The Philippines visit program was held from March 21st to 26th, 2018.
This year we visited three rural areas in the Philippines. These areas, which need our support, were Iloilo City, Guimaras Island, and Dasmariñas City in southern Manila.
After meetings at a local support center, regional visits, school visits, and exchange meetings with high school students, we took the time to think about the differences of life in Japan and the Philippines, the relationship between Philippine’s economic development and these poor areas, and how we can support these impoverished areas.
In particular we considered the close relationship between poverty and child rights, the vast differences between support activities in poor urban areas and poor rural areas, and lastly we discussed the various problems that cannot be summed up using the word ‘poverty’.
We learned that ever community is different so the support and needs of the children were also different in each area.
The students who participated in this program interviewed the support staff, local children and their guardians, and thought about what can be done to help with the problems that they face. They tried to think like they were members of these communities.
Since the Philippines has been experiencing such rapid economic growth, the support needed in each region is also changing on a daily basis. At our nightly meetings, which ran late into the night, and upon our return to Japan students talked about what is “support" and “what value it has in each region we visited”.
We also plan to set up a SGH project for Global WeekⅠ which is in June. At this time the members who participated in the program will further discuss the themes of ‘power’ and ‘value’.
We will post updates in the future, so please check it out on this site!
