No.210[R
Nature of Volunteer: He distributed questions to the young participants and picked up their views through question-answer style instruction and categorised the views. One category was eindependencef.
History of Volunteer: He introduced three categories with concrete examples and made explanation for each style of activity. The categories introduced were @supportive Activities for domestic problemsAsupportive Activities for international problemsBsupportive Activities for governmental policies.
Contents of Volunteer Activities: He introduced six categories
and explained each category has a wide range of activities for participation. The categories introduced were @medical treatmentAimprovement of hygiene and nutrition for childrenBimprovement of life environmentCpersonnel trainingDsupport for womenfs self-helpEsupport for community development(e.g. development of farming and fishing villages)
Concrete Examples of several volunteer activities: He introduced several volunteer activities, including Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and members of local UNESCOs.
When this lecture almost came to its end, we got a happy happening. At the time, Mr. Maung Sai Non Nutt, a Myanmarese youth, a repeating participant of retreat, talked about the project currently building an elementary school in his home country. He said that many retreat-OBs support this project, and that this must be a great volunteer activity. He mentioned Mr. WaiKeung Luk, a youth from Hong Kong as a contributor of this project. Then, we saw a figure outside the hall, and found that this was the Mr. WaiKeung himself. He took a day off from his company, left Nagoya early morning and drove to the retreat camp place in Nagano. He joined the campfire at the night before leaving for Nagoya. The small flag, which is in the third from the left in the picture, is the Hong Kongfs city flag. This is following the custom of the retreat, which represents the participantsf identities by their flags. Including him, people from 7 countries and one city participated this time. This incident conveyed how retreat-OBs took part in various activities, responding to the appeal of the current retreat members. I hope such contribution by retreat-OBs will continue forever.
By the way, all 15 retreats including this time were held at Meguro Citizens' Nature Village in Wada-mura, but this camp place is to be closed this year. Wherever the next retreat will be held, I hope, it will be as successful as ever. Although the retreat had fewer participants this year than usual, many of them showed their willingness to take part next year or wished to support retreats as a staff. This was absolutely impressive. Planning and running retreats is the responsibility of the Youth Activity Committee - youths under 35-year-olds as a rule, while retreat OBs and many advisers including lecturers help them. Report: Public Relations Committee
~Reports from participants~
Mr. Moonki Cho (from America)
I was very happy to attend the retreat of Meguro UNESCO. I met a lot of people there and discussed a variety of problems in the world. I felt it very impressive. I am always complaining of tiny things, but understood afresh that there are a lot of people struggling with their living in the world.
Ms. Sutung Lin (from Taiwan)
I attended the Meguro UNESCOfs retreat for the first time, and gained a lot of experience to keep in my mind. The theme this time was eVolunteer Activitiesf and we shared various opinions and ideas through discussion. This reminded me of my experience partaking in volunteer activities for the earthquake victims in Taiwan.
>>> What is KURURINPA? <<<
Have you heard of the upside-down picture called gKURURINPAh? Itfs one of those optical arts: turn the picture of an elephant upside down, and it soon becomes a swan. The author of KURURINPA, Marutan says, gEverything has different aspects to it.h gTry looking at things from different angles, and youfll be able to understand more about others.h This resembles the very words of the UNESCO spirit, gdisputes arise from ignoranceh.
>>> KURURINPA Exhibition <<<
The author of KURURINPA being a staff member of Dentsu, the Dentsu Group*, the largest advertising and communications agency in Japan agreed to give full support to the UNESCO World Terakoya Movement, promoted by the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan.
On Aug.18-29, the first exhibition of gUNESCO World Terakoya Movement / KURURINPAh was held at the Dentsu Shiodome Gallery, in the new Dentsu Headquarters Building. Since it was during the summer vacation, many families with small children visited the exhibition. The event was a great success thanks to the volunteers from ICU (International Christian University), Bunkyo Gakuin University, and also from Meguro UNESCO.
* Dentsu Inc., Information Service International-Dentsu, Ltd., Dentsu Tec Inc. and Cyber Communications Inc.
Yukio Okusawa, Chairperson of Public Relations Committee