Program creates connections and offers help for senior citizens.

“Rental High School Student” might sound like a dubious extension of Japan’s rent-a-family-member services, or perhaps even some shadier sort of compensated companionship. However, it turns out that the program actually isn’t a cause for concern, and instead is something to smile about.

The Rental High School Student Project is administered by Chikuma High School in the town of Ueda, Nagano Prefecture. It’s not a ploy for the school or its students to make some quick cash, though, as it’s a totally free service. Rather than economic gain, the goal of the program is to foster a sense of compassion and empathy in the community, and to help create connections between the town’s teens and older generations.

▼ Video of Rental High School Student Project participants

The program was started two years ago as part of the social studies/civics curriculum for third-year students (Japanese high school lasts for thee years), and operates in coordination with a local resident support center. Senior citizens living in the community who need help with tasks around their home put in requests for Rental High School Students, and the school then dispatches them in groups of two or three kids per household.

On the most recent day of activity, which took place on May 14, six groups, comprised of a total of 16 students, participated. Some of them helped an 82-year-old woman clean her kitchen windows, which are too high for her to reach without climbing up on a ladder, something she’s not in a position to safely do by herself. Others went to the home of 91-year-old man with limited flexibility in his back and knees to remove weeds from his garden and tulip patch. Other requests have included help installing replacements for damaged or worn-out screen and sliding doors.

In addition to the direct help provided by performing the requested tasks, the Rental High School Students Program helps form interpersonal bonds between members of the community who might otherwise never have occasion to meet each other, and to learn from one another. As part of their assistance, the above-mentioned garden work group helped remove weeds from between still-growing myoga, or ginger bulbs. When the 91-year-old man asked the teens if they like the taste of myoga, which is kind of an old-school ingredient, they replied that they’ve never tried it. “It’s a really tasty seasoning, so if you ever want to try it, come on back here,” the man offered.

“I want people to know about this program, and how it promotes senior citizens’ physical and mental well-being,” said Honoka Miyazawa, a 17-year-old Chikuma High student who participated in this month’s activities. The school says it plans to continue with the program, and just like with the Ojisan Trading Card game, the Rental High School Student Project is helping to make its community a little more connected.

Source: NBS via Jin, Shinano Mainichi Shimbun
Top image: Pakutaso
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