Lecture - Live, Study and Play around the World - Peace Boat Staff
A member of the Tomoe Kai Taiko group issues a challenge to the gods of the sea
In the first lecture of the voyage, Cruise Director Takayoshi Kise gave an account of his personal history with Peace Boat before giving the floor to the coordinators of the various programmes on this cruise. He expressed his hope that Peace Boat would awaken participants to a sense of their connectedness to the world and global issues, and allow them to forge bonds with people throughout the world.
One programme offering passengers the chance to take part in an English musical performed in port and daily language lessons as well as experience homestays and exchange activities with local families is GET (Global English Training). The GET philosophy places emphasis on language as a tool, privileging its communicative aspects over perfect pronunciation and native-speaker speed.
Nicola Liscutin introducing the GU Programme
For participants wishing to deepen their understanding of global issues, the Global University consists of a series of workshops, presentations and exposure and study tours in ports of call. The first unit, coordinated by Nicola Liscutin, currently lecturing at Birkbeck College in London is entitled "Migration" and concerns concepts of nation, citizenship and immigration in Japan and the EU. Speakers from the Philippines, Algeria, Japan and the UK will introduce governmental policy on immigration in various countries, while workshops and tours with immigrants and asylum seekers will give students the chance to see the reality of immigrant lives and multi-ethnic society. Unit 2 will look at the role of NGOs in environmental development issues, and give participants the opportunity to create their own international cooperation NGO. It is aimed at those considering a career in international organizations and culminates in a visit to an NGO in Latin America, which is involved in environmentally conscious development. Finally, the Action Programme will bring together students of the previous units and allow them to incorporate their new-found knowledge and experiences into an exploration of how they can maintain their action in the globalization of human rights.
IS Students and Coordinator celebrating departure (from left) Saptarshi, Pilar, passenger Yu Nunokawa, Jasna, Zainab, Dusan C, Jasmina, Dusan S, and Uri .
GU students will entertain close links with the IS, whose programme includes public presentations about the political situation and role of the media in times of hostility as well as daily workshops and case-study tours. In this way Peace Boat aims to let them share their stories with a wider audience while providing them with a neutral forum in which to come together with students from the opposing side. Ranging in age from 22-27, the IS are active in journalistic and NGO-related fields and, as co-coordinator Jasna Bastic explained, the situation in their countries has prevented them from travelling and bearing witness to their experiences of conflict. Peace Boat hopes to inspire them to work on common projects, both now and in the future, in the realisation that there are always people working towards peaceful conflict resolution despite the politics and actions of their respective governments. IS participants on the current cruise are Dusan Saponja and Dusan Cavic from Serbia, partnered with Jasmina Hadzikaric from Bosnia; Saptarshi Bhattachary from India and Zainab Shah from Pakistan; Walid Nasser from Palestine and Uri Blau from Israel; and Pilar Chavez from Colombia.
Following these presentations, passengers were introduced to some of the other groups onboard, from P-Mac, which collects money and raises support for the abolition and clearance of landmines, to the UPA team, an awareness-raising NGO which delivers goods and aid collected in Japan to various organisations in need at the ports of call. Also onboard is Team Space, an arts and dance group created through the cooperation of the passengers, which aims to effect exchange through non language-based medium and the soccer team, Peace Ball, which engages in friendly matches with local teams and donates sporting equipment to underprivileged communities.
Despite the hazardous ocean between Japan and the Philippines, this introductory lecture was well attended, with many passengers expressing a desire to take part in the various programmes. It ended on a note of excitement with a performance of Taiko drumming and the chance for participants to share their personal reasons for coming onboard. These ranged from a desire to explore their relationship with the world around them or gain a new perspective on life back home, to learning about globalisation and the issues it raises in developing countries. Whatever the impetus, everyone seems determined to make the most of this unique opportunity no matter what the seas throw at them!
Peace Boat's 39th Voyage index