Community SL Testimonials 2021

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JSSL (Japan Summer Service-Learning) Program

I think the charm of Tenryu Village is the kindness and personality of the "villagers". The most memorable part of our service activities was the interaction with the local people. The villagers were very kind and willing to help us, and we learned a lot from the conversation with their stories. I learned new things about the history and problems of the village that I hadn't realized before I went there, and I realized that there is no substitute for actually visiting the area, seeing the current situation, and hearing from the people involved. I visited Tenryu Village because I am interested in social issues, so it was very meaningful for me to get a subject that I can use in my graduation thesis and future studies.

It is not often that one can stay in the countryside and experience rural life using all five senses, so the experience I had in this program was an invaluable asset. I am proud that we were able to realize an unprecedented attempt to connect elementary schools in Tokyo and overseas through online international exchange. I was also blessed with four friends, with whom I was able to enjoy every day, deepening and enriching my learning. If you are at all interested in living in the countryside, this is a program you should participate in! I am sure you will gain a new sense of values and way of thinking.

Nagasaki Foundation for the Promotion of Peace / Nagasaki University

During my 30 days of service in a new place, everything I saw was new to me. What impressed me the most was that for the first time in my life I was able to interact with atomic bomb survivors. Seventy-six years have passed since the end of the war and the Hibakusha are getting older. I was struck by their words that they are not in good health, that they lost loved ones in the atomic bombing, and that it is a painful memory to remember, but they continue to talk about their experiences because they are motivated to never want anyone to go through the same thing again. As a person living in the only country in the world to have experienced war, I felt a strong desire to carry on the Hibakusha's thoughts and take action to think about peace not only in Nagasaki, but in Japan and the world as a whole.

Through the service-learning activities, I was able to realize my potential as a young person. Up until now, I was a person who was passive and thought negatively about everything. However, I realized that I had set my own limits through interactions with people my age who were actively engaged in peace activities. In the future, I would like to make the most of my experience in Nagasaki and jump into anything that interests me, whether it is peace activities or not. If you are not sure about participating in the program, please take a step forward and see for yourself.

The Asia Christian Education Fund (ACEF)

Basically, the people we were working with let us plan and organize the activities, so we were able to take more initiative in our activities.

The most memorable activity was the event for junior high and high school students that we were mainly involved in. Willing junior and senior high school students from all over Japan participated in the event. The participants and organizers actively interacted with each other through role-playing and discussions, and we learned new ideas from the participants, making the event a mutually beneficial one. I also think that for the junior and senior high school students, the event was run by university students who are in a similar position to them, and this had a slightly different effect on them than if it was organized by experts or school teachers. It was great to be able to do something "only students can do”.

At the beginning of the activity, there may be people who do not have a clear "inquiry" or are not confident, but I hope that you will not be in a hurry and value what you honestly think and feel through the activity. I believe that this will eventually lead to new "inquiries" and your own "opinions," and you will discover your "self" in the activities and in your real life. (This will also lead to the confirmation of your positionality.) I encourage you to be 1.2 times more proactive than usual and be honest with yourself in your activities. I will support you.

The Asian Rural Institute

It was a very fresh and stimulating experience to be able to make our own food, live under one roof with people from different backgrounds, and talk with each other in a completely different environment. In addition, the Morning Gathering, an event held every weekday morning where we listened to one person in the community for 30 minutes, was a very meaningful time for us to learn about others.

I was also struck by the fact that when I was taking care of livestock, I could not connect the life in front of me with the meat that I saw in the supermarket. I learned that agriculture as it is now is far from sustainable, that organic farming is not a perfect answer, and that organic farming is very costly as a preliminary step, which led me to think about what is needed for the next generation.

I believe that SL gives us an opportunity to put into words the questions and feelings of discomfort that we have now, and to think about how people in the field are working to solve them and what we can do to help. By interacting with people through activities and experiencing even a small part of the structural aspects that make up society, you may be able to say something in your own words. If you are tired of studying bent over a desk, I recommend SL.

Glocal Mitaka

The activities I conducted were remote only, but the benefit of being able to participate and contribute to society in a way that students can easily do online was very helpful.

In teaching children about diversity, I was able to experience again the moment when "not knowing" turns into "knowing". I was very impressed by the sparkling eyes of the children as they learned from the experience. All the activities were fun and enlightening. I felt that the students were able to create something that they were interested in from scratch because it was an open forum and they were allowed to speak freely. In Japan, there are not many open forums like this, so I felt that this was one of Glocal Mitaka's strengths and attractions. Lastly, I had many encounters. It was very fun to work as a team with students who had similar interests, and it left a lasting impression on me.

Service learning is meaningless if the students themselves are not enjoying the activities, so I think they should choose activities that interest them. I think it is important to choose activities that interest you, and to look at your activities from a more macroscopic perspective, because service learning is all about connecting what you have learned to society and to prior research.

Social Welfare Corporation Yukeikai Furusato Gakusha

Since this was a new service site for ICU students, I began by explaining about service-learning and clearly communicating the purpose of the activity and our awareness of the issues. Throughout the month, I thought about the issues and inquiries I had before the activity, and while I was able to come up with my own answers to some of them, I still haven't found the answers to others, but it was an unforgettable and valuable experience.

Every single communication with people with disabilities still leaves a strong impression on me. I was worried at first, but as the days went by, my interactions with people with disabilities became more fun, more loving, and more warm-hearted. I was able to think deeply about what disability is, what a symbiotic society is, what the meaning of life is, etc., with the people working in the field, and I was able to find and question some of my stereotypes.

Through SL, I had an experience that made me realize that what I usually learn at university may not always be the right answer. I believe that actually diving into the world, rather than just thinking about it in your head, will lead to new insights. I hope that everyone will learn more about the things that they have questions about or are interested in through activities in the field.

NPO Suicide Prevention Support Center LIFELINK

I myself was able to have a meaningful and special experience because I worked on the practical training while being frustrated and stressed about the online situation, while irregular conditions became my daily life with Corona disaster, which led me to come up with a plan that is close to the present of people who are having difficulty in living.

At the beginning of the activity, I had to devise and take charge of the project by myself, so I had a hard time digging deeper into the plan. However, as I proceeded with the activities, the content of the plan became more concrete, and I began to understand what tasks I could do, what tasks I wanted to ask the staff to do, and what tasks I wanted help with, which enabled us to collaborate and eventually deepened the sense of unity of the team. It was impressive to see how the relationship with the people of the service site changed throughout the training period. In addition, when I submitted a project that focused entirely on what I wanted to work on, I received a comment that "young people have a different point of view than we do," and the project was successfully accepted. The experience of having my project successfully accepted made me think that I should do activities based on my own interests and intentions.

The biggest advantage of working on SL in a place where you can find your own activities is that you can pursue your own interests, and because I was able to overcome SL, I am confident that I can continue to explore and work on my interests on my own. I feel that lowering the mental hurdle of challenging the unknown is a big step forward towards the path I want to pursue.

Fujikawaguchiko Town

I felt that I was able to take the initiative in my activities when I created the activity plan. I took the lead in coming up with a plan on how to increase the number of immigrants, and the people at the host organization listened to my ideas very kindly. In doing so, I was able to learn a wide range of macro and micro perspectives of the region by conducting an academic analysis, using a sociological approach to come up with the best solution. I also felt a great sense of satisfaction when my final proposal was actually implemented by the host organization.

The most memorable experience was the local fieldwork. Guided by the people from the host organization, we went around the town to look at the vacant houses and confirmed that there were many abandoned houses, and that only a few of them were under the jurisdiction of the town office. Without this fieldwork, I don't think I would have been able to plan activities related to the utilization of vacant houses that would have been adapted to the real-life context. I was able to plan and implement activities that were more rooted in the local community because I actually went to the site and saw the reality for myself. This experience left a great impression on me in that I was able to learn "to know the current situation", which I could not have realized only through desk studies at university.