Photo By Staff Sgt. Danielle Prentice | CAMP KINSER, OKINAWA, Japan — Marines and children pose for a group photo after a...... read more read more
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Children from the Miyagi and Morinoko Children Centers walked onto the field smiling and laughing before playing a friendly kickball game hosted by the Single Marine Program July 15 aboard Camp Kinser.
To kick things off, staff members and Marines showed the children the rules of kickball, teaching them to kick and play defense before the game.
“Events like these help strengthen the ties between the U.S. and Japanese, and could potentially serve as a pivot point for those who don’t believe we are good people,” said Gunnery Sgt. David Devine, the camp operations and camp guard chief.
After the children grasped the rules of the game, they split into two teams and went to their dugouts where they greeted each other and made nametags.
Knowing each other’s names helped the kids connect with the Marines and bridge the culture gap.
Once the teams were ready, they took the field. On defense, Marines each took a position and shared it with a few of the children, helping them play and learn. On offense, the teams lined up along the baseline in front of their dugout waiting to kick.
“We usually volunteer at the center, play with them, teach them English and help them with their homework, so today was a great time,” said Cpl. Kevin Nguyen, a SMP representative. “A lot of the kids were really excited; they don’t get to play kickball at the center because they don’t have a sports field.”
Throughout the afternoon the children’s excitement grew, jumping for joy when they scored a run or caught the ball for an out.
Once the kickball game was over the children were free to play whatever they wanted with the Marines such as, tag, soccer, frisbee and being sprayed with water to cool off.
“I had so much fun today, this much! Look,” said a child from the Morinoko Children’s center as he laughed and ran from one side of the pavilion to the other to express how much fun he had.
After lunch, the kids were surprised with popsicles provided by one of the Marines.
“We had a great time. It’s such a big field. It allowed the kids to run around and have so much fun,” said Sayuri Fukuhara, a Morinoko Children center staff member. “From the beginning, we felt very welcome because there were so many volunteers; they all had very big smiles on their faces. We look forward to coming back.”
| Date Taken: | 07.15.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2017 03:18 |
| Story ID: | 241360 |
| Location: | CAMP KINSER, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 50 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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