Interviews
Volunteering at JANM
The reason I’m involved is - is I kind of said in talking about fundraising, the same reason is that I feel that the museum is a very important vehicle. It is the one opportunity, among many, but a good opportunity, to educate the people about the Japanese American experience. So for me, that is the value of helping at this museum. It’s more than just having a museum, it’s really making a better world, a more just world, and this is why I feel it’s important. Now, I used to be a docent, meaning that I used to take groups of children or adults or whoever, but now that I have lost my hearing and I don’t see too well, I cannot answer questions too well, and then I feel that I’m not giving a full measure to the visitors. Therefore, I work behind the scenes, so to speak. So I do whatever, if shredding paper is what they ask me, or if they ask me to staple something, or stuff envelopes, whatever, I do it because I feel that that’s part of the total operation, and ever little bit helps.
Date: March 4, 2005
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Florence Ochi, Art Hansen, Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
