Much Ado about the initiator
Who is Koko?
Koko was born in Japan, about half century ago. She started living in NZ in 2008. She has science, engineering, art, graphic design, music, martial arts, fitness instruction, and autism as backgrounds.
love have fun?
When she started rehabilitation assistant job at a neurological rehab centre, she gradually became aware that most of the boring stuff in this world can be easily made into fun, with her sense of humour.
"Fun" as survival techniques.
Koko was the worst student in the class at PE. However, she always tried to enjoy every single classes. It was almost like a game for her. "What can I do to enjoy this one hour, if I cannot escape anyway??"
Your achievement is my achievement.
Koko used to enjoy long distance run, like marathons. When she finished her first marathon, Koko was disappointed. Everyone talks about how fabulous the feeling is to finish the first marathon. She didn't feel anything special.Â
2 years later, Koko had an injury and took it easy for a season. At the same time, she enjoyed running (or walk??) with a woman who suffers from various conditions including diabetes, who wants to do a marathon. Sometimes, it took them almost 6 hours for a training run (walk) (20-30km). At the end, the woman finished a marathon. Koko couldn't help driving 3 hours one way, just to cheer her up on the course. It was her best ever season.
Talking without talking
An old gentleman who lost his speech after a stroke opened Koko's eyes. His vocabulary is limited to yes, no, why. Although he is quite good at drawing, and gesturing (almost pantomime!), not many people have patience and imagination required to communicate with him. To Koko's eye, his spirit was almost dead and he had no initiative to make his day better. Koko volunteered to assist him establish communication methods. Somehow it was rather easy for Koko. It took them almost a year, but at the end, the man started to make his effort to explain his needs, to enjoy arts and crafts without anyone encouraging him.
Understanding computer languages
When Koko was studying science, computer was one of the papers (in 1990s). Koko was rather a student with poor scores, but somehow she easily finished any assignments on computer subjects. Koko thought, it's like explaining a complexed concept to very young children. Take apart the whole concept into small pieces, and building them up again, according to THEIR view.
Cycling Chairs
In 2016, Koko found about Cycling Chair, COGY. She decided to bring it into NZ, and test them out with her clients. Soon after, they all found that it's so much fun to stay healthy if only they have access to COGY.
Sharing is caring
Koko found the communication around the cycling chair culture seriously jammed. As a result, users have to make the same effort, again and again, around the world, without any chance of learning from each other. Why not sharing our experiences? She started to build up a network of Cycling Chair users and supporters, COGY.net
