MyVoiceOurStory

Hello, this is Ms. Harada from the IFCA Tokyo team.

I have an exciting event that 

I would like to share with you...!




The other day, I applied for the 

"Emergency Student Support Grant"

 which is funded by the national 

government in Japan.




What is the "Emergency Student

 Support Grant"?

Through the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO), 

the government will give out 200,000 yen or 100,000 yen 

to needy students during the Coronavirus crisis.




I received a notice about this grant from 

the school office some time ago . 

However, I didn't open the email because 

I was afraid to find out that I might not be eligible.

 I've been neglecting it for a long time.




Off the topic of emergency grants, 

when I first thought about seeking higher education, 

I looked for scholarships that were available to me.

However, most of the scholarships were for youth 

who left child protection institutions or foster homes.




I was taken into temporary custody 

but was never placed in a facility or foster care. 

 Although I grew up in an abusive home, 

there were no scholarships that I was eligible to apply.




Furthermore, I was not able to take a student 

loan because of my parents' income. 

 In other words, I did not meet the eligibility 

requirements as a foster youth or as a low-income 

household student.




Finding appropriate scholarship programs was a daunting

 and disappointing task for me. Every time 

I looked for financial support, 

I was forced to realize that I was falling through 

the cracks of strict policies and 

regulations set by the system.




Just before the emergency student loan application deadline,

 I muster up the courage to read the application guidelines.

 I was only able to do this because a friend of mine 

who is not from IFCA was willing to read the application 

form together with me via video call. 




I was happy to find out that even 

I could apply for this particular scholarship.




Reading through the application, 

I came across checkboxes such as 

"not being able to receive assistance 

from the family while living at home" 

and other similar questions.




I was pleased to see that the form 

recognized the existence of households with challenges. 

I was also relieved to learn that there were 

scholarships that could relate to 

my circumstances and needs.




It's too early to be excited 

as the results are not yet in, 

but this application form certainly made me happy. 

  Thank you for reading my blog.