No.204-5
The Scholarship Program Committee
At the beginning of the year 2004, I wish that this new year will be one of success for all committee activities of Meguro UNESCO, a year in which we may arouse people’s love for peace.
Nine months have passed since I took over the duties from the previous chairman of the Scholarship Program Committee last April. While exploring new activities that might be done, we have continued to distribute our funds to the Dalnee Scholarships in Thailand, the Sakura-Lanka Scholarships in Sri Lanka, and to the UNESCO school students in Japan and the children in Thailand; all programs launched in 1997.
This year, we are planning to put greater emphasis on foreign students already studying in Japan, especially those who can, in the spirit of UNESCO’ ideals, apply what they have seen and learnt in Japan for the good of their own countries. Furthermore, we would have to find means to expand our scholarship funds in order to extend our activities. Our committee is yet on a small scale compared with others in Meguro UNESCO. But we take on the responsibility of supporting promising youths representing countries from all over the world. This cannot be accomplished without the cooperation of all our members.
The whole world longs for peace. And real education is one that teaches us how to tell the truths from the untruths. It is our primary goal to provide good educational environment for all, and to support those young people who are working hard to realize their dreams. We would very much appreciate your continued support for our activities.
Shizue Suzuki, Chairperson of Scholarship Program Committee
Youth Activity Committee
The Youth Activity Committee is the only committee in Meguro UNESCO headed and run mainly by students. Our philosophy is “to recognize the importance of getting acquainted with various people and value our ties with them. We reconfirm this philosophy every year, when a new fiscal year starts, to make it the basis of our activities.
For young people like us, who are mostly students with little experience in the real world, it is very important to get to know people who could share their experience and know-how with us, who we could talk to, in the process of our growth as well as for the pursuit of our youth activities. With the association’s 50th anniversary near at hand, we’d like to confirm our philosophy once again.
The international Friendship Youth Retreat is the biggest event by the Youth Activity Committee in which we can put our philosophy into action. It will be the 15th Retreat this year, and we’d like to look back on the thoughts and wishes of the participants, staff members, and advisors in the past fourteen Retreats, and carry it out with a renewed sense of responsibility.
There are other annual activities: a welcome party (the first spring event to welcome new foreign students), participation in the Komaba Festival by opening a stand (a chilled tofu stand for last year), and Bonen-Festa (year-end party). Many other exchange events including an athletic meet and a hike are also precious occasions for cultivating friendship with one another. There are also various occasions for learning, such as the National Convention, the Global Citizens’ Festa, youth seminars, and study tours.
This year we are planning to enlarge the sphere of our activities in liaison with junior and senior high school students as well as school children. Our activities for the youth (college students and other grown-ups) used to be quite different from those for the younger generation. And there have been many youth activities bearing little relation to Meguro City. In fact not a few youth members come from the other districts. Making this year a turning point, we’d like to increase activities rooted more firmly in the local area. We hope to communicate with the members of the other committees in gradual pursuit of our plans. We’d like all of you to support our committee whose members are still young and immature. We will keep growing!
Nozomi Imahata, Chairperson of Youth Activity Committee