　　The 11^th 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 21^st 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.

Preparations for the 11^th Retreat, starting with the meeting on April 1^st, 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 9^th or 10^th 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.