Online event “My Hometown” held [multiple countries]
17th of January, 2023 marked the 28th anniversary since the occurrence of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake that shook and devastated the southern part of Hyogo, Japan. On this day, SEEDS Asia’s online event “My Hometown – Asian Children’s Assembly” was held for the second time.
This assembly is for children in Asia, particularly those who are in SEEDS Asia’s project sites with high disaster risk, to gather online and interact with others by presenting their endeared hometown and disaster preparedness. The first assembly was organized in 2021 as part of SEEDS Asia’s 15th anniversary, which received a great reputation from participating children: “I want to do this again,” “I’ve got confidence in my English communication skills”; and from their guardians: “This is the very experience that we cannot buy with money,” and “We appreciate that SEEDS Asia gave this opportunity to our children.” These comments urged SEEDS Asia to decide that this event will be held annually, fully making use of our network in Asia.
For 2023, five schools participated from three countries, namely Bangladesh, Japan and the Philippines (list below). All of the schools have some connections to SEEDS Asia in the field of disaster recovery and/or preparedness. The event began with a message by SEEDS Asia’s Technical Advisor and Shiga University’s specially appointed professor Ranko Kishida. Her message emphasized our wishes for the event: “To know about others’ hometowns, imagine what kind of lifestyles they have, and think what we can do to support one another is very important for the future of the humankind. We hope that this event will encourage you to know about each other and to cherish each hometown.”
This was followed by a seven-minute presentation per school. All of the participants fully engaged in presenting their school, hometown, and disaster experience/preparedness to the rest, and listened to others’ presentations.
All of the participating children belong to different communities and have distinctive lifestyles. However, they also have realized there are commonalities: disasters such as typhoon (cyclone), flood and earthquake. These commonalities have made the participants aware that there are friends overseas who are studying and preparing for the next disaster.
We cannot help but wish that, the children felt the joy of connecting with and co-learning from one another. That, the children have nurtured their love for their hometown, and eventually will engage in making their community more disaster-resilient. That, they will be conscious of global issues, because of this event.
We sincerely thank all the teachers who spent a lot of time and energy towards this event.
List of participating schools
– Model Academy (Dhaka, Bangladesh)
– Naganuma Elementary School (Nagano, Japan)
– Nakagawara Elementary School (Hyogo, Japan)
– San Fernando Central Elementary School (Cebu, Philippines)
– Toba Elementary School (Mie, Japan)
Lastly, there was a bit of talk about food that is offered at each school.
Naganuma Elementary School shared about their “message croquettes” offered in their school meal. On the surface of croquettes, there are small messages imprinted with edible colors such as “thank you” or “cheer up.”
A student of Nakagawara Elementary School introduced about beef-don (rice with toppings) that uses Awaji Beef. The student is also from a family-owned beef manufacturer. The school also uses locally grown rice to promote local consumption.
Toba Elementary School readily presented their “furusato (hometown)” meals that offer abundant seafood such as seaweeds and Ise Lobster. Serving locally produced seafoods helps local children be aware of the advantage of living nearby the sea.
Unfortunately the Model Academy from Dhaka was not able to share their food experience at school, due to the low internet connectivity. San Fernando Central Elementary School introduced their school feeding program where traditional Filipino food is served: adobo, pancit, etc.
We are hoping that this kind of positive communications about their hometown will continue. We are also looking at offering this event to other grade levels (currently participation is limited to Grade 5 and 6 students). Your continued support is very appreciated. Thank you!