Sunday, March 20 began at breakfast time around 8 am when foreign representatives came together in the first floor of Nishitestu Inn Nihonbashi, many of us meeting each other for the first time, some of us knowing each other from prior SWY programs or GAs. We then took a bus to the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center (NYC) and began our orientation and introductions. We spent the entire day at the NYC from 10 am until 5 pm, and we were joined by several select Japanese guests of Cabinet Office, IYEO and CENTERYE. After savoring a hearty meal of fried chicken, rice, salmon, spaghetti and other goodies, we sat down for presentations from 15 selected SWYAA countries. The Japanese designated a timekeeper, and they were very strict on the 4 minutes allotted for each country. We heard many great ideas, and were featured in a few of the presentations. Zephyr Williams (SWY20) had posted on Facebook in the SWYAA New Zealand project, OWDSOCKS - Opportunities Without Discrimination. Please visit the OWDSOCKS Facebook page to see her post and socks. :) Auggie Bartning (SWY17) appeared in several photos on SWYAA Fiji presentation since they presented on the Fiji 9th Global Assembly. Fiji also promoted a fundraising project to address the devastation that Cyclone Winston caused last month when it ripped through the country of Fiji affecting more than half of its population. Many countries are coming together to contribute funds to this effort. Patrick Morgam, President of SWYAA Fiji, will personally be monitoring the project and while he acknowledges aid has come in the form of food and clothes, he aims to also use funds to address the need for undergarments and changing rooms, especially for women. SWYAA USA will be making a contribution to Fiji at the end of Tokyo Conference. If any USA ex-PYs wish to make an individual contribution, please let me know the amount and we can sort out later. SWYAA Spain presented on the treasure box project, and acknowledged the commitment of SWYAA USA for 2016. They have raised over $12,000 for Minamisanriku, Japan since the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami that destroyed this area. We are hoping to sell Treasure Boxes at Japanese Festivals throughout the United States or other events. Kiva and One Child Goes to School Project were also discussed and could be potential projects that SWYAA USA wishes to engage in for the future. These are projects that ex-PYs from all regions of the United States can become involved with remotely.
After country presentations, we then broke into small group discussions on 1) Activities with Japan, 2)
Disaster Relief Programs, 3) Education, 4) Environment, 5) Social media, and Post program activities. Japanese guests joined these group discussions . SWYAA USA was one of the facilitators for the Education group where we discussed the impact of politics on education and the need for quality education tailored to specific communities. We heard more details of the One Child Goes to School Project in Sri Lanka and Solomon Islands has just begun a similar project. The last activity for the day was the Exhibition of the countries that did not give presentations. You can see photos on Facebook of the SWYAA USA table. I did have official photos of previous delegations. There were many JPYs that knew people from previous SWY programs. As I mentioned before, I did give out several pocketbook copies of the United States Constitution as well as Hershey's Nuggets chocolate -- a BIG hit!
I then went out briefly with Mari Sudo (SWY17) and her daughter Rina for a brief coffee, but the force of jet lag was real. By the time I woke up (midnight), only Chamal from Sri Lanka and Adriano from SWYAA Brazil were awake, and we had a late night Cup O' Noodle from the nearby 7-Eleven. Day 2 we will be discussing motions from SWYAA International and the SWYAA International Joint Statement, as well as potential common activities across SWYAA countries (this conversation began yesterday). It is hard to believe that we just arrived. 3 DAYS left!
After country presentations, we then broke into small group discussions on 1) Activities with Japan, 2)
Disaster Relief Programs, 3) Education, 4) Environment, 5) Social media, and Post program activities. Japanese guests joined these group discussions . SWYAA USA was one of the facilitators for the Education group where we discussed the impact of politics on education and the need for quality education tailored to specific communities. We heard more details of the One Child Goes to School Project in Sri Lanka and Solomon Islands has just begun a similar project. The last activity for the day was the Exhibition of the countries that did not give presentations. You can see photos on Facebook of the SWYAA USA table. I did have official photos of previous delegations. There were many JPYs that knew people from previous SWY programs. As I mentioned before, I did give out several pocketbook copies of the United States Constitution as well as Hershey's Nuggets chocolate -- a BIG hit!
I then went out briefly with Mari Sudo (SWY17) and her daughter Rina for a brief coffee, but the force of jet lag was real. By the time I woke up (midnight), only Chamal from Sri Lanka and Adriano from SWYAA Brazil were awake, and we had a late night Cup O' Noodle from the nearby 7-Eleven. Day 2 we will be discussing motions from SWYAA International and the SWYAA International Joint Statement, as well as potential common activities across SWYAA countries (this conversation began yesterday). It is hard to believe that we just arrived. 3 DAYS left!
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