　The retreat program is planned and managed by the Committee for Activities by　Youth.　(The committee is served by Kiyoyuki Ito, student, as chairperson; Taku Inoue as chief leader; Hiroko Yamamoto, Hiroshi Tohyama and Tomoyuki Ogino as student leaders; and Onur Kaynak as foreign student leader.)　The planning and management of the program is not easy but quite enjoyable, as chairperson Ito explained on the preceding page.　They met altogether 9 times for preparation.　In principle, they are operated on a self-paying basis. (They have to find means to cover the cost so long as it is related to the retreat site*.)　This calls for the committee members’ ingenuity.　They want to keep the participant’s fees as low as possible especially for foreign students.　While they want many foreign students to participate, participation of low-fee foreign students exceeding the committee’s estimate could create a risk of financial loss.　Nevertheless, it has been an honorable tradition of our youth members not to ask for help from the Board of the Association except for some special cases.

The main theme of the discussion group this year was　“Those that must be retained and those that are to be eliminated for the next generation.”　The sub-themes

were “cultural difference, the death penalty, international marriage, the meaning of happiness, Internet addiction, mass media, suicide, and youth volunteering in society.”　 For each sub-theme, points of discussion were suggested in detail both in Japanese and English.　Preparations made by the leaders this year were very precise.　The program was focused on what each “can do for peace” in the coming century.　After 3 days of discussion, each group　summarized their discussion on poster board and explained it to the other groups.　On the last day, Mr. Hattori representing all lecturers commented on them.　His comments, in which he recommended international marriage on the basis of his personal experience, were humorous and appealed to the young audience.

　A major accomplishment of the retreat program is the remarkable growth of young people who participated them.　During 11 years of the retreat program, students graduated from school and found little time to spare for volunteer activities.　But recently, some former participants have joined the retreat program again in the capacity of former participants or young advisors.

This year, Hashinaga-san (elder brother) and Maung Sai non Nutt-san rejoined the retreat, bringing with them a breath of fresh air.　Nutt-san is now studying at Tokyo Foreign Language University as a candidate for a Doctor’s degree.　Let us wish him a successful study.　

　Those who cannot participate in the program can still contribute to it in various ways: giving advice during the preparation period, or seeing the group off at the departure site or meeting them at the arrival site.　They

　Well, the Unesco's retreat is a good opportunity to make friends, enjoy and learn about many different cultures. Like mister Hector, the last retreat was my fourth one. Since 1997, the retreat has changed some things and every year it's becoming more dynamic and interesting. Eventhough we can not play soccer or volley more time, the time that we spend with each other in different activities is very enjoyable. So what activities are more interesting to me there?

Well, I like 4 activities, the first one is the discussion 　time of every topic previously selected by the staff, it's really a good time to share our problems and hopeness and understand better each other. The second one, is the Hanabi's ceremony , where we gather together for dancing, singing and etc...it's very interesting to see the talents of the participants. The third one,is the explanation made by Unesco's guests about some topic, and the last one is the free time that we have in the 2 nights. In this free time, some participants gather each other to dance or play in one of the lodges, and other people like to go down in the big green ground in order to see the stars. I try to do both. The last retreat was full of these good moments and joy. These are the best impression that I've. I hope we can continue meeting each other several times and also next year.