STORIES
Community
DONATE

Shin Fujiyama

by Faheem from Atlanta

Shin Fujiyama (art.shin.fujiyama.cnn.jpg)
Shin Fujiyama (art.shin.fujiyama.cnn.jpg)

My Hero
Shin Fujiyama, 25, has had a life filled with many second chances. Fujiyama was born in a poverty- stricken fishing village in Japan in 1985. As a child, Fujiyama faced many life-threatening health conditions and diseases, one of which included a hole in his heart. The doctors told Fujiyama’s parents that he would not have much time to live, but, during a later visit to the doctor, the hole in the boy’s heart had miraculously sealed up. When Fujiyama learned he was cured, he believed he was given a second chance to make something out of himself.

(abroadview.org)
(abroadview.org)

During Fujiyama’s sophomore year at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, he volunteered with a campus group in Honduras, but when he arrived, he saw the extreme poverty that the people of Honduras faced, and he realized he could give them all a second chance. Fujiyama’s organization brings education and community projects with the help of service trips and fundraisers to the newly rebuilt and renamed Villa Soleada or “Sunshine Village”. While Fujiyama spends his summers in Honduras working with other volunteers, he spends a large portion of the year going around other large universities and campuses around America raising funds for the village. Since 2006, Shin Fujiyama has collected more than $750,000 to fund projects, build schools, and established scholarships for the inhabitants of the village to attend colleges around the world.

Page created on 9/19/2010 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 9/19/2010 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Related Links