FRONTRUNNERS
I want to create an environment where more people with disabilities can work.
My goal is to bring out their potential, so they can work professionally.
Rather than simply offering help, I want to solve problems together.
Social entrepreneur Ishikawa Naohito
Sri Lanka, an island nation in the Indian Ocean.
On its west coast lies its largest city and economic hub, Colombo.
A building in the backstreets of the city center.
Every morning at 8 a.m.,
people with visual impairments come here to work.
Good morning.
It's a massage salon.
It employs seven experts and several trainees,
all of whom have visual impairments.
The salon opens, and customers start checking in.
They serve mainly middle and upper-class Sri Lankans,
as well as foreign residents,
and some tourists who discover the business online.
Massage therapists use their fingers and palms to massage clients' pressure points,
relieving tightness and other physical issues.
Techniques are based on shiatsu,
which originated in Japan around 100 years ago.
How do I feel? Oh, so good.
I feel like the pressure... the way they did the whole massage...
Very good, because they have extrasensory skill,
because they cannot see.
So they're more used to focusing more on their other senses.
A common view in Sri Lankan society
is that people with visual impairments can't work.
Many live with their families, and have limited opportunities to participate in society.
But at this salon, they can work,
even earning around 330 US dollars a month,
more than the national average.
It's a good opportunity for us because there are other places
that can't take you for work because of the disability we have.
I like this job because the more I work, the more I earn.
The salon was founded in 2012
by the head of a Japanese NPO, Ishikawa Naohito.
The high wages are one facet of the NPO's core principles.
We refer to our work as "social business."
It's not welfare.
We've been told that it's not right to make visually impaired people work.
But we're not exploiting them.
Our goal is to bring out their potential, so they can work professionally.
That's the environment we're aiming for.
Hopefully we can change society's perspective.
In Japan, Ishikawa studied at an agricultural university.
He came to Sri Lanka in 2002
as a volunteer through a Japanese government program.
Following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami,
he decided to stay longer than his original term
to support recovery efforts, founding an NPO.
But as he was carrying out aid activities, he started to have misgivings.
After we provided aid, many disaster victims didn't move onto the next step.
They got used to the help and kept asking for more.
We got lots of requests.
And we began to doubt that our work was leading to any real progress.
How could we move on from this cycle of only providing aid?
Rather than simply offering help, I wanted to solve problems together.
So I decided to pursue that kind of project.
Ishikawa resolved to develop social businesses by working "with" Sri Lankans.
He made the acquaintance of some people with visual impairments,
who were struggling.
He realized that teaching them massage techniques
would let them provide a high-value service and enrich their lives,
in a mutually beneficial arrangement.
He asked Japanese shiatsu practitioner Sasada Saburo to conduct their training.
Sasada had previously taught in India and Malaysia.
The Sri Lankan students were greatly encouraged by Sasada,
who was himself blind.
One of the first trainees was Rumesh Thanuka,
who came from the countryside.
He was born with an extra finger and lost most of his sight at the age of 15,
due to a disease of the nervous system.
He was 23 years old and in vocational training when he met Ishikawa.
Twelve years later, he's the salon's top earner,
with a monthly wage of up to 500 dollars.
I knew he could do it.
That's why I recruited him.
I thought it would be hard because of my extra finger.
But I tried and realized I could do it.
Besides my parents, Ishikawa is the most important person in my life.
In 2016, the salon faced a major crisis.
A manager convinced the employees that Ishikawa was taking advantage of them.
The team made the decision to quit en masse.
Rumesh was the only one who stayed behind.
I didn't know what I'd do if I left. It was frightening.
I spoke to my parents, then came back.
My father accompanied me.
He said Ishikawa was a good person and told me to keep my job.
If he hadn't stayed, we'd have had to close the salon.
That day, I renewed my commitment.
I vowed to move on and build a successful business.
8 a.m.
One massage therapist, Priyantha Kosala, leaves the salon alone.
To spread awareness of the salon,
Ishikawa arranges for on-site massages at several businesses.
This also gives his visually impaired employees the opportunity
to travel further than they normally would.
He intentionally asks them to go without an escort.
Kosala arrives at the office of a major logistics company,
where an employee guides him.
After learning about Ishikawa and his team's activities,
the company director built a massage room in the office
as a perk for his employees.
They can make reservations within office hours.
Sessions are just 15 minutes each,
since they take place during workdays.
The massage focuses on areas of particular tension or fatigue.
Just like Rumesh, Kosala is a veteran massage therapist.
He joined the salon at the very beginning.
These sessions let me travel for work and meet lots of clients.
This is the company's director.
My employees are all grateful.
In Sri Lanka, there's not much work available
for visually impaired people.
It's thanks to jobs like this that everyone in the country...
...has the opportunity to work.
Kosala has struggled with work in the past.
Back in 2016, he was one of the employees
that suspected Ishikawa of exploitation and decided to quit.
I found work at another salon, but I wasn't paid very much.
I felt like I'd abandoned Ishikawa, so I came back after a while.
He took me back despite what I'd done. I realized how kind he was.
It's early October, and today is a Sri Lankan public holiday.
Ishikawa is accompanying Rumesh on a visit to his home village.
It's a 90-minute drive from Colombo.
Ishikawa is visiting Rumesh's parents for the first time in around two years.
They believed in him enough to let their son work with him,
far away in Colombo.
He receives a warm welcome.
Rumesh supports his family's finances
by sending them most of the money he earns.
Thanks to Ishikawa, our son is doing well enough to take care of us.
We're very grateful.
There's another reason for the trip.
Rumesh is joined by his sister, who cared for him since childhood.
Together, they visit a construction site
where Rumesh is building a house with his sister and her husband.
Ishikawa wants to see how it's progressing.
Rumesh's plan is to open a massage salon in the house,
so he can live and work alongside his parents.
By building this house, I hope to live with them and take care of them.
And I want to take my work to the next level.
Society seems to think that blind people are helpless.
But my colleagues and I are showing what's possible.
I'm happy we're demonstrating that.
What does Ishikawa think of Rumesh's project?
For so long, he's been receiving help. From his family, neighbors, and so on.
But now he's the one helping others.
I'm very happy to see that in action.
Maharagama is an outer suburb of Colombo.
Ishikawa lives in a second-floor apartment here.
He's married to a Sri Lankan woman and has a three-year-old son.
His wife practices traditional ayurvedic medicine.
I've lived in Sri Lanka for a while,
but there's plenty I don't understand.
My wife gives me lots of helpful advice.
He works a lot and doesn't eat properly.
I wish he'd take better care of himself.
Sometimes I get annoyed at how busy he is.
But he takes time off to comfort me.
She often says we would've broken up
if she were an ordinary Sri Lankan.
I guess she's not ordinary!
Ishikawa has been in Sri Lanka for 23 years.
Why did he choose it as his home?
I happened to end up here and meet lots of different people.
There are things I want to achieve here.
So I'll probably stay for a long time.
It's often said to be a fun country to visit.
People are friendly and thoughtful.
But working here is different.
Money changes people.
I've had tricky moments. But I try not to dwell on them.
Despite past issues, Ishikawa wants to move forward,
hand in hand with the people of Sri Lanka.
The massage salon isn't his only social business project.
This is a grocery store in central Colombo,
specializing in organic vegetables and products made from them.
Ishikawa started the business in 2014.
What was his goal?
In a word: health.
We encourage organic farming by buying at a high price.
We then sell the produce in cities.
Farmers are healthier and make more money.
And customers in Colombo can improve their health.
That's the goal.
The business has 14 employees.
They also sell organic vegetables wholesale,
to supermarkets and other stores.
This income is what supported the massage salon during the COVID-19 pandemic,
when it was struggling to keep its doors open.
The store is supplied in part by eight farms,
which Ishikawa visits each month.
Some took up organic farming following his encouragement.
Others were pursuing it already,
but were having a hard time finding buyers.
I studied agriculture at university. It interests me.
There was a time when I dreamed of becoming a farmer.
So I find this work really rewarding.
It's a time of dramatic change for Sri Lankan society.
Elections in fall 2024
saw the country replace its two longstanding major parties
with a government working towards economic and social development.
I'm proud of the new government.
And I believe that our new president will make things better.
The corruption was out of control.
But now it feels like it's gone.
It's a positive development for Ishikawa's businesses.
Today, he's visiting the government's Department of Social Services.
He's meeting with the director, Darshani Karunarathna,
who supports his efforts to create job opportunities for people with disabilities.
Ishikawa is here to discuss a national certification for massage therapists.
He's been lobbying the government for years,
and after the recent election, talks have begun to progress.
I'd like to discuss people with visual impairments.
Massage therapists should have access to a globally recognized qualification.
That will allow them to work anywhere.
Including booming industries like tourism and hotels.
Yes, because massages are in demand.
Understood. I'm talking to the Labor Bureau about qualifications.
I hope to receive permission by the end of the year.
The new government is striving to support people with disabilities.
It's part of a national movement toward equality.
And it's making my work a lot easier.
With the wind in his sails, Ishikawa is starting a new venture,
in addition to his massage and grocery businesses.
He's driving to Kandy, Sri Lanka's historical capital.
It's around 100 kilometers east of Colombo.
Kandy is home to the Wattegama Vocational Training Center.
It's one of 11 facilities for people with disabilities,
situated all across Sri Lanka.
Young people come here to learn skills like sewing,
woodworking,
and computing.
Ishikawa is visiting a class
where young people with hearing and developmental disabilities
learn beauty skills such as hairdressing and makeup.
How are the students doing?
They're at the end of the course, about to take their exams.
Ishikawa is teaming up with the training center on a new project.
He'll be employing graduates of the course at a new nail salon.
After working with visually impaired people,
I've been considering other disabilities.
And recently, a lot of nail salons have been opening in Sri Lanka.
I think deaf and hard-of-hearing people can be good at intricate tasks.
So I'm providing nail artist training.
The plan took the center's leader by surprise.
He had faced a longstanding problem.
Graduates of these facilities struggle to find work using their new skills.
When Ishikawa first approached me, I was skeptical of his idea.
But I thought we should try something new.
Back in Colombo...
Ishikawa visits a space he's renting for the nail salon business.
Six graduates of the Wattegama Vocational Training Center,
with hearing or developmental disabilities,
have already been studying nail art here for around a year.
Ishikawa used crowdfunding to secure funds for a new nail salon
on the floor above his massage business.
It's set to open in one week's time.
He recruited a professional from Japan,
which is known around the world for its high-level nail art.
She's been teaching graduates new techniques.
The final step of their training is to work on the nails of trial customers.
I hope to work as a nail artist for a very long time.
I want to study hard.
I want to keep improving.
I hope to be able to provide a good service to our customers.
I know that they want to work for themselves, as professionals.
So we're working with them to achieve that.
Mid-October.
Right above the massage salon,
it's finally opening day for the nail art salon
staffed by employees with hearing and developmental disabilities.
For Ishikawa, it's the start of a new social business.
The salon's first guests include the staff's relatives,
the Director of Social Services,
and the head of the vocational training center.
Ishikawa gives an opening speech.
I'm delighted we've reached this very special day.
I don't pity people with disabilities.
They have the skills to lead rich lives.
And contribute to society.
We just need to create an environment
where that is possible.
The Director of Social Services cuts the ribbon.
This will be a place where people with hearing and developmental disabilities can thrive.
Their first customer will be the director herself.
After the ceremony, the massage therapists also get to work.
Staff members are each carving their own path.
Through social businesses,
Ishikawa wants to accompany the people of Sri Lanka on their journey, hand in hand.
What motivates him as a "frontrunner" in his field?
Human connection. It leads to further connections and joy.
I've slowly made that realization. And it's become a driving force.
I'm committed to addressing social problems through business.
When it comes to social businesses in Sri Lanka, I want to be a pioneer.