From 4 to 18 August, China-Japan-Korea SERVE Initiative 2018 was held in the Chinese province of Sichuan with ten students from Kyoto University taking part.
The CJK SERVE is a service-learning program organized under the University Social Responsibility Network (USRN, link below ). The first program, held in 2017, involved four USRN member intuitions, with Kyoto University hosting participants from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), Peking University, and Ewha Womans University in Korea.
This year's CJK SERVE accepted a total of 60 students, including additions from three other institutions: Sichuan University (SCU), Sichuan Agricultural University (SAU), and Yonsei University.
Among the faculty in charge, three were from Kyoto: Professor Aiming Lin of the Graduate School of Science, Associate Professor Misuzu Asari of the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies (GSGES), and Professor Naoko Tokuchi of the Field Science Education and Research Center (FSERC).
Activities included a visit to the SCU-PolyU Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction (IDMR) in the city of Chengdu, and a lecture at SAU in the city of Ya'an. Following these, the students split into three groups for the "community and senior citizens" project, where each group stayed in one of three Ya'an villages — Miaoxia, Hekan, and Hongcao — organizing events and workshops with local residents and nongovernmental organizations.
Comments from the participating KyotoU students
Student A
It was an extremely enriching two weeks, with numerous opportunities to experience different cultures and get to know people with different perspectives. I especially appreciated the chance to discuss disasters, sustainability, and population aging — topics of pressing concern in Japan — with students from regions facing similar challenges. These exchanges also made me want to improve my Chinese language proficiency.
Student B
I was glad to be able to communicate with local senior citizens and children despite speaking different languages.
While staying in a rural village, I saw a traditional craft that seemed to be still very much alive, and thought that preserving it into the future will be the next challenge for the community.
I also learned a great deal from interacting with my counterparts from Korea, China, and Hong Kong. Their creative approaches to the program, each reflecting knowledge rooted in the student's unique experiences, caused me to rethink how I want to spend the remainder of my time at Kyoto University.
At Sichuan University
In a rural village in Ya'an
Related links
- Kyoto University Global Engagement: University Social Responsibility Network (USRN)
http://www.oc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/network/en/usrn/ - The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: China-Japan-Korea SERVE Initiative 2018
https://www.polyu.edu.hk/gylsli/en/programmes/cjkserve2018
