African Studies is a training program where students visit Africa and learn about poverty and human rights in developing countries directly.
The 8th trip saw 17 people, who were from 1st to 3rd grade visit the Republic of Botswana and Republic of South Africa for 12 days from July 22nd to August 2nd.
They arrived Johannesburg, South Africa from Narita via Hong Kong.
In the Peirsberg National Park, they enjoyed the nature of Africa watching the wild elephants, rhinoceroses and lions.
After arriving in Botswana, they stayed at a student dormitory at Maruapura, a partner school of Tamagawa Gakuen. On the next day, they participated in classes and presented a report about Botswana’s culture, which they prepared in Japan.
In the beginning, students were nervous giving the presentations in a different environment, but soon the students from Botswana began asking questions and participating in the event. This helped the students relax and they enjoyed this international exchange.
After participating in class, they visited Musashina village which is located about 2 hours by car from the student dormitory. Children from the village, welcomed them while waiting for relief supplies and sweets to delivered. They were barefoot with short pants but with jackets due to the cold, windy weather.
While students were touched by the smiles of the children, they were also confused by the fact that there were children who could not receive sweets under the rules. Their heart ached at not being able to give anything to the children who followed the bus, and the they began to tear up. They realized the severity and the reality of “poverty” which was beyond their previous ideas.
On the third day in Botswana, they visited Botswana University and participated in cultural activities in a nearby village. While there they showed their excitement at learning about the local culture first hand.
On the final day in Botswana, they visited the JICA Gaborone office and a JICA project.
In the morning, they listened to a lecture on JICA’s activities, and in the afternoon, they visited a farm, an orphanage, a garbage sorting facility and listened to stories from the local JICA staff.
After their time in Botswana, they moved to South Africa and visited a township.
The residential area where black people were forced to live under apartheid remained as it was in the past.
Unpaved roads, kindergartens with offensive smells, houses without windows and without sunlight were common.
On the other hand, the students saw luxury residential areas beautiful houses were being built. They could not hide their surprise at such a “disparity”.
“I want to deepen my understanding of this problem” and “I must tell this to many people” were common responses of the students.
While each of the students received such a big shock, it strengthened their consciousness of the thought “what can I do right now”. The visit to this area, which has a historically important significance in South Africa, became a tremendous, moving experience for the students.
After this visit, they visited Robben Island, Karstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Boulders Beach and finally they visited Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost part of Africa.
They felt the magnitude and beauty of nature throughout their body as they spent the last hours of the program.
The students continuously experienced a different culture during this program. This irreplaceable 10 days was full of “chances” which the students learned to think deeply about. They really thought about how they could fight poverty and considered their future goals such as in international studies, international exchanges or volunteering.