Students from the Philippines visit Hiroshima University and have exchange with students from HU!!

23 students from the Philippines, the first group of students invited by the JENESYS Programme（Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths）visited Japan from April 10 to April 18. This program was hosted by the Japan International Cooperation Center（JICE）in collaboration with the Hiroshima International Center（HIC）. The students visited Hiroshima University on April 16 (Mon) and together with 14 students from HU, they went to the Higashi Hiroshima City Kamo Environmental Sanitation Center（a refuse incineration plant） and Kamo Environmental Center (an unburnable garbage-disposal facility) and in English discussed the problem of waste treatment in their countries. In the afternoon, they visited Kamoizumi Shuzo Co.,Ltd　and its sake storehouses and listened to explanations by the Saijo Environmental Association for Preserving Mountains and Water about the conservation of satoyama（rural landscapes）. They also experienced “water tasting” (water from a mountain spring, water used for Japanese Sake brewing, tap water and French mountain spring water).

The students from the Philippines said “In the Philippines, there are no garbage-disposal facilities like this. We would like to build something like this in our country.” and “The water for Japanese sake brewing is very delicious and the efforts to conserve the mountain landscape are wonderful.”

The students from HU said: “We knew that there were several cultures, languages and ethnic groups in the Philippines, but when we had the chance to talk to many people directly, we feel that even in one country, there are differences.” and “When we were elementary school students, we had the opportunity to go to a garbage-disposal facility, but the brilliance of Japanese technology and the immense expense surprised us again on this visit. It probably will still take some time, but we hope that the waste problem in the Philippines can be solved with the help of Japanese technology. ” The HU students were also impressed by how engaged the Philippine students were with reporting and raising questions.

In this way, students from the Philippines and Hiroshima University had a day for exchange and learned a lot – not only about the waste problem in Japan and the Philippines, but also about the different ways of thinking in both countries. Of course, it is important to study abroad, but it is also possible to experience international exchange through programs like this. We hope that the students of our university can benefit from international and intercultural exchange both on and off campus, and grow into personalities with global vision, spreading their wings around the world.

The students visiting Kamo Environmental Center	Discussing the waste problem
Reporting on waste disposal	Water tasting

【Inquiries】
International Exchange Group,
Education and International Office,
Hiroshima University
E-mail: kokusai-ryugaku(AT)office.hiroshima-u.ac.jp
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