Life In Japan: A Generous Spirit

We have a nickname for our friend Keiko Iwashita. My wife and I call her “Bangladesh Lady”. There’s a very inspiring story behind this.

Keiko and her husband 岩下八司 (Hachiji) have an NPO (non-profit organization) called Polli Unnoyon Shonsta, which raises money to establish schools mainly in Bangladesh.

With 163 million people, Bangladesh is the eighth most populous country in the world, and one of the most densely populated. 98% of the people are Bengalis and over 90% are Muslims. The economy has recently been growing at an impressive rate but in terms of per capita GDP, it still ranks 164th in the world.

When the rich countries prefer to protect their privilege by committing billions of dollars to defending themselves against largely imagined foreign threats, competing in pursuit of infinite growth on a finite planet, much of the generated wealth funneled into the holdings of the already obscenely wealthy, it is only through individual efforts like that of Keiko and Hachiji that the enormous gap between rich and poor nations can be reduced. Maybe on paper it doesn’t look like much. But the difference they are making in the lives of those children who attend their schools is profound.

Charity begins at home? Actually, charity in this case begins at someone else’s homes, and those homes are 4,500 kilometers away — it’s 2,799 miles from Osaka to Dhaka.

Then again, Bangladesh is like a second home for this amazing couple.

People often say they want to “change the world”, do something positive, contribute to the betterment of humankind, but feel overwhelmed by all of the problems we face. Life is so complex and convoluted, usually it’s hard to know how and where to begin.

In a time, where 85 people have more wealth than the poorest 3.5 billion of the world’s population, there are more things to do in more locations than ever.

Keiko and Hachiji point the way with their generous spirit and inspiring example.