the omicron variant, we will have to change the format of the event, which is a major concern. However, in order to maximize what we want to teach and what we want the participants to feel through their experience in Urahoro, we will make a decision on the format by mid-February, while also considering the possibility of holding the workshop in person or online in the Tokyo area.

We would like to thank all of you for your support, and we hope to report on the progress of preparations and activities in the near future. We would like to thank you again for your support.

We are still trying our best! We hope that we can carry your thoughts to Urahoro with me and the other participants!