< Organizing International/ Weekend/ Long term Workcamps > NICE (Never-ending International workCamps Exchange) Address : 2-1-14-401 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0022 JAPAN Tel. : 81-3-3358-7140 (Mon-Fri 10:00-12:30/ 13:30-18:00) Fax : 81-3-3358-7149 Web site : http://nice1.gr.jp General matters : nice@nice1.gr.jp (Kai = KAIZAWA Shinichiro, President) Incoming placement: in@ nice1.gr.jp (Eiji = UEDA Eiji) Outgoing placement: out@nice1.gr.jp (Sue = TOYONAGA Haruka, YANO Toshie) LMTV-Incoming : LM@nice1.gr.jp (Tatsuya = TSUKAMOTO Tatsuya, Director) LMTV-Outgoing : LM-out@nice1.gr.jp (Yoshi = OZAKI Yoshihiro) Group Workcamps : GW@nice1.gr.jp (Miwa = ANAGAMA Miwa) Senior & weekend workcamps: ww@nice1.gr.jp (Okki = OKINO Michiko) Western regional office : west@nice1.gr.jp (Hisano = YOSHII Hisano) Promotion matters : PR@nice1.gr.jp (Yanocchi = YANO Toshie)

What is NICE!?

* NGO/ NPO to organize workcamps and other voluntary projects in Japan & east Asia
* Vice president of CCIVS at UNESCO and General Secretary of NVDA (Asian network)
* Enjoying to create a new global age by mentally young people!

1) Brief History;
NICE was founded on 4th Feb. in 1990 by 7 youth who had participated in workcamps abroad.
In Sep. 90, the first international workcamp in Japan was held at the foot of the Mt. Fuji.
It has been developing rapidly and variously with huge needs of projects & motivations of people!


2) Aims;
a) To create/ develop/ revive ecological, self sufficient and warm-hearted civilization.
We promote exciting voluntary actions by fresh ideas and mobility as a youth NPO, to shift the
world with too much competition and expansion into more healthy one for both nature and people.
b) To encourage activities of NGO/NPOs and activation of local communities
We create opportunities to meet new people and to start new actions by involving many locals.
We make bridges between isolated NPOs and local people, and invite youth to depopulated areas.
c) To promote global friendship, understanding and solidarity
We grow exchange naturally among world youth and local people through living, working, talking and
laughing together. They can improve global views/ sensitivity and language/ planning skills.


3) Activities;
To achieve the above aims, NICE run the following activities (main ones);
a) To organize international workcamps (1-3 weeks) mostly in Japan and sometimes, in Asia, etc.
: 85 (648) projects in 14 (20) countries with 858 (7,694) international vols. in 2007 (and in 18 years)
b) To send volunteers from Japan to international workcamps abroad
: 750 (7,935) volunteers to 58 (96) countries in 2008 (and in 18 years)
c) To organize weekend workcamps (1-3 days projects) in Japan
: 125 (1,313) projects in 23 (33) prefectures with 1,338 (18,755) volunteers in 2007 (and in 15 years)
d) To organize LAMP (LMTV projects for 2-12 months) in Japan & send LM vols.
: 20 (85) projects with 63 (248) vols./ sent 103 (495) vols. to 19 (24) countries in 2007 (and in 13 years)
e) Many other ecological/ social/ educational/ cultural actions such as Green Foster Parents, Sister
School Project, Actions against child abuse, Actions for refugees, Promotion of acrylic sponges, etc.


4) Members & Partners;
1,307 Full (72%:female, 71%:students) + 6,889 Associate + 6 Organizational members.
It's run by 10 professional & 10-15 regular voluntary staffs together with many active members.
The General Assembly/ Executive Committee of NICE is held twice/ six times in a year.
We are completely independent from any political, religious, economic power. NICE is;
a) Vice President (the only Japanese member) of CCIVS at UNESCO since 07
b) General Secretary of NVDA (Network for Voluntary Development in Asia) since 08
c) The first Asian member of ALLIANCE of European Voluntary Service Organizations since 96
d) Exchange Partner of SCI (Service Civil International) and YAP (Youth Action for Peace).
We also cooperate with a lot of local governments, NGO/ NPOs, media, foundations and people.


5) Finance;
a) Running cost (staffs, offices, etc.) is managed by the fees from members and volunteers.
b) Project cost (food, accommodation, etc.) of international workcamps in Japan and LAMP are
mainly by local partners (their own budgets, local governments, sponsoring foundations, etc.)
c) Project cost of workcamps in other Asia and weekend workcamps are paid mainly by volunteers.
What are International Workcamps !?

International voluntary projects, where volunteers from all over the world live & work
together with local people. Mostly for 2-3 weeks/ in Jul.-Sep./ by 10-30 volunteers.

1) Brief History;
In 1920, the first one started in France by German & French youth as reconstructing the farms
destroyed during the World War I. Since then, it has been spreading to all over the world.
In the 60s, many workcamps with construction works were organized in newly independent countries
as well as peace projects between East & West in Europe. Environmental ones have been increasing
since 80s. According to our research, about 3,000 projects in 100 countries were held in 2007.


2) Voluntary Works;
Normally for 6-8 hours in a day and 5 days in a week. The types of works are varied;
a) Environment : Cleaning rivers, planting trees, protecting animals, creating eco-villages, etc.
b) Agriculture : Picking fruits or seeding in organic farms, reviving uncultivated fields, etc.
c) Construction : schools, toilets, renovating castles, converting farms into youth centers, etc.
d) Social work : With/ for children, refugees, mentally/ physically disadvantaged, elders, etc.
e) Arts/Education: Organizing festivals, performing play against AIDS in schools, archaeology, etc.
f) Others : Making proposals of town planning, recycling & sending bicycles to India, etc.


3) Accommodations & Free time activities;
Usually youth centers, public halls, schools and sometimes tents or temples that are simple
but even better for the group life! Volunteers often cook by turns and enjoy global tastes.
The common language is English in most of workcamps though you had better to try local languages.
In some workcamps, the hosts or we volunteers organize discussions, excursions, and exchange
parties with local people, school visit, sports programs, etc. It is very important to note that
workcamps should be made by all volunteers with local people. Volunteers are not guests!


4) Workcamp Organizations (WOs);
Most of WOs are non-governmental/ non-profit organizations (NGO/NPOs).
Most of WOs're affiliated with CCIVS (Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service)
founded by UNESCO, UN in 1948 to assist & promote workcamps in the world. It publishes booklets
and organizes conferences and a few workcamps where no workcamps are existed yet. WOs are not
branches of CCIVS, but the creators of this network! Each WO independently & freely organizes
workcamps mainly in their own countries with local governments or NGO/NPOs and cooperate with
other WOs abroad. They are organized locally, coordinated nationally and exchanged internationally!


5) Finance;
Many WOs manage the running finances by inscription fee from volunteers & some are supported
also by governments, foundations, etc. Volunteers need to pay the travel cost to/from workcamps
and fee to WOs in their own countries. Food & accommodations are provided by local partners,
though there are participation fee around 100-200 US$ in most workcamps of Africa, south Asia, etc.


6) Common Aims;
Although each WOs and workcamps have their own aims, the common aim is to achieve peaceful,
healthy, just and sustainable world by
a) Creating/ supporting voluntary movements for ecology, human rights, self-sufficiency, etc.
b) Activating and involving new people to local communities and NGO/NPOs
c) Promoting global understanding, friendship and solidarity
Project 1: International Workcamps by NICE

1) Introduction;
We welcome you to join our workcamps, sharing happy time and creating fresh new age together!
All campsites have nice nature and warm people, so you will discover colorful and vigorous figures
of Japan and others that is completely different from typical images you may have through media.

< The common points of all workcamps (unless mentioned in each project description) >

a) Age limit : From 18 (No maximum). In some projects, we can accept kids with their parents and also a bit younger volunteers (aged 16-17), exceptionally in some cases. b) Language : English (Japanese is not necessary, but we welcome your trying in Japan!) c) Insurance : We provide small insurance only for accidents during workcamps IN JAPAN. d) Accommodations: Mostly, there're showers, kitchens and toilets. Basic, but enjoyable enough. e) Study Part : All workcamps have it to learn, discuss and plan better local/ global future!

2) How to apply and join the projects!?

A: Applying through the partners!!
If non-Japanese volunteers live outside Japan, they have to apply not directly to us, but through
our partner Workcamp NGOs of their countries (if there are no such NGOs there, then they need to apply through NVDA (http://www.nvda-asiapacific.org/). So, only if they live in Japan, they can apply to
NICE directly with sending the application forms and paying the fee to;

Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ Bank, Shinjuku Branch, Ordinary account, Account no: 4958987, Name: NICE

B: How much should volunteers pay?
Volunteers have to pay the travel cost to/ from workcamps & the following registration fee to
NICE while food and accommodation during the projects are provided by NICE & the local partners;

a) From organizations charging no fee to NICE vols. : No fee b) From organizations charging some fee to NICE vols. : 10,000 YEN per a workcamp (+) c) Individual applicants who are living in Japan : 27,000 YEN per a workcamp (++)

* Most of European/ North American partners are a) and Asian/ African/ Latin American are b).
+ This depends on the agreement with each partner. We usually charge the same amount as they do
while we can consider discount/ exemption for the partners in “less expensive” (developing) countries.
++ This includes fee of Annual membership and Pre-workcamp. People originally from “less expensive”
countries (GDP: below 5,000 US$) are discounted to 22,000 YEN.

C: The detailed information of the project
By 1-2 months before the projects, volunteers will receive ”Information Sheets” (details of
the project, what to bring, the meeting point, how to get there, etc.) together with “Acceptance
Letter” and “NICE Volunteers’ Guide”, through the partner organizations.

D: Book the flights as soon as being accepted!
Don’t wait for the Information Sheets, otherwise you may miss economical flights!
In all the workcamps in Japan, volunteers will meet at the accommodations or the train stations,
in the afternoon of the first day. And they finish in the afternoon of the last day.
Some projects are located quite far from the airports and it takes a long time by cheap ways.
So, we advise volunteers to arrive at/ leave Japan at least a few days before/ after the
projects also because volunteers should not expect so much sightseeing during the projects.
(if you want to do it, please do it before/ after the workcamps!)
And it is quite possible to stay in the houses of Japanese volunteers in the same workcamps
or of other NICE members before/ after the workcamps! (For the details, wait for the info.sheets!)
3) Summery List;

* “Vols.” are the numbers of international volunteers to be recruited.

Code	Name	Location	Dates	Types	Vols.
NICE/01	Shirakami 1	Aomori	05/01-14/01	ENVI	4	9th
NICE-IWO/02	Olango	* Philippine	09/01-20/01	ENVI	-	4th
NICE-VPV-SJV/22	The 7th TNW	* Vietnam	13/01-22/01	ENVI, KIDS	33	7th
NICE/04	Tahara	Aichi	02/02-18/02	AGRI, ENVI	6	NEW!
NICE-SJ/21	Beaumotte	* France	07/02-21/02	ENVI, RENO	-	NEW!
NICE-IIWC/32	Jog Jakarta	* Indonesia	11/02-17/02	KIDS, RELIEF	-	NEW!
NICE-UPA/05	Masaka	* Uganda	11/02-02/03	KIDS, SOCI, EDUC	-	NEW!
NICE-MCE/06	Bilateral 1	* Mongolia	16/02-29/02	KIDS, SOCI, EDUC	-	45th
NICE-MOVE/07	Julau 1	* Malaysia	17/02-01/03	CONS, MANU	7	8th
NICE/08	Kurikoma 1	Miyagi	18/02-02/03	CONS, ENVI	3	7th
NICE-MOVE/09	Klang 1	* Malaysia	24/02-08/03	KIDS, DISA	7	8th
NICE-IIWC/29	Save the children 1	* Indonesia	26/02-06/03	MEDI	-	NEW!
NICE-MOVE/10	Julau 2	* Malaysia	02/03-15/03	CONS, MANU	7	9th
NICE-SJ-CFD/26	Woman in the war	* France	02/03-23/03	PEACE	5	NEW!
NICE/11	Erabu	Kagoshima	03/03-23/03	AGRI	1	21st
NICE-IIWC/30	Save the children 2	* Indonesia	05/03-11/03	MEDI	-	2nd
NICE/12	Ikata	Ehime	08/03-22/03	AGRI, ARTS	5	NEW!
NICE-VPV/13	Hanoi 1	* Vietnam	09/03-15/03	AGRI, KIDS, EDUC	-	NEW!
NICE-SJ/27	Nagakute	Aichi	10/03-24/03	ENVI, ELDE	12	NEW!
NICE/15	Iwami-Ginzan 1	Shimane	15/03-24/03	ENVI	4	2nd
NICE-VPV/16	Hanoi 2	* Vietnam	16/03-22/03	AGRI, KIDS, EDUC	-	2nd
NICE-MOVE/17	Klang 2	* Malaysia	16/03-29/03	KIDS, DISA	7	9th
NICE/18	Minamata	Kumamoto	17/03-30/03	ENVI, AGRI	8	17th
NICE/14	Kikuchi 1	Kumamoto	20/03-30/03	ENVI	8	4th
NICE/19	Haki	Fukuoka	21/03-31/03	FEST, ARTS, KIDS	5	4th
NICE/28	Iwaki	Fukushima	28/03-06/04	ENVI, ARTS	3	NEW!
NICE-MCE/20	Greening Mongolia	* Mongolia	25/04-08/05	ENVI	5	46th
NICE/33	Shirakami 2	Aomori	24/05-01/06	ENVI	4	10th
NICE/31	Shirakawa-go	Gifu	30/05-12/06	ENVI	5	3rd
NICE-MCE/34	Senior 1	* Mongolia	20/06-27/06	AGRI, EDUC, KIDS	?	2nd
NICE/35	Shirakami 3	Aomori	22/06-30/06	ENVI	4	11th
NICE/36	Maki 1	Nagano	25/06-08/07	AGRI	4	12th
NICE/37	Special G8	Hokkaido	27/06-10/07	ENVI	7	NEW!
NICE/38	Kurikoma 2	Miyagi	15/07-28/07	ENVI, AGRI, ARTS	3	7th
NICE/39	Aya	Miyazaki	18/07-25/07	AGRI, ARTS	3	8th
NICE/40	Kuromatsunai	Hokkaido	20/07-16/08	KIDS	3	7th
NICE/41	Yasuoka	Nagano	20/07-31/08	KIDS	2	2nd
NICE/42	Kodomo-mura	Oita	23/07-25/08	KIDS	4	15th
NICE/43	Shirakami 4	Aomori	24/07-03/08	KIDS	4	12th
NICE/44	Takane	Gifu	26/07-08/08	FEST, ELDE, AGRI	7	9th
NICE/45	Showa-mura 1	Fukushima	27/07-09/08	AGRI	5	NEW!
NICE/46	Ayagami	Kagawa	??/07-??/08	KIDS	5	2nd
NICE/47	Un-nan	Shimane	01/08-10/08	AGRI, FEST	6	3rd
NICE-VYA/48	Taishi 1	* Taiwan	01/08-15/08	EDU, ARTS, ENVI	5	2nd
NICE/49	Ogata	Oita	02/08-16/08	AGRI, FEST, KIDS	5	6th
NICE/50	Namino	Kumamoto	02/08-17/08	AGRI, FEST, KIDS	6	10th
NICE-MOVE/51	Klang 3	* Malaysia	03/08-16/08	KIDS, DISA	7	10th
NICE/52	Hanawa	Fukushima	04/08-18/08	FEST	8	15th
NICE/53	Unzen	Nagasaki	04/08-17/08	KIDS, DISA, ELDE	6	15th
NICE-SF/55	Sadhana Forest	* India	11/08-31/08	ENVI	7	2nd
NICE/56	Shirakami 5	Aomori	12/08-20/08	KIDS	3	13th
NICE/57	Kitakyushu	Fukuoka	12/08-25/08	KIDS	4	2nd
NICE/58	Fuji	Shizuoka	14/08-28/08	KIDS, EDUC	10	4th
NICE/59	Ogi	Niigata	14/08-31/08	ENVI, FEST	3	9th
NICE/60	Taishi-Tonda	Osaka	15/08-29/08	ENVI	5	9th
NICE/61	Hoshino	Fukuoka	16/08-29/08	ENVI, KIDS, EDUC	5	10th
NICE-VYA/62	Taishi 2	* Taiwan	16/08-30/08	EDU, KIDS, CONS	5	3rd
NICE-MOVE/88	Banting	* Malaysia	17/08-23/08	EDU, KIDS	6	New!
NICE-MOVE/63	Julau 3	* Malaysia	17/08-30/08	CONS, MANU	7	10th
NICE/64	Kamakura	Kanagawa	18/08-27/08	KIDS, SOCI	5	5th
NICE-UNA/65	Kikuchi 2	Kumamoto	18/08-31/08	ENVI, KIDS	-	5th
NICE/66	Hinode	Tokyo	20/08-31/08	DISA, FEST, ENVI	7	20
NICE/67	Shiojiri	Nagano	22/08-06/09	KIDS, EDUC	8	3rd
NICE/68	Wazuka	Kyoto	22/08-06/09	AGRI,CONC	8	8th
NICE/69	Showa-mura 2	Fukushima	23/08-05/09	AGRI	5	2nd
NICE/70	Satsuma	Kagoshima	23/08-06/09	ENVI	4	2nd
NICE-MOVE/71	Klang 4	* Malaysia	24/08-06/09	KIDS, DISA	7	11th
NICE-MOVE/72	Julau 4	* Malaysia	31/08-13/09	CONS, MANU	7	11th
NICE/73	Onuma	Hokkaido	31/08-14/09	ENVI	6	5th
NICE/74	Tokyo-ko	Tokyo	02/09-15/09	ENVI	6	8th
NICE/75	Kutcharo-ko	Hokkaido	05/09-16/09	ENVI	5	NEW!
NICE-UNA/76	Afan Forerst	* UK	06/09-21/09	ENVI	-	2nd
NICE-MCE/77	Bilateral 3	* Mongolia	08/09-21/09	AGRI, EDUC, KIDS	-	48th
NICE/78	Minami-Uonuma	Niigata	10/09-21/09	ENVI, KIDS, EDUC	5	14th
NICE/79	Shintoku	Hokkaido	10/09-24/09	AGRI, ENVI, CONS	4	11th
NICE-MCE/80	Bilateral 4	* Mongolia	13/09-26/09	AGRI, EDUC, KIDS	-	49th
NICE/81	Hikawa	Kumamoto	13/09-27/09	ENVI	4	2nd
NICE/82	Iwami Ginzan 2	Shimane	14/09-24/09	ENVI	4	2nd
NICE/83	Showa-mura 3	Fukushima	16/09-30/09	AGRI	5	3rd
NICE-BWCA/84	SSP	* Bangladesh	??/09-??/09	EDU	-	4th
NICE/85	Kurikoma 3	Miyagi	01/10-14/10	ENVI, AGRI, ARTS	3	8th
NICE/86	Maki 2	Nagano	15/10-28/10	AGRI	4	13th
NICE/87	Shirakami 6	Aomori	28/10-04/11	ENVI	5	14th
NICE/09-01	Shirakami 7	Aomori	02/01-13/01	KIDS	4	15th

* For Accommodation, CV = Cooked by Volunteers MP = Meals are Provided.
SB! = Sleeping Bag is necessary SBN = Sleeping Bag is Not necessary

NICE/01 Shirakami 1 (Aomori) 05/01-14/01 ENVI 8 vols. (4 int.)
Organized since 2006 together with Shirakami Mountains Preservation Society (SMPS) founded in 93. The Shirakami Mountains is a huge mountainous area and one of Japanese valuable preserved natural forests consisting primarily of beech trees. It was registered as a World Natural Heritage in 1993 and SMPS wants to help preserving the natural beauty of the Shirakami Mountains, so we will try to revive it by the global voluntary power!
W: We will do the various works needed in the SMPS and area such as lowering the snow, making the firewood using scrap wood. It will be physically hard. We will do various activities with the locals including the children in this town.
S: Nature school in each country. Bring some info.!
A: A simple house. SB! CV
L: The Shirakami Mountains, located in the northern part of Honshu Island, is a huge mountainous area (130,000 hectares on the border between Aomori and Akita Prefectures).
T: Tokyo (7 hours by bullet train or 10 hours by bus)
LA: Exchange parties, snowshoe hiking, snowmobile etc.
SR: Motivation to actively work in the forests with local people!

Trilateral teenager workcamp by Filipino/ Korean/ Japanese!!
NICE-IWO/02 Olango (Cebu, Philippine) 09/01-20/01 ENVI 30 vols. (0 int.)
Organized together with International Workcamp Organization (IWO) Korea since 2005. Olango is a beautiful island in the middle of the Philippine archipelago. It is a protected wetland of international importance because of its high biodiversity and critical role as feeding and roosting site for birds fling the East Asia Migratory Flyway. It is world famous not only for the migratory birds but also for its endemic flora and fauna. We aim to improve the environmental situation in Olango.
W: We will plant Mangroves trees in specially designated area to expand fish territorial home, we will join “World Wetland DAY” organized by Olango nature center. We will help their activities such as making the signboards, painting the walls. We aim to help nature conservation by workcamps.
S: The youth issues and education in each country. Bring some info.!
A: Community Center in Olango Island, its traditional Philippine house in the beach. SB! CV
L: Olango Island is just 20 minutes away by boat from Mactan, an island in Cebu where the Cebu International Airport is located.
T: Cebu, 1 hour by car and boat.
LA: Excursion, exchange parties, etc.
SR: Only under 18 years old, Korean vols. from IWO and Japanese vols. from NICE

Special project open ONLY to leaders of i.v.s. NGOs in Asia!!
NICE-VPV-SJV/22 The 7th TNW (* Vietnam) 13/01-22/01 ENVI, KIDS 30 vols.
Organized together with Solidarity Jeunesse Vietnam (SJV), Volunteers for Peace Vietnam (VPV) and Network for Voluntary network in Asia (NVDA). NVDA organizes TNW (Training & Networking Workcamp) together with its General Assembly every 2 years where leaders from the NGOs in “new” countries can learn how to organize workcamps through direct experience of practical voluntary work and study parts while those who are not new also can improve their activities and cooperation.
W: The group will be divided into 3 teams depending on interest; a) Environment (making water filters and acrylic sponges in the slam area), b) Disadvantaged children (organizing leisure activities for children of Hospital) and c) Education (teaching English and do maintenance at the primary school).
S: How to measure and maximize impact and any other matters of NVDA. Bring some info.!
A: Office of VPV and the hotel. SB! MP, sometimes CV
L: In and around Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam
T: Hanoi (SJV and VPV will kindly pick volunteers up at the airport!)
LA: Global Volunteering Fiesta, meeting with the UNV officials, excursion in hanoi city, etc.
SR: Leaders of i.v.s. NGOs in Asia-Pacific who want to start workcamps and of NVDA member NGOs

NICE/04 Tawara (Aichi) 02/02-18/02 AGRI, ENVI 12 vols. (6 int.)
Newly organized together with Huckleberry jam that is a rural NPO established in 2006 to promote organic farming, food education and activation of local communities. They help farming and organize weekend program to have city children experience organic farming by young, motivated staff members! NICE organizes weekend workcamps with them every 1-2 months since April 2007 mainly for farming. We aim to create more and colorful impact by this longer-term, international project.
W: We will join organic farming such as reviving abandon rice fields, taking care of vegetables and making a fence for goats. We will also take care of the forests such as making trails, signs, rest places, biotopes, etc. Possibly, we may also help their activities with chillren.
S: Organic faming in each country and future cooperation. Bring some info.!
A: Long house which was converted from a vacant house. SB! CV
L: Center of Atsumi Peninsula, south east of Nagoya. There are many vegetable farms in this area and the nearest city is Toyohashi (30 min. by train).
T: Nagoya (2 hours by train). From Tokyo, 3 hours by bullet train or 6 hours by midnight bus.
LA: Exchange parties with organic farmers, excursion, etc. SR: Motivation to organic farming and forestry work