L’Arche Kana-no-ie appreciates that Mr. Nomura Yasuichi-san now works for a local facility instead of working at our 'Madoi' workshop. Last November he started to work at a broiler, i.e. a chicken pre-cooking firm. He gets up early in the morning at 4h30 to take the bus to start work at 7h30. His workday ends at 15h00. At the beginning of his new employment, he wrote the following report.

Hello, everyone. My name is Nomura Yasuichi. I live at 'Tsudoi' home. In total, we are five to live at 'Tsudoi' home, which includes core members and assistants. I had worked at 'Madoi' workshop for five years. But at one point, I asked one of the assistants at our workshop, “would you please find a firm other than the Madoi workshop where I could get trained to work?” We talked and discussed. Eventually, an assistant and I went to 'Hello Work', which is a public employment agency, to meet one of their agents.

On August 21st, in the mid-summer of 2006, I went to the “'Keyaki Centre for Employment Assistance for Disabled People”. I talked to one of the staff members and had an oral examination. I also asked them which kind of training they provide. He replied, “trainings, such as the assembly of ball point pens, working with electric wire, counting of the cans and bottles of vending machines, etc.” I was so nervous!

Having passed my examination, I was accepted to start my training at the 'Keyaki Centre' where I joined three other trainees and two staff members. After cleaning the room and the tables, I was asked to assemble the ballpoint pens. One of the staff members told me, “when you have assembled 100 pens, please tell me.” So I finished 100 pens.

Last November, I went to the broiler firm. At the beginning, I went there with the staff of the 'Keyaki Centre'. The trainer at the firm told me, “Hang the chicken's leg at the hook, upside down.” I tried as I was told. The person who accompanied me of Keyaki also did it. I felt nervous. It was really hard to learn the know-how.

At the broiler firm, I met an elderly man and other people with a disability. One of them attends the 'Shizuoka Prefectural School for Disabled Youth '. I appreciate that I can work together with him.

The person at the firm told me, “Mr. Nomura, don't be in a hurry to handle the chickens.” The chickens are enclosed in a cage. But they are not under my control. Four of us hung the chickens. So do I. Two others unload the cages. The cages are big and very high.

This is the report of my training course.