Lecture for Konan University students [Japan]
On 28th April, SEEDS Asia’s Executive Director Mitsuko Otsuyama gave a lecture themed “Making disaster-resilient individuals and communities – What can I do to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals?” for the Global – Tsunagaru (meaning “to connect”) Cafe event organized by the International Exchange Center of Konan University. There were roughly 30 students, interested in global issues, who participated in online and face-to-face sessions.
The top three questions from the pre-session questionnaire filled out by the participants were as follows, and were used to structure the lecture:
1. Why are you engaging in your current work?
2. What does SEEDS Asia do in developing countries?
3. What kind of human resources are in demand in the field?
1. Ms Otsuyama shared a number of personal life experiences, including losses, books, people and events, which all led to an ambition of the kind of life she wanted to live. It was emphasized that there were times in life when things did not go the way as planned, yet all our choices will eventually lead to the desired goal if one’s ambitions are unwavering. A poem by Santoka Taneda was cited as a concept that explains this approach: “Look at the legs of a centipede, each pair seemingly takes different steps from each another, yet the centipede is able to reach its destination”.
2. As background information, the fact that everyone could be affected by more severe, and frequent weather-related disasters, and that these disasters are more likely to occur in Asia, was shared. SEEDS Asia’s mission of not only providing humanitarian assistance to the affected population, but also initiating long-term projects to make individuals and communities more disaster-resilient and move towards a sustainable society that is safe from disasters, was explained along with actual project activities.
3. In answering the question of what kind of skills are in demand, Ms. Otsuyama said that it was important to have the ‘ability to accomplish tasks by networking and getting support from others’, though working at an nongovernmental organization (NGO) required various other skills as well. In the era of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity), in addition to multilingual skills and qualifications, especially facing global challenges as an NGO worker, such abilities are indispensable as no one person is capable to solve such issues alone. NGO work requires help of many professionals in order to plan and implement projects and achieve its objectives. A takeaway message from this was offered to the students: ‘Motivate yourself to do something for others, with the help of others. Take the initiative to work on the challenge of social issues’ to become an NGO worker.
After the lecture, questions and answers followed. Opinions were exchanged regarding what social issues were discovered from personal experience during the COVID pandemic, and what solutions could be proposed. Hours spent with the students were very inspiring and valuable, and we would like to sincerely express our gratitude to Konan International Exchange Center for this opportunity.