JICA Gifu Coordinator for International Cooperation

Takeru Honsako

　Hello everyone, my name is Takeru Honsako and I am the JICA Gifu Coordinator for International Cooperation.

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　After graduating from university, a photograph inspired me to join the JICA Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers for two years from 2017 to 2019. I worked in the Zaatari refugee camp, a Syrian refugee camp located in Jordan in the Middle East. The purpose of the project was to provide care for children living with a great deal of stress and to support them with employment by teaching them the English language.
 

　Please take a look at the Zaatari refugee camp on Google Maps. Looking at the camp from above, you can see a heavily walled and isolated place located in the middle of a deserted area.

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　Previously, Syria was a country rich in nature, and just like in Japan, its people lived surrounded by beautiful nature throughout each season. However, a prolonged civil war broke out, and now, the environment is completely different to that of Japan. The Syrian people are forced to live a difficult life, with little or no permission to leave refugee camps.

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　While there, I felt an overwhelming feeling of powerlessness. There are currently over 100 million refugees in the world living in difficult conditions, struggling to survive one day at a time. Within this, during my time volunteering I was only able to approach a few dozen people, and for only two years. The refugee crisis is not the only international problem, there are also environmental issues and poverty. In order to improve or solve these problems, each one of us must understand and cooperate, and various skills and many years are needed. So please, in any way that you can, lend a helping hand.

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　You are welcome to visit the Gifu JICA desk anytime! I look forward to talking with you about various things, for example if you want to join the JICA Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, if you want to ask about developing countries and refugee camps, or if you want to know what you can do in your daily life to help. I hope to get to know you all well.