Dec, 2016
On December 3, 2016, the AAEE 2016 Activity Report Meeting was held at the Tokyo Keizai University's Shinrankan.
The event consisted of three parts: Pre-Event, Part 1, and Part 2.
The pre-event consisted of presentations by three programs held this summer in Vietnam and Nepal: VJEP (Vietnam-Japan Exchange Program), NJEP (Nepal-Japan Exchange Program), and VJYE (Vietnam-Japan Youth Exchange). VJEP (Vietnam-Japan Exchange Program), NJEP (Nepal-Japan Exchange Program), and VJYE (Vietnam-Japan Youth Exchange) gave presentations.
Each program had its own unique content, and we were able to get a feel for the atmosphere of each program. By listening to the reports of the three programs at the same time, we were able to better understand the concept of AAEE's student exchange programs.
The first part of the program featured a lecture by guest lecturer, Dr. Yoshiaki Yamamoto. Dr. Yamamoto is an obstetrician and gynecologist who was dispatched by Doctors Without Borders to the war zone in South Sudan. He is currently working at the Mother and Child Center at Tohoku University Hospital and is also a volunteer doctor in a poor area of Nepal.
In his lecture, he will talk about his experiences. In his lecture, he talked about these experiences and his words were full of depth because of his overwhelming experience compared to other students. Dr. Yamamoto said, "In international cooperation as support, it is important to value the pride of both the person being supported and the person providing the support," which is in line with the AAEE's international exchange rule "respect for others.
The second panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Akinori Seki, President of AAEE and Associate Professor at Tokyo Keizai University, with one student from each program and Dr. Yamamoto participating as panelists. The AAEE's goal in all its activities is to have "heart-to-heart discussions," and there were many exciting scenes that symbolized this. The scene that left the greatest impression on me was when a member of the Vietnam Program pointed out that it was uncomfortable to say that a single event had changed his values. In response to the Vietnam Program students' objections, Prof. Seki said, "The best part of being a university student is being able to clarify conflicting points and take time to deepen serious discussions about them. I hope that you will continue to deepen your human relationships in an honest manner," he said, summing up the year's activities at AAEE.
Finally, as a surprise, the revival of the "Mero Sathi Project" was announced and the reason for it was reported. The Mero Sathi Project was launched in April last year as an emergency project for the Nepal earthquake, and closed in July this year, but people, especially in Nepal and Vietnam, said that they wanted the project to continue since the name had been established. The Melosati Band is very popular. In addition, a circle called "Mero Sathi" has already been established at Tokyo Keizai University and Sophia University. After comprehensively considering this situation, they decided to revive this project in a slightly different form.
I feel that this was a wonderful event that allowed visitors to come together to discuss international cooperation and partnerships.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and JICA for their support, to Tokyo Keizai University for providing facilities and all other cooperation, to Professor Yoshiaki Yamamoto, to all the visitors, and to all the people who support the AAEE.
Lastly, we are planning to hold international student exchange programs in Nepal in February, Vietnam and Nepal in August, and some other countries in September next year, so please contact us if you are interested.
