I attended the UNESCO World Youth Conference.
By Hiroshi Tohyama a vice-chairperson of Youth Activity Committee.
I attended the "World Youth Encounter for UNESCO Clubs & Associations" conference that UNESCO center held at Manresa, Spain as a representative of Japan from May 6 to 13. Forty-one people from 21 countries were present at this meeting, so we not only shared our knowledge and ideas but also deepened the interchange between young people of foreign countries. For example, among the participants, I saw an Israeli and a Palestinian talk friendly to each other.
The meeting started formally on May 7. The first day had an opening
ceremony and an explanation about the conference. The following day, we
were split into three groups, "Present and Future of United Nation",
"Conflict Transformation " and "Dialogue between Civilization". There
then followed three days of listening to lectures and discussing the contents
with other delegates. I attended the "Conflict Transformation"
group and found it exceedingly stimulating. We went discoing and talked
in the night.
On May 11, we all went to Barcelona. On May 12, the final day of the conference,
we summarized what we had discussed so far, and tried to give shape to
a proposal made by some participants that the information and know-how
of UNESCO clubs in various countries should be shared on the internet.
I would like to suggest that Meguro UNESCO take part in this program and
have an exchange with many UNESCO clubs in the world.
I want to write much more, but I will summarize my thoughts. I attended
the UNESCO World Youth Conference and had three strong thoughts:
1. The importance of English.
2. The identity of the Japanese.
3. Japan. Are we proud of "we Japanese"? Are we proud of "our
country Japan"? and why can't we speak these messages? This meeting
forced me to think about my identity.
Preparations for the retreat are somewhat behind but this is in no way
due to a lack of effort from members and the helpful cooperation of OB&OG. "We
must enjoy it, in order for the retreat participants to feel happy". With
this policy, we are thinking of various programs. This retreat will add
group activities compared with former retreats. We hope this will increase
communication between participants. I thank young people & foreign
students in Japan for attending meetings during their free time, but we
still have a lot of work left to do. If you are interested in the retreat,
please assist our work. If you can assist with ‘only’office work this
is no problem.
If you are interested and can help please call Hiroshi Tohyama. TEL 090-4958-1676
FAX 0424-89-9707
On June 3, I went to Kasairinkaikouen as a pre-event of the Retreat. The
participants were 19 persons and 2 babies. We gathered at the south of
Hamamatsucho station at 10:00 a.m. We went by boat from Hinodesanbashi
to kasairinkaikouen. We were on the boat for 1 hour, but the weather was
good and the wind comfortable so we had very good time. After lunch, Matsui
& Nagashima, who are unable to go to the retreat but wanted to participate
in this event, took charge of leading us in some games. So we introduced
ourselves, played a game of borrowing things from a person, jumped a rope
and so on. We had a very happy time. I explained this year's retreat and
dispersed participants at 4:00 p.m. After the breakup, some people rode
the Ferris Wheel, which is highest in the world. I hope all those that
participated in this trip can attend this year's Retreat.
Ms. Miho Saijou Goes to the U.S. for Graduate Education![](177-3bye.gif) |
Hi, this is Miho Saijou. Although I haven't seen you a long time, I wanted
to tell you that I will go to graduate school in the United States, which
was my long-time wish.
My major will be "Leadership in Educational Administration"
since Meguro UNESCO has influenced me a lot, I'll continue my education,
focusing on education. Luckily enough, I have been given a job to teach
Japanese while I stay in the USA. I'm very happy to have such an opportunity
to introduce Japan of which I am proud. My life will be busy, but I'm ready
for it.
Now I am in Niigata, my home town, preparing for my departure. I'm going
to leave Japan on June 8th. Because of this, I'm sorry I cannot take part
in the Retreat. Despite the distance between Japan and the U.S., I want
to keep in touch with you all and encourage ourselves.
My e-mail account will be mihonapo@hotmail com.When you e-mail me, write
in Roma-ji (I know it's very inconvenient) because the computers at the
campus do not understand Japanese. My e-mail "So-net" account
will no longer be valid from June.
Finally, I want to thank all of you (sounds like a farewell? ). Let's
keep in touch. I wish you all good luck. Miho
Saijou
Ms. Saijou contributed to the last-year Retreat.
She was in charge of disposing trash.
(See page4 on Short News No.169), which is shown in full-color at http://www.unesco.or.jp/meguro/169-4.html
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