Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, a designated “SDGs Future City,” launched an SDGs education program for all its elementary schools in FY2020, following the establishment of the Noto SDGs Lab in 2018. The United Nations University OUIK, focusing on education related to the “Noto’s Satoyama and Satoumi” Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS), has partnered with this program since FY2020 to facilitate international learning and exchange for children through online initiatives.
In this online program, we continue to interact with children living in the Ifugao region of the Philippines, which, like Noto, was recognized as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) in 2011, specifically the “Ifugao Rice Terraces of The Philippine Cordilleras.” We collaborate with the GIAHS Center at the National Ifugao University to develop and implement the program..
For this fiscal year of 2022, 12 fifth and sixth graders from Shoin Elementary School in Suzu City (continuing from last year) are participating on the Japanese side. They are joined by 24 sixth graders from Lamut Central School in the Philippines, who are participating for the first time. Three exchanges are planned this year, with the eagerly anticipated first session held on December 5th.
Prior to the exchange, OUIK Researcher Koyama conducted a preparatory lesson for the Shoin Elementary students, explaining the Noto Peninsula’s GIAHS designation, its significance, and the fact that Ifugao also holds GIAHS status. In the afternoon, it was time for the long-awaited first exchange! This time, Noto SDGs Lab and OUIK facilitated the session with interpretation, and Prof. Koji Nakamura (Kanazawa University), a leading figure in promoting the human resource development program (Meister Program) and exchanges for adults between Noto and Ifugao, also participated in the exchange.
The theme of the first exchange was ‘Self-introduction and school introduction’. The children at each school filmed a ‘self-introduction’ video in advance and sent it to each other, with each child proudly introducing his or her name and favourite things (e.g. food, animals, hobbies, etc.) in English. The videos included photos such as school activities, which gave a good picture of the atmosphere at each school.
The exchange started with the greetings from the teachers in both schools and self-introductions by the staff. It was followed by a ‘school introduction’ time. First, students from Shoin Primary School introduced their school using PowerPoint slides, which included things like ‘what subjects they study at school’, ‘what kind of uniform they wear’, and ‘what they do during break time’. They also introduced the school-wide wrestling and marching band activities, their sports day event, and tourist attractions in Suzu City.
Next, students from Ifugao gave an introduction about their school. They introduced Lamut Central School as one of the oldest schools in the region. They also mentioned that children from kindergarten to grade 6 learn at the school, they have the opportunity to learn about culture at school, and there are many beautiful flowers around the school.
The next was ‘Q&A session’. First, the students from Ifugao asked questions like “What is your favorite subject?” What is your favorite food?” When the students from Suzu answered that they liked ‘ramen’ and ‘sushi’, Mr Silva, the school teacher of Lamut Central School, mentioned that they also eat them in Ifugao and many children in his class answered that they liked them! It was surprising to learn that such a very familiar food in Japan is also eaten in Ifugao.
To the question “What is your favorite anime?” from a student in Noto, students in Ifugao replied “Naruto”, “Dragon Ball”, “Tokyo Revengers”, and “Attack on Titan”. Some of the students in Noto looked a little nervous as they participated the exchange for the first time, however, as the names of cartoons they knew came out one after another, they looked at each other and cheered happily. To the next question from Noto, “What is your favourite snack?”, answers from Ifugao included things like fish crackers called crackarins, chocolate, broccoli, pretzels, and mangoes. Students in Noto seemed intrigued by the commonalities and the unexpected answers that came out from pupils in Ifugao!
Finally, as a farewell message, the students of Shoin Elementary School danced rhythmically to a song they often dance at school. The Lamut Central School students also sang and danced with great energy! Children from both schools performed very well! The 1st exchange went by very quickly and came to an end, by proming to meet again in a month’s time. We can’t wait to see what the next exchange will be like!
