– Life in a tent and the Mangaten domestic refugee camp – [Original by Takaki IMAI, Manager for Humanitarian Assistance and Peace-Building Group (December 14, 2017); Translated by K. Adachi] The 8th day: 30th of November (Thursday) Obtained the certificate from South Sudan Relief Restoration Committee (RRC) for distribution of school supplies. The headquarters of RRC is located in the area of the ministries and government offices, such as treasury ministries, which stand in a row in the center of Juba. NGOs are required to receive the approval from RRC for every kind of “goods distribution” or “goods transport,” not only limited to emergency relief. However, RRC approval provides two…
THE DIARY FROM SOUTH SUDAN (3)
– Support of medical supplies such as medicines for malaria to the Gumbo clinic – [Original by Takaki IMAI, Manager for Humanitarian Assistance and Peace-Building Group (December 8, 2017); Translated by K. Adachi] I went to Juba in South Sudan on November 23, 2017, listened to the internally displaced people in refugee camps, and gave medical and educational aid. I will report the local situations and our activities in this series, “The Diary from South Sudan.” The 6th day: 28th of November (Tuesday) Support of medical supplies to the Gumbo clinic I went to the Gumbo clinic and had a meeting with Dr. Remo. We selected which medical supplies were…
A NEW PROJECT STARTED IN LAOS
Original by Shigeru KIMURA, Laos Project (July 12, 2018); Translated by M. Takahashi] On April 26, 2018, a signing ceremony of MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) was held for the new project, which JVC has applied to the Laotian government since last year. The ceremony gave practical permission to the project. We held briefings for administrative officers in Atsaphangthong district on July 21st, and in Phine district on July 22nd, which marked the start of our activities in the fields. In the morning, we had presentations with slides for the deputy governor and agricultural chief manager of the districts. In the afternoon, we had a workshop to train the staff in…
INTERVIEW WITH A PEACE YARD FACILITATOR
[Ghamra RIFAI, Iraq Project (July 12, 2018)] On July 12th, 2018 I had a video call interview with Miss Shelan Serwan, a facilitator of the Peace Yard of our Iraq project. We chatted about her life, her dreams, and her work with the children. At 40 °C degrees temperature, despite the power outages and the scorching heat Shelan started the video call with a big smile. When I asked her about herself, she said, “I’m from Baghdad, Kurdish, but my Kurdish is not that good, I speak better Arabic than Kurdish. I was born in 1994 and raised in Baghdad until 2007 when the sectarian confrontation between Sunni and Shia…
JVC’s Approach to the ProSAVANA Project
[Original (June 5, 2018); Translated by M. Kanai/J. Hills] Since 2013, JVC has been committed to activities of advocacy against the ProSAVANA project, one of many Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects led by the Japanese government. What is ProSAVANA? Officially called the “Program of Triangular Cooperation for the Agricultural Development of the Tropical Savannah in Mozambique”, ProSAVANA is an ODA project co-managed by Japan, Brazil, and Mozambique. This largescale agricultural development project covers an area of approximately 14 million hectares (more than three times the cultivated land area in Japan) in the northern provinces of Mozambique. The ProSAVANA project was born out of the success of projects undertaken by Japan…
THE DIARY FROM SOUTH SUDAN (2)
– Hearing in the Mangaten domestic refugee camp – [Original by Takaki IMAI Manager for Humanitarian Assistance and Peace-Building Group (December 6, 2017); Translated by K. Adachi] I went to Juba in South Sudan on November 23, 2017, listened to the internally displaced people in refugee camps, and gave medical and educational aid. I will report the local situations and our activities in this series, “The Diary from South Sudan.” In this post, I report the activities on the 3rd and the 5th day of the stay (the 4th day is skipped because it was a Sunday). The 3rd day: 25th of November (Saturday) At the Mangaten domestic refugee Camp…
THE DIARY FROM SOUTH SUDAN (1)
– People are still waiting for international aid – [Original by Takaki IMAI, Manager for Humanitarian Assistance and Peace-Building Group (December 5, 2017); Translated by K. Adachi] I went to Juba in South Sudan on November 23, 2017, listened to the internally displaced people in refugee camps, and gave medical and educational aid. I will report the local situations and our activities in this series, “The Diary from South Sudan.” The 1st day: 23rd of November (Thursday) Arrival in Juba When I got off the plane, local young guys who are not even airport staffs cut into around immigration counter for entry procedures and I was violently jostled. They appear…
MOSUL CELEBRATES THE SPRING FESTIVAL AFTER 16 YEARS OF SUSPENSION
[Ghamra RIFAI, Iraq Project (July 10, 2018)] On April 10, 1969 the first Mosul Festival was inaugurated and lasted for nine days. Many floats passed through the city in a huge parade presenting various periods of the Iraqi history such as Babylon and Islamic Golden Age, in addition to floats that represented the Pan-Arab mentality of the ruling Baath party. These floats included a model of Al-Aqsa mosque and the church of the holy sepulcher in Jerusalem. The festival was not limited to the parade but it included art performances, poetry reading and exhibitions such as the Mosul flower exhibition, and it was considered a great tourist attraction. After that,…
A miraculous meeting for peace held in an Afghan village
– A ceasefire was realized between the Afghan government and the Taliban. In order to cut the chain of still-continuing violence. – [Original (June 18, 2018); Translated by K. Takemura] Good & bad news The situation of Afghanistan is dramatically changing these days. To our surprise, a ceasefire for three days was realized between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban for the first time. And a miraculous meeting for peace was held in a village, where one of the JVC staff comes from. At the same time, suicide attacks occurred to target such moves. We got the surprising news on the Friday night of June 16, 2018. It says,…
A MIRACLE IN ROPPONGI – MEETING A YOUNG AFGHAN MAN AGAIN AFTER TWO YEARS
[Original by Ryo ONOYAMA, Afghanistan Project (June 5, 2018); Translated by N. Mizutani] It was a miracle. In Roppongi, right in the middle of Tokyo, I met again a youth I had met in Afghanistan two years ago. Chances for Afghan people to visit Japan are very limited, so it is amazing that he was exactly from the area JVC has been working in! His name is Ihsanullah. He was visiting Japan with some other Afghan people, to participate in a training program on disaster prevention held by a Japanese NGO. Participants were appointed by the Afghan government, NGOs and the local community. Ihsanullah came as a representative of his…
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