“African Studies” is a training program in which students learn about poverty and human rights in Africa through actual field study.
This year, 17 high school students from 10th and 11th grade participated and they visited the Republic of Botswana and the Republic of South Africa for 9 days from the 22nd to 30th of July.
On the first day, there was a visit to a wildlife reserve in Botswana, where students saw various wild animals such as white rhinos, cheetahs, zebras, and they experienced the nature of Africa first hand.
On the second day, they visited Maruapura School which is a partner school of Tamagawa Gakuen.
After participating in classes in English, they experienced community service activities while interacting with local students.
They gradually got used to the culture and atmosphere of Africa.
The next day, a training session was held at the JICA Botswana branch. They listened to lectures about the activities of JICA from officials of the branch office and asked questions in Q&A sessions very actively.
Students listened to the workers on site, gained a concrete image of what it is like to work globally, and caught a glimpse of a possible future career.
In the second half of the African Studies trip, they moved to South Africa.
At Saint Cyprian High School in Cape Town where they first visited, they gave a presentation introducing Machida City where Tamagawa Gakuen is located.
The presentation was prepared and practiced before departing Japan and it was greeted with interest from the local high school students and it helped the exchange of opinions on national cultures and values.
It also helped to highlight students’ lives and daily activities in Japan.
After leaving Saint Cyprian High School, they headed to Robben Island to learn about apartheid in South Africa.
They visited the prisons and facilities, where Mr. Nelson Mandela, the first black president in South Africa was imprisoned, and received a lecture on apartheid, and reflected on the sufferings of those days.
After that, students visited a township where black people were forced to live isolated from others under the policy of apartheid. While walking on an unpaved road, they witnessed the living conditions of those days that, unfortunately, still remain.
While the apartheid policy is over and economic development has been happening, more than half of the people still suffer from poverty in the township, and many other problems are building up in South Africa, such as maintaining security, single mothers, AIDS and so on.
Students saw the reality in South Africa and received a big shock, and began to think about “What I can do for the future” and strongly emphasized the desire for overseas support.
Finally, they visited Boulders Beach and the southernmost tip of Africa, Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope.
They remembered the 9 days with their colleagues and what they learned together while sharing various thoughts as the program concluded.
By learning about the problems in Africa on this trip, students were able to understand the significance of overseas support and raised their enthusiasm for working in such a field.
After finishing the hard schedule, the expression of the students as they came home was proof that they acquired a broader view of the world.