Labo Japanese
Exchange
The Labo Foundation, founded in 1966, is a Japanese organization
dedicated to educating and exposing Japanese youth to
foreign cultures and languages. Labo youth belong
to neighborhood Labo "Parties," which are similar
in structure to 4-H Clubs in the US. Each Labo
Party involves several youth who work with an adult volunteer
advisor called a "Labo Tutor." Instead
of completing projects as American 4-Hers do, Japanese
Labo members concentrate on learning foreign languages
and studying other cultures and customs, by learning
songs, performing skits, and doing theme activities in
other languages at school functions, festivals and other
community events. The Labo program has become recognized
as one of Japan's foremost educational organizations.
Ohio 4-H has been participating in a reciprocal exchange
with Japan's Labo organization since 1980. During
that time, over 160 Ohio youth and adult group leaders
have visited Japan. More than 2,000 Japanese youth
and adults have visited Ohio. The exchange offers
an integrated program of language learning, cultural
exploration, and personal discovery and growth. One
of the main purposes of the exchange is to foster friendship
and understanding between people of different cultures. Each
year, Ohio host families are overwhelmingly positive
about their experiences hosting Japanese youth. Additionally,
Ohio 4-H'ers return from their visits to Japan each summer
filled with the wonder of discovering another way of
life as well as new aspects of themselves.
Since 1993, Ohio 4-H has welcomed Japanese youth with
special needs as part of our summer month-long exchange. The
challenges of these youth range from very mild (such
as learning disabilities) to more significant (such as
hemophilia or cerebral palsy). All families are
eligible to host our special needs exchangees, and the
opportunity is sometimes particularly welcomed by Ohio
families with their own special needs child. Host
families of special needs Japanese youth are provided
with full medical information about their exchangee and
are given extra support throughout the program.
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