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Special Report |
LAST UPDATE October 4, 2005
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| September 18, 2005 |
Introduction to Peace Boat’s Global University |
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| Muriithi Kaburi describes the work of The Greenbelt Movement to Global University students. |
What is Global University?
Global University is Peace Boat’s intensive peace and sustainability studies programme. Students study a selection of topics onboard the ship, and combine this with exposure programmes in various countries.
Guest educators and specialists from Japan and all over the world play an important role in the programme, by guiding students through various topics relating to global issues. Participants gain the skills necessary to play an active role in education, activism and peace-building activities at the grass-roots level.
Global University on Peace Boat’s 51st Voyage
Twenty-eight participants, ranging in age from 20 to 61 years old are enrolled in Global University during Peace Boat’s 51st voyage. The students can study one or both of two units. Unit One focuses on conservation activities that lead to peace. Students will study the work of The Greenbelt Movement (GBM), which was founded in 1977 by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai, and is a community-based development and environmental organization based in Kenya. GBM focuses on empowering communities through a variety of grassroots projects, include civic education and tree planting for self-sustainability.
GBM representative Muriithi Kaburi has been onboard Peace Boat from Singapore to Seychelles as a guest educator. He has held daily sessions with students to discuss how GBM works at the grassroots level to help communities to help themselves, with special emphasis on environmental conservation and food security efforts by GBM. |
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| Global University students practice speaking the language of Kenya’s Kamba tribe, in preparation for their home stay. |
From September 22 to 25, the Global University students will spend four days in a small community near Nairobi in Kenya. They will experience a home-stay, and help locals undertake self-sufficient activities such as planting trees and assisting women to prepare gardens, which will use recycled kitchen water from their homes.
Muriithi said the visit to a local community was an important aspect of the students’ study. “They will see firsthand the achievements of the women in these communities,” he said.
Global University student Kentaro Yasui said he was very excited to go into a community and see the work of GBM. “I have also planted trees in Malaysia, so I am very interested in this programme. I am looking forward to meeting the local people,” he said.
On return to Peace Boat, students will evaluate their experience, before the next phase of unit one, which will compare Japan’s agricultural methods with the self-sufficient farming witnessed in Kenya under the guidance of agricultural journalist, Kazuoki Ono. |
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