Lenovo conducted “Work for Humankind,” a project combining workcation and volunteer work on Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, from mid-March to mid-April On June 20, freelance creator Satoshi Yamaguchi, who participated in the project from Japan, participated in a media On June 20, Satoshi Yamaguchi, a freelance creator who participated in the project from Japan, gave a group interview to the media.
Lenovo, a world-renowned PC manufacturer, has been conducting a project every year to solve social issues by utilizing IT, its specialty. This time, in cooperation with Island Conservation, a conservation group, participants will work while volunteering to solve problems on Robinson Crusoe Island.
Robinson Crusoe Island is located approximately 670 km off the west coast of Chile in South America. About 900 people live in the town of San Juan Bautista on the northern coast of the island. 97% of the island is designated as a nature preserve, and although the island is attractive for its abundant nature, the local economy is said to be heavily dependent on the lobster fishing industry.
Yamaguchi participated in the second of the two projects, working with 10 others from around the world. They included writers, veterinarians, designers, engineers, marine biologists, urban designers, and other specialists from a variety of genres.
The project requires participants to volunteer 20 hours per week in a volunteer activity that makes the most of their backgrounds, and they are free to devote the rest of their time to telework or leisure activities.
Because of the 13-hour time difference from Japan, he allocated 4:00 to 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. for work, volunteered from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m., and then used his free time until around 8:00 p.m.
Lenovo covered the costs of travel, lodging, breakfast, and dinner; in effect, the participants were responsible for their own lunch and free time. Mr. Yamaguchi said, “I spent my free time there quite actively. He paid for the equipment needed for snorkeling and other activities at local dive stores, but even so, he only spent about 50,000 yen during his one-month stay.
The content of the actual volunteer activities was decided through discussions with the two project managers who accompanied the team after they arrived at the site.
According to Mr. Yamaguchi, the island has an abundance of seafood, but most fruits and vegetables are imported from outside the island by ship once every two weeks, and depending on the weather, the shipments may be cancelled. Even if they wanted to expand their farmland, 97% of the island is designated as a nature preserve, making it difficult to establish a large-scale farm. In the first week and a half he spent there, he built a green house (plastic house) and grew pak choi, herbs, and other plants.
In the latter half of his stay, he used his skills in marketing and research to produce a short film about the local food culture with the theme of how food can be used for tourism. The menu, which includes onions and potatoes that last for a long time and lobster, a specialty of Robinson Crusoe Island, is said to be unique to the island.
For Yamaguchi, who says he has always been a morning person, the time difference from Japan was only an advantage. Many of the participants also woke up early in the morning, each working full time remotely, and each was living at the camp with a loose connection to the others, such as a YouTuber subtitling a paper next to a scholar writing a thesis.
After graduating from university, Mr. Yamaguchi worked at IBM Japan, then at a start-up company in Hong Kong and in marketing research at a foreign venture capital firm, and is currently freelancing in web production and support for start-ups. He had been interviewing for a new job at a company, but after participating in the project and seeing how participants from various professions worked full time remotely and were active outside of work, he decided to continue working as a freelancer.
According to Masayoshi Suzuki, public relations manager for Lenovo Japan, the building that used to be a dive store and cafe on the island was renovated and made available as a “technology hub” with high-speed Internet access to support participants. The facilities will remain so that IT can continue to be used to solve local issues after the participants leave, and the facility will be made available for use as a library from the perspective of education, which was considered one of the issues on the island.
The company conducted a survey of about 15,000 people in 10 countries around the world on their attitudes toward the way they work, and 61% said that “if you can work from anywhere, it is very important to give back to the local community and leave a positive impact on society,” and that volunteer This year’s theme was “Volunteer Activities”.
Mr. Yamaguchi, who actually participated in the project, has a high awareness of volunteerism, and through his activities has connected with chefs at local restaurants via SNS.
© Source travel watch
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