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Special Report |
LAST UPDATE February 4, 2008
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| January 8, 2008 |
A Slice of Peace Boat Life IV – Changing Ourselves, Changing the World – Participants Who Make the Voyage Happen |
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Peace Boat offers a unique onboard environment because the great majority of participants are young people about to embark on a career and more senior citizens who have retired from their jobs but are looking to keep on learning and trying new things. This makes for many interesting opportunities, and the interaction between these two demographics and the people they encounter around the world and onboard is often life changing. Peace Boat is also unique for the many opportunities it offers to participants to get involved. Everyday, participants organize a range of events from lectures about HIV/AIDS to discussions on World Heritage Sites such as Petra, Jordan. Participants are also encouraged to get involved with the guest speakers that come onboard, and because Peace Boat is a dynamic, fluid organization, it’s up to each individual to contribute and make the most of their time onboard and in port.
Iguchi Makio is a 55 year old retired math teacher from Osaka, Japan. He first joined Peace Boat on the 56th Global Voyage for the first leg of the trip, ‘just to get a taste’ after fundraising for Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) in Japan and deciding to come onboard and learn more about this issue which featured in the first unit of Global University. His ‘rehearsal’ was positive and he decided to join the 59th voyage for the entire 110 days. As a Global University (GU) student, and Global English Training (GET) student, his time onboard has been incredibly busy. He has also been heavily involved in playing live music from Okinawa and raising awareness and protesting the United States military bases in Okinawa, a place that he feels a deep affinity with after studying and traveling there as an adult. Given the nature of the things he chose to pursue, his experience onboard and in port has been educational. ‘In my GU classes, I learnt a lot of things from the younger generation. There were many young people whose appearance makes them seem not serious, but they are thinking very deeply and studied really hard. Also, they taught me not to think so much and to just do things,’ he said. |
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In port, he was involved in exposure programs where he came face-to-face with the issues he’d been studying onboard. ‘I saw things in a different way. In Japan, there is only one way to look at things, but I saw many issues from a different perspective. Also, in my travels to Okinawa and Hokkaido in Japan, I have been confronted with issues, such as the military bases and bases for self-defense forces. By going there and seeing for myself, I learnt more about these issues. I had the same experience on Peace Boat, but on a more global scale.’ Despite all of the intense study he has undertaken, his insatiable curiosity hasn’t been relieved. ‘Once I get back to Japan, I would like to study more and then come back on Peace Boat,’ he said. In the meantime, he will continue to live by his own philosophy: ‘Although taking action is important, it’s also important to consider things very carefully before you do so.’
Suemori Yasuyo, 27, from Yokohama, Japan, joined Peace Boat so she could broaden her horizons. In order to come onboard, she quit her job as a customer service representative for Japan Airlines. Onboard, she has been involved as a volunteer creating the ship’s daily timetable which features over one hundred events every day. However, she also made sure she left plenty of time to go to lectures and other events so she could fulfill her goal of learning more about the world. ‘I have learnt a lot and I realized how many things I didn’t know. I learnt about global issues, including global warming, poverty and HIV/AIDS. I came to realize that they are call interconnected and related in some way. I also discovered that not only is Japan affected by these things, but that I am a part of these issues too.’ Despite being exposed to many of the world’s ills, she is more hopeful than ever. ‘Through my experience, I got to see such rich, beautiful nature and met so many wonderful people. So although there are many problems, I remain optimistic about this world. We need to protect ourselves and our environment, and we can do it!’ she exclaimed. |
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Another highlight for Yasuyo was spending a week in Venezuela undertaking a volunteer and study program work with a Venezuelan youth association. ‘We had cultural exchanges and did various projects, such as making a basketball court at an elementary school. It was my favorite place on this trip,’ she said. After Peace Boat, she will look for a job. Although she would like to work in the NGO/NPO sector, it is not financially viable for her at the moment. ‘It’s sad, a lot of people would like to work in this sector, but in reality it’s really difficult to make ends meet, so I will volunteer my time instead. I’ll also take action by buying fair trade products and change my bank account to a community bank.’ In addition to this, she is consciously trying to live honestly. ‘You should always be honest, with yourself and others, that way you can know how you feel about things.’ |
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