Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Inter-University Exchange Project > INFO > [Report] Business trip to Zambia and Rwanda

[Report] Business trip to Zambia and Rwanda

2/1/20222021 info

The program coordinator traveled to Rwanda and Zambia from November to December. She visited our partner universities, Japanese embassies, JICA offices, internship partners, and study tour partners.
We hope that exchanges between the Zambian partner university, the Zambian University, and the Rwandan partner university, the Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences, and TUFS will become more active than ever before.

*We received the full support of the Hokkaido University Africa Office in Lusaka about the business trip to the University of Zambia. Once again, we would like to express our deep gratitude. Our appreciation also goes to the exchange coordinators of the each University. Thank you very much.

Zambia

University of Zambia

Meeting with the Vice-chancellor, Deputy vice chancellor and exchange coordinator

Project Briefing for the professors of School of Humanities and Social Sciences (8 participants, including the dean)

Project Briefing for the students（36 participants）

Meeting with the Acting Director of Confucius Institute (the director is in charge of the Japanese classes)

Hokkaido University Africa Office in Lusaka (Prof. Kusakabe)

library（14 floors）

The school cafeteria (one of several cafeterias)

Student dormitory

Rwanda

Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (PIASS)

Vice-chancellor, Dean of the Faculty of Development Studies and Head of Department of Peace and Conflict Studies/GJD

Project Briefing for students (11 participants)

Henri and Thembo, who were studying in TUFS until 2021 summer, also shared their experiences.

Meeting with the “Online Exchange Meeting: PIASS and TUFS in JAPAN” (10 participants)

The coordinator represented the TUFS participants and interacted with the students who participated in the “Online Exchange Meeting”. She brought them souvenirs from a TUFS student and played a video of a flamenco club shere another student was enrolled.

Reunion with Henri and Thembo, the former exchange students to TUFS and Rei studying at PIASS

They helped the coordinator while her stay at PIASS. Rei seemed like had adapted to PIASS very well and enjoying his life at PIASS with his schoolmates.

library

PIASS library has a fruitful section for kids. The kids spend their time with a babysitter here while their parents are studying.

student dormitory

Umucyo Nyanza

Umucyo Nyanza is a women’s group which works for reconciliation and rebuilding relationships after the 1994 genocideand, and improving livelihoods. Group members are consists of women whose families are survivor and perpetrators of genocide. They make book covers, bags and aprons out of African cloth together. The group has received several TUFS students learning at PIASS. and they supported its activities (cf. Ayumu Uchida,Mako Iino).

On the day the coordinator visited, they were making book covers. The new tote bag they were preparing at that time has just started to be sold in January. As sales are used to fund activities, your purchase of the products help support the continuation of the activities. There are activity reports and new releases, so please check facebook and the store.

KISEKI

At KISEKI, a Japanese inn and cafe restaurant, many students from TUFS have experienced internships (cf. Natsumi Ito). In addition to the restaurant business, KISEKI runs a variety of businesses, including online programs and local participation programs. This time, the coordinator talked with Mrs. Mio Yamada, the representative of KISEKI, and participated in the local participation program.

Kindergarten run by KISEKI

children’s cafeteria being prepared

one of the five families the coordinator visited in Kimihurura

At KISEKI, due to the covid-19, they could not run their business as usual. The coorinator heard that one of the TUFS students were deeply involved as an intern in building the online program designed to overcome this situation. There are many contents, so please take a look.

Africanote

In August 2021, we conducted an Rwanda Online Study Tour, and Africanote provided us the Kigali online tour and the Nyamata Memorial Church online tour. The coordinator met Mr. Norihiro Takeda, whom she had met many times online, face-to-face for the first time. He showed the coordinator around the city where they visited during the online tour. At the time of the online tour, it was under construction, but when she visited the site, the construction was finished and the impression of the town was completely changed. The experience of being able to notice the changes in the streets of the places she visited online gave her an opportunity to reflect on the significance of online tours. Africanote provides online tours and onsite study tours and shares the latest information on Rwanda on Twitter and You tube. Please check them out.