About UNION

HOPE International's overseas volunteer program is called UNION, an acronym for the program's main goal: Understanding Needs In Other Nations.
 
Normally, HOPE Japan UNION is for a much shorter period of time that is tailored for Japanese groups who have less available time for overseas travel. Typically a UNION trip is for 4-12 weeks while HOPE Japan UNION is only for a week or two.
 
 
Each year HOPE International takes groups of young people to a developing country where they live and work along with poor families. UNION participants share the work of people living in impoverished communities hopefully coming to understand their struggles and hopes. The program's aim is for the participants to acquire a deep understanding of the challenges that the neglected poor faces everyday and what we in the industrialized world can do to help them climb out of debilitating poverty.
 
In addition to covering all travel and personal expenses, each participant is required to contribute towards the cost of the actual project that she/he will be involved in.
  • If you are a first-time participant the contribution fee is 50,000yen.
  • We encourage those who have been on previous UNION trips to try to raise 75,000 or more. The reason is that you have already seen the plight of the poor and now can tell the story effectively to others.
Some participants pay the whole fee themselves, BUT WE PREFER that you do some fundraising as it helps spread the message. You can raise money more easily than you think. HOPE will support your fundraising activities. Please don't hesitate to join the UNION. We believe your involvement will benefit the lives of the neglected poor.