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International Volunteering Course Report (2021)

This semester students taking the International Volunteering course offered by the English department conducted projects in conjunction with the Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC) and Tuk Tuk (a charity doing work in early childhood education in Cambodia).

Students working with JVC conducted two on-campus campaigns. The first involved collecting used stamps and unsent postage-paid “nengajo” postcards which can then be sold or cashed in to gain funds to contribute to JVC’s running costs and various projects. The second involved students calling for the donation of books, CDs, DVDs, etc to be sent to and sold by BookOff, with the proceeds being used to support child and youth education and training in Sudan. Thanks to the support of students and staff, many stamps, postcards, books and other items were donated.

You can read more about this on JVC’s website: https://www.ngo-jvc.net/jp/tokyostaffdiary/2022/01/20220118-seinanjogakuin-koen.html

Students working with Tuk Tuk broke into four groups working on the following projects:

1. Creating worksheets for Cambodian early childhood teachers and students to use to learn how to write the English alphabet. These worksheets were strongly requested by local preschool teachers and will be shared with them via Tuk Tuk’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RermorkForChildren/?mc_cid=10b46bd106&mc_eid=3025e467a5

2. Creating videos of traditional Japanese games and activities (“karuta” and “ayatori”) that teachers can use with their students. The students made a Khmer version of “karuta” using Khmer characters. These videos will also be shared on Tuk Tuk’s Facebook page.

3. Creating a Cambodian version of the Japanese children’s book “The Giant Turnip”. Students rewrote the story in English (translated into Khmer by Tuk Tuk staff) and created original illustrations to be more culturally appropriate for use in Cambodia. This story will be read to children by Tuk Tuk staff and shared with local teachers.

4. Translating into Japanese five of Tuk Tuk’s own original “kamishibai” picture books and thinking about how these stories and information about Cambodia can be introduced to Japanese preschool and elementary students. Unfortunately the students’ plans to visit local kindergartens and after-school care facilities had to be canceled due to COVID-19, but we hope they can try again soon.

The final group were in charge of promoting each group’s activities, as well as JVC and Tuk Tuk, and they did a great job using social media to do this. Please check out their various social media accounts.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/volunteersweng
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seijoeng_volunteering/
Blog: https://ameblo.jp/seinanjoeigovolunteer/entrylist.html

Through their activities students learned a lot about teamwork, communication, planning, and problem solving, and could also think more about volunteering and international cooperation.

Please click here for more information about JVC and Tuk Tuk: