Another group of enthusiastic Philippine-Tohoku Goodwill Ambassadors under the Japan East-Asia Network for Students and Youths (JENESYS) Programme will be going to Japan to foster friendly ties between our two countries. To aid them in their nine-day stay, the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) of the Embassy of Japan organized a Pre-Departure Orientation for the 3 rd batch of Philippine-Tohoku Goodwill Ambassadors on May 7, 2012 (Monday). The third batch, comprising of 100 participants, are scheduled to depart for Japan on May 8 (Tuesday), and will return to the Philippines on May 16 (Wednesday). Minister Shinsuke Shimizu, Head of Chancery of the Embassy of Japan, delivered an encouraging speech for the Philippine-Tohoku Goodwill Ambassadors.
The Philippine-Tohoku Goodwill Ambassadors will learn about Japan's recovery efforts, disaster risk management and the concept of a “greener environment”, as well as foster cultural appreciation and mutual understanding between Japan and the Philippines. The said programme was agreed upon in a joint statement by both the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines on September 27, 2011, with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda stating that Japan will invite 400 Filipino college students to Japan this year as “Philippine-Tohoku Goodwill Ambassadors.”
The pre-departure orientation aims to give basic information to help the Philippine-Tohoku Goodwill Ambassadors during their nine-day stay in Japan. For the duration of the programme, participants will personally witness Japan's rapid recovery efforts in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake that struck Japan's Tohoku region on March 11, 2011. In addition, they will interact with Japanese youth from educational institutions and foster family whom they will be staying with under the homestay scheme. A total of 400 students have been chosen to participate as Philippine-Tohoku Goodwill Ambassadors. The first and second batches of 100 Philippine-Tohoku Goodwill Ambassadors already departed for Japan last April 10 (Tuesday) and April 17 (Tuesday), respectively. Both the first and second batches are under the theme, JENESYS - “Go Green” , while the last two batches who will depart for Japan on May will be under the theme, JENESYS - “Japan's Disaster Management and Recovery Efforts After 3.11” .
The JENESYS Programme is organized by The Government of Japan through the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) of the Embassy of Japan as well as the Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE), in close cooperation with the National Youth Commission (NYC) of the Republic of the Philippines.
