Ambassador Makoto Katsura will be signing contracts for Grant Aid for Cultural Grassroot Projects for two recipient organizations, namely the Nihongo Center Foundation (NCF) and the Mindanao Kokusai Daigaku (MKD or Mindanao International College) on the occasion of the Nihongo Fiesta to be held at the SM Mall of Asia on February 28, 2009.
Under the contract, the NCF will receive a grant of US$43,764 for the improvement of its Japanese language learning equipment. The other grant of US$46,675 will be given to the MKD for the rehabilitation of the college's Japanese language learning facilities. Both grants will be used to develop an e-learning Japanese language program at their respective organizations in order to make the Japanese language learning more accessible to students with various needs.
Ambassador Benjamin Sanvictores, President and Chairman of the NCF and Judge Antonina Escovilla, President of the MKD will be joining Ambassador Katsura to sign their organization's respective contracts.
The Grant Assistance for Cultural Grassroot Projects was introduced in 2000 as part of Japan Official Development Assistance (ODA), expanding the scope of the Cultural Grant Aid to provide assistance to directly benefit the so-called grassroots level in developing countries through assistance for NGOs and local public bodies.
Preceding the Grant Contract Signing Ceremony, the Ambassador will also award a certificate issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to Mr. Kriss Sison for being one of the bronze winners of the 2 nd International Manga Awards.
Mr. Kriss Sison, artist of Ninja Girl Ko , is one of the 12 artists chosen from among the 368 participants from 46 countries around the world to receive the bronze award. His manga works will be displayed at the 11 th Asian Cartoon Exhibition , which will be inaugurated at the Nihongo Fiesta. Mr. Sison joins the roster of Filipino Manga artists who have received recognition from the MOFA-organized Manga Awards. In the First International Manga Awards, two Filipino artists , Mr. Jhomar Soriano and Mr. Elmer Damaso, were ranked among the top 19 brilliant Manga artists who participated.
