On May 16^th 2012 a woodwork workshop series started at the Kizuna Kobo. The inaugural session involved making a chair. Five members attended the workshop with only one registered member absent. It was a very beautiful day and the work proceeded in a friendly and peaceful atmosphere.

Some women who attended the workshop usually saw Mr. C, a carpenter, engaging in the work without any trouble and had imagined the work would be easy to handle. However, after trying it themselves, they said,”The work is more difficult than I expected!.” or“The work really requires some physical strength!.” They struggled with the work.

We anticipated that the work would take them some time and would not be finished by the afternoon. However, thanks to the assistance of the volunteers, they were able to assemble a chair in two hours as scheduled. They asked us, “When will the next session be?” “What are we going to make?”and “I want to make something to cover a flower pot with.” They were looking forward to the next program.

Among the participants we found Mr. T., who was taciturn and calm, diligently engaging in the work. Supposedly he has been disinclined to go out since he had been hospitalized, but he accepted the invitation from Shichigahama Town Hall and joined the workshop. We heard that he had no experience of do-it-yourself work but he started cutting wood right away and by the time he finished building the chair, he seemed to be used to the tools.

It was regrettable that he had to leave before finishing the work. However, he seemed to be satisfied with his work and happily took home his chair along with some sand paper to add the finishing touch. I hope that this work will serve as a trigger for him to start going out.

At the end of the workshop all the participants took a picture together. Thank you to all the participants!

Reported by Reiko Iida, Rescue Stock Yard