NO.169ー2
Report on the 11th Retreat
The 11th Retreat was held, as in other years, in the Meguro Citizens’ Nature Village
(Wada-mura, Nagano-ken) on July30 through August 1. Seventy people from
fifteen countries (22 foreign students, 36 Japanese youths, 12 lecturers
and advisers) participated. Although one of the two chartered-buses broke
down on our way to the village, we were favored with fine weather throughout
the three-day event, which ended with fruitful results. Following are
the reports on the various results that the young people obtained by working
hard, focusing their eyes on the 21st century.
Organized by Meguro UNESCO Association Supported by Meguro Board
of Education, Meguro International Friendship Association, Komaba International Student House, National Federation
of UNESCO Associations in Japan.
Thoughts after the 11th International Friendship Youth Retreat
By Kiyoyuki Ito, Chairperson, Youth Activity Committee
Preparations for the 11th Retreat, starting with the meeting on April 1st, were made regularly, almost every two weeks, totaling nine times, at
Nakameguro Square. In the first few meetings we mainly talked about the
“concept” of this year’s Retreat. The “concept” here means the overall
image of the Retreat, the course to adopt and goals to be attained. I
knew from my past experience that it was rather difficult to decide on
the “concept” first, and asked the staff members to discuss what kind
of Retreat they wanted to organize and what specific events they wanted
to arrange, and then we came up with “five concrete objectives”, as already
reported in Short News No. 166 (Cf. footnotes)
On the basis of those objectives we decided that the “concept” should
be “A Retreat within Everyone’s Grasp!” That is because we wanted to
make the Retreat easy for anyone to join and yet keep the same high standards. We
also wanted to offer well-balanced programs, not attaching as much importance
to discussions as in the 9th or 10th Retreat. Thanks to this “concept” every staff member seemed determined
to “make the programs enjoyable and easy for anyone to understand”, and
to “call for the active cooperation of the participants in various tasks
in the village”. The “concept” proved to be the very key to unite all
the participants. Deciding on the five objectives and the “concept”
was, in fact, a very significant step in the preparations.
Young people love photos. Both the participants and their national flags
are beautiful in sunshine. On the far right is the flag of Croatia on
their first participation.
After deciding on the “concept”, we went on with our work, referring
to the Retreat manual distributed to the whole staff. Many of them, as
usual, joined us for the first time, and found it difficult to closely
examine some problems and find solutions. Thanks to the Retreat manual,
however, we were able to work more efficiently than in previous years. Trying
to attain the five objectives, we made good use of the time we spent riding
on the bus and prepared booklets for discussions and for the presentation
of the national flags, which made the content of the event richer than
before. In the village, overcoming some incidents, we succeeded in producing
wonderful three days with a stronger sense of unity than we had expected. As
the chairman, I feel happy that enthusiastic e-mail has been going back
and forth between members of the Youth Activity Committee even after the
Retreat.
This year I tried harder than before to find a way to have the staff do
their jobs with efficiency. It was difficult for me to know the right
time to give them specific advice and counseling - and which to give when. At
first I couldn’t help saying to myself, “I might as well do it myself. That
would be faster and easier.” After sharing our jobs and experiencing
various circumstances together, however, they grew quite reliable and played
a great part in the end. I expect that such inconspicuous efforts to hand
over our jobs to the next generation with trust in them and with courage
(?) will bear rich fruit in the future. Personally, various experiences
I had in managing the Retreat, the many people I came to know, and the
memories are certainly more valuable than anything else. I hope activities
like this will spread far and wide from now on.
Lastly, I’d like to express my delight at having witnessed the fruit
of the staff’s efforts, and deeply appreciate their cooperation. I’d
also like to take this occasion to express my deep gratitude to the advisers
and to Mr. Sagara, Mr. Suzuki, and Mr. Hattori, who willingly gave lectures. Let
us all meet again in the next event!
Footnotes: 1. To organize events that all the participants can join.
2. To make the programs easy for anyone to understand. 3. To invite
many foreign students. 4. To give the participants occasions to express
themselves freely.
5. To give useful information and make necessary arrangements in advance
in order to help the participants enlighten one another on the differences of their culture and national traits, and have personal
heart-to-heart talks without regard to nationality.