OVERSEAS EDUCATION
Since 1995, Ashinaga has sent nearly 300 Japanese university students abroad on one-year training programs. For many students who have lost a parent, going abroad is financially infeasible. Ashinaga’s programs enable them to take advantage of an international experience that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.
Ashinaga runs two Uganda programs for our students in Japan. The first is a short stay, usually of about two weeks, which teaches students about life in Uganda and Ashinaga’s activitis in the African continent. Students have the opportunity to visit different parts of the country, learn from residents in the Nansana community, and undertake a homestay with a Ugandan family. The second program lasts for one year, providing participants with a life-changing experience. Students work and learn alongside Ashinaga staff at the Ashinaga Rainbow House, supporting the Ugandan children who study there. Students on this program also develop their own project related to their social interests. During the course of the year, students improve their English proficiency and communication skills.
Airi’s Experience in Uganda
“I stayed for about one year in Uganda as part of the 7th Overseas Training Program. After coming home, I then took part in the Ashinaga P-Walk 10 organizing committee. I graduated from university in March 2013, and I am now working as an elementary school teacher at a state school in Tokyo. For me, the training program in Uganda was a year of facing up to life, holding the responsibility to engage in education, and truly feeling the meaning of intensity.
Nowadays, whenever I get the chance, I do my best to tell my students about my experience in Uganda—the points of view and ways of thinking that I learned there. These kids are highly sensitive, but I think this helps them to, little by little, broaden their points of view and get a feeling for the wider world.
After talking to them about how children in Uganda often don’t get to eat until they are full, I saw fewer kids leaving leftover food at lunchtime. In their own childlike way, it looks like my thought of them wanting to do something for those children is taking shape. Undoubtedly, whatever happens, the stories about Uganda are sure to stick with these kids.
Through the training program in Uganda, I felt how things right in front of me were definitely not as they seem. For this reason, I think we adults have to support and uphold that growth for the kids who are right in front of us. I think I want to spend my days with these kids, while at the same time always keeping the smiles of the kids in Uganda in my heart.”
– Airi, Uganda training program participant