The 20th Ship for World Youth Post-Program
Activities Promotion Programs
Sayoko Tanaka
Organizational Management Division Chief
International Youth Exchange Organization of
Three
representatives of the International Youth Exchange Organization of Japan
(IYEO), Yuka Teranishi (Vice-President of Shiga IYEO), Atsushi Tokuno (staff
of Tokyo Conference for the ex-Participating Youth of the Ship for World
Youth), and I were sent to join the 20th Ship for World Youth Program from
February 20th to 27th, 2008 to conduct the Post-Program Activities Promotion
Programs.
The session was implemented with the following goals in mind:
Post-Program Activities Session: Day 1
(Saturday, February 23rd, 2008)
The
first Post-Program Activities session was held immediately after departing
from the port-of-call in India. With the port-of-call activities
completed and with approximately ten days remaining in the program, it
served as the first step in getting each and every participant to reflect
on the program. In recent years, alumni in each country refer to
post-program activities during the pre-departure training and participating
youth can see for themselves the cooperation of alumni at port-of-call
activities, such as in Oman or India. Thus, there are a greater proportion
of people who express an understanding or interest in post-program activities.
Consequently, the participating youth were assertive and took initiative,
creating a positive atmosphere for the session.
For
the session, unlike the usual Letter Groups (14 in total), participants
were divided into twenty new groups. This allowed people to engage
with participants that they may have had little to no interaction with.
Thus, they were able to experience, think about and understand the post-program
activities network directly.
The session began with an ice breaker. Because it was a competition
between groups, the activity served as a team-building exercise as well
since the group had to peruse the distributed material or post-program
activities report and work together as a team. It proved to be very
animated. As the same time, it also gave us the impression that there
were a number of participating youth who already had considerable knowledge
of post-program activities, more than we had expected.
Next,
we gave a PowerPoint presentation on the details of the various international
youth exchange programs that are managed by the SWYAA and the Cabinet Office,
along with the specific examples from SWYAA in various countries around
the world, focusing mainly on social contribution. During the presentation,
we briefly introduced the alumni who were on board as advisors, national
leaders and administrative staff. Thus, the participants became aware
of the different ways in which ex-participants were contributing to the
program.
Workshops
followed the presentation. This was intended to facilitate clarification
of activities after the program by encouraging participants to learn about
themselves and their friends, think about their life after the program,
and to articulate practical steps regarding what they wished to do.
After independently responding to the four questions on the worksheet,
they shared their responses.
Questions
1. The motivation behind participating in the program (Reason for applying)
2. Before you boarded, your thoughts regarding what you wished to achieve
while on board
3. Since boarding the ship, what activity left the strongest impression
on you? (successes, failures, etc.)
4. What would you like to do/achieve after the program?
The second worksheet was then distributed. The intention was to allow
participants to probe the details of their response to question (4) above,
and in doing so to recognize to what extent one’s ideas were feasible
and could be realized. Also, the participating youth responded to
another set of four questions listed in Worksheet 2. They later shared
their thoughts and exchanged their ideas with others in groups of six or
seven.
Question
1. At the moment, what percentage of what you hope to achieve has already
been completed? What are the specific elements that have already
been achieved?
2. To achieve your goals, what else remains to be realized?
3. When would you like to complete your plans by?
4. In order to reach your goals, what initial step can you take right now,
before disembarking?
Post-Program Activities Session: Day 2
(Saturday, February 25th, 2008)
The
second Post-Program Activities session began with presentations by three
ex-participating youths, in order for the SWY 20 participants to clarify
their own plans and goals.
Presenters
Yuka Teranishi, Vice-President, Shiga International Youth Exchange Organization (Shiga IYEO).
Yuka shared various concrete examples, such as receiving the Cabinet Office’s International Youth Exchange Programs that operates out of Shiga IYEO, study tours, multicultural festivals, guest talks at elementary schools, or Japanese language classes. In doing so, she communicated the importance of not only acting globally, but also the significance of focusing locally and being committed to local endeavors.
Nadia Almeraisi, the National Leader from Bahrain
Nadia represented a particularly active alumni association. Bahrain's
post-program activity record is exemplary, despite the fact that it has
only been ten years since Bahrain began participating in the program and
is therefore a relatively new association. Nadia talked about
the solidarity and activism of their association, and communicated that
cooperation is possible between participating youth and alumni, both prior
to and after the program. In doing so, she served to inspire a number
of countries. She also demonstrated to all of the participating youth,
the importance of not only engaging in activities that contribute to society,
but also nurturing connections with the Japanese Embassy or various Japan
related organizations.
Uesile Wesley Talaimanu, the National Leader from New Zealand
Uesile presented on the support that the New Zealand Alumni Association provides to the port-of-call activities for the Ship for World Youth program and on other activities that contribute to society. In addition, in recent years, the association has taken feedback from alumni in order to strengthen their organization. In doing so, Uesile shared examples of activism as well strategies for expanding their association.
After the three presentations, batch representatives for each country were introduced. This was followed by presentations of the discussion outcomes of delegation meetings that were held the previous day, specifically the short-term and long-term goals that were identified in order to achieve the action plan that each delegation hoped to implement. It was explained to the participants that by naming a batch representative that was not their national leader, the network within each batch is strengthened and each batch representative stands as a leader in sustaining lateral connections between each country.
Following the presentations by each country, regional meetings and presentations were held. The overseas participants were divided into five regions: Africa, US and South America, Europe, Middle East, and Oceania. This was the first time that regional meetings had been held as a formal part of the post-program activities session. It served as a chance for newly developing associations to solicit advice from those organizations that were already well established and active in their community, and for connecting with and making plans for joint ventures with nearby countries. The meeting proved to be a lively exchange of ideas directed towards praxis. The Japanese participating youth also divided into the eight IYEO regions. The various regions differed in their numbers, but the youths earnestly discussed events and projects that would highlight the characteristics of their respective areas. During the course of these discussions, the three staff members who were responsible for the Post-Program Activity Promotion programs provided practical examples of activism both in Japan and in various countries around the world. The participating youth took these examples into consideration in trying to come up with their own projects. After these meetings, the overseas and Japanese participatomg youth together outlined and presented their short-term and long-term goals. In doing so, they were able to organize what items could be achieved immediately and identify steps that need to be taken to accomplish aims that require more time.
In addition to the formal post-program activities session, a number of other voluntary activities were also organized, aside from the time allotted for delegation meetings that were held on the 24th to discuss post-program activities.
At the delegation meetings, the overseas participating youth were given pre departure training and post-program reports for each country, and a survey about connections with the Japanese embassy. In addition to having each country respond to and submit this survey, the participants discussed what activities they would like to engage in after the program, the outcomes of which were shared during the Post-Program Activities session 2 on the 25th.
Furthermore, a batch representatives meeting was held on the evening of the 24th. This gathering served as a way for each country’s batch leaders to meet, to strengthen ties within one’s country, and also build a network that spanned national borders. The importance of sustaining, with the assistance of National Leaders, the solidarity between members of their respective alumni associations and the continuity of batch networks was explained.
Other new and on-going activities include the following:
SWY Café (informal opinion-exchange meeting)
This served as a chance to discuss items that could not be shared in detail during the Post-Program Activities session, to exchange ideas with small groups of participating youth, and to answer questions.
SWY AA Bulletin Board
This Bulletin Board displayed the Report of the 20th Ship for World Youth Japan program, the Annual Report prepared by each country’s alumni association, the Report from the Tokyo Conference for the Ex-Participant Youth of the Ship for World Youth, and materials related to various social work organized by each country’s alumni association. It was intended as a way to promote understanding among the participants. In part because the Board was displayed in front of the Dining Hall on the second floor, numerous participants were seen looking at the board, before or after their meal and, intently looking at the material displayed. Material that was free to take, such as Country Reports, was all gone by the end of our time on board. It suggested to us that the participants had a heightened understanding and interest about post-program activities.
Future Post Project
This project, which began with the 13th Ship for World Youth program and has continued since, involves sending yourself, a friend or acquaintance a letter that arrives one year later. Writing a letter that captures one’s frame of mind while on board, or the self that one imagines in the future, not only allows individuals to reflect on what they are feeling in that moment, but also makes it possible for individuals to see how much this state of being has changed in a year, upon receiving the letter. Another aim of this project is to maintain interaction between friends and acquaintances.
This
particular assignment required sharing considerable information with participants
in a limited period of time. By increasing the time spent in preparing
for the program, the session was implemented smoothly. While on board,
we received the cooperation and support of ex-PY Administrative staff and
the rest of the Administrative staff, allowing for the Post-Program Activities
session to be easily integrated into the on-board activities program.
Thus, we were able to provide a session that was linked to the Participation
of Youth in Society (Towards Social Contribution) Course Discussion theme.
We heard a number of participants say that through the session, they were
able to see how their participation in the 20th Ship for World Youth program
was but a starting point, and how important it is for them to utilize this
network that spanned the globe and to take on new challenges. Based
on this feedback, we believe that in subsequent years, the Post-Program
Activities session should be held immediately after the end of the port-of-call
activities, when the end of the program is approaching, in order to facilitate
participants shifting gears and looking towards post-program activities.
The
form that the plans presented by participants will take, and whether the
youths will, in cooperation with other ex-PYs, develop and energize the
alumni associations in various countries, depend solely on individual will
and commitment. The Post-Program Activities Promotion programs are
not limited to raising awareness among the participating youth of post-program
activities. More importantly, the participants will come to understand
the value of the network that they themselves helped to create, will realize
various activities and frequently share this with one another.
Lastly, in order for the Japanese International Youth Exchange Organization of Japan, which includes the SWYAA, to continue to develop as an organization whose strength is its networks, it is important that executive members and other people central to such associations examine the different characteristics and needs of various regions, share ideas with new and existing members, and engage in activities together, be they local or global.