The NICE, a leading international NPO headquartered in Tokyo, held “Global Youth Camp in Rikuzentakata” for local high school students on July 8 and 9 of 2017. The aim of the camp was to encourage the local youth to think about the region’s future through international exchange and volunteer activities.

A total of 29 local high school students with international volunteers from Canada, Korea, Russia joined the camp. The students vary coming from the coastal area as well as the inland area of Iwate Prefecture.

Their volunteer works on the first day, were such as assisting in oyster raising, mowing of mosquito in the local tea fields, and international exchange event among participants with local residents.  

On the second day, a workshop was held. Its theme was to explore series of potentials existed in Iwate Prefecture, the second largest prefectural land in Japan. The participants surprisingly captured so many findings such as “I did not know that there are tea gardens in Iwate!”, “Fishery work is so cool!”, “Dialect is expressing nature of local values so straightforward!” They have come to know that the diversities in this region are something to generate new values for local vitalization. In next session, using these perspectives, participants divided by a few groups challenged to “Make a catch phrase to send Iwate to the world!” Every group output was so impressive that are totally different from the commercialized guidebook.

The camp realized that the multi-faceted interactions (i.e. between adults and youth, among local students living in different regions, between local residents and international volunteers) have powers to create new values for local vitalization in cultural, economic, and other contexts. And English is to be a common and useful communication tool to deepen their relationships. The NICE will have programs like this for sustainable supports to Iwate and Rikuzentakata.