Ibasho - Creating Communities that Value Their Elders

submitted by Emi Kiyota

Ibasho means "a place where you can feel like yourself" in Japanese.  At Ibasho we believe this is what every person should have as they age - a place to live in safety, comfort and dignity, where he or she is valued as a person full of history or experience.

Ibasho is an innovative new organization that seeks to create places for elders to live in safety, comfort and dignity, where they are valued as people full of history and experience. The concept is simple: elders have a lot to offer, and benefit from being able to share their talents within a true community. Therefore, Ibasho creates places that we would all like to live in as we get older – multi-generational, environmentally sustainable communities in which elders can contribute their talents at the same time they are cared for.

Ibasho’s current projects:

•  
  • Post-tsunami and earthquake reconstruction in Japan
  • La Maison du Pere (Cote d’Ivoire), in which retired priests will live within a village and act as teachers for a community with no other access to education
  • Design consultation for a community of elderly Buddhist monks in Bhutan.

Contact Ibasho at www.ibasho.org , or by e-mail to ***@***.***