THE PARTICIPANTS. AJCU-AP Service Learning Program 2018 delegates from Instituto Sao Joao de Brito (East Timor), Sogang University (Korea), Sophia University (Japan), Sanata Dharma University (Indonesia), Ateneo de Manila, Ateneo de Davao, Ateneo de Zamboanga and Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, Philippines.
By Jett Torres, XU SLP Formator
Xavier Ateneo's Civil Engineering student Garnelo Jose A Cupay and Psychology student Khessa Mari T Obuta, together with Service Learning Program (SLP) formator Jerome L Torres, joined the 2018 Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities - Asia Pacific (AJCU-AP) SLP Assembly from August 1 to 14, hosted by Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.
This year’s SLP assembly centered on post-disaster community recovery in Japan. The students were provided with the opportunities to visit Kamaishi and Ofunato in Tohoku Region and learned the social services offered to the affected areas of the 2011 magnitude-9 earthquake.
AJCU-AP is an association of Jesuit higher educational institutions (HEIs) and Jesuit higher educational endeavors (HEEs) functioning within the territory the Jesuit Conference for East Asia and Oceania (JCEAO).
SLP, one of many programs of the AJCU-AP, focuses on providing a place for Jesuit university students to apply Ignatian Pedagogy in their everyday life and provide a learning experience for students through tangible community service.
Each year, member universities send students and faculty members to a three-week program hosted by a member institution.
The program was participated by 28 students and five mentors from the different Jesuit universities, namely, Instituto Sao Joao de Brito (East Timor), Sogang University (Korea), Sophia University (Japan), Sanata Dharma University (Indonesia), and Ateneo de Manila, Ateneo de Davao, Ateneo de Zamboanga, and Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan (Philippines).
SERVICE LEARNING. Professor David Slater explains the Service Learning Program and Post-Disaster Community Recovery in Tohoku, Japan to the SLP delegates during the orientation session at Kioi-te, Aoi-noma, Sophia University campus.
Students were able to understand the long-lasting impacts of a large-scale natural disaster to communities and stages of gradual recovery towards re-formation of communities, assess and consider qualities of services and cares needed in a mature society with an aging population, and gain wider perspectives from the Japanese government and other non-government organizations.
Prior to their immersion, an internal preparation and series of lectures and reflections on Jesuit education and spirituality conducted by Prof Michael Polito and a study of post-disaster community recovery in Tohoku by Prof David Slater.
“Ignatius believed that through knowledge, effort, and grace each of us can live and enjoy our full potential human beings made in the image of our God," said Polito.
He stressed that the entire program focused on three points: Eudaimonia (Happiness), Agape (Love), and Magis (Doing with Depth) in relation to responding to catastrophes.
The participants also underwent a five-day field study in Iwate Prefecture, Kamaishi City, Japan, which was severely devastated at the onset of the 3/11 tsunami disaster.
TSUNAMI-AFFECTED AREA. A historical marker of a building after the 3/11 tsunami disaster in Ofonatu City.
Students were given the opportunity to meet some Japanese people who were affected by the disaster. They also met with the Filipino community Pagasa Club and rendered services in Cosmos Creative Farm, Unosumai Nursery School Festival, Sennin-no-Sato Nursing Home, and Ito-Shoten Factory.
Mamoru Sasaki, general manager of disaster headquarters during the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, shared his heart-breaking stories and learning experiences to the students.
XU student Khesa reflected after Sasaki's sharing: “I was deeply [moved] after hearing the story of Mr. Sasaki. I am carrying something and finding my purpose as a psychology student in light of psycho-social effort."
Another XU student, Garnelo, added, “Despite the big disaster yet there is a big God – divine presence of God that allows the Japanese people to trust and being resilient in the midst of over-shadowed depression."
He continued: “Despite all the pain brought about by the earthquake and tsunami, my fellow participants and I were greatly inspired during our immersion process, we encountered certain people whose lives overcame the sadness and possessed a heart of magis, eudaimonia, and agape. These people chose happiness over the sorrow, and were willing to care for the community and leading the way for their holistic recovery.”
Recovery does not only mean physical infrastructure but the recovery of traumatic experiences of the people.
“We have the resources, machines, and support from the government yet the gap of addressing the trauma of the people becomes the scattered fragment of our hearts,” Takemi Wada shared.
DELEGATES. SLP delegates strike a pose after the five-day field study in Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture.
Khesa also expressed her admiration for the resilience and values of the Japanese people: “They carry something as a collective whole, as a society. The values they carry such as their flexibility amidst of calamity, their coping mechanisms, and sources of hope and faith, transformed them into stronger and more resilient people. They carry these values to transcend themselves in hope for a better future."
A group reflection-presentation was exhibited on the last day of the program where all students expressed their learning reflection and action plans. Xavier Ateneo delegates were able to present the best practices of XU Engineering Resource Center (ERC) and the psycho-social interventions of the university in times of disaster.
Xavier Ateneo's SLP is a tangible mark among the Jesuit colleges and universities in the Asia Pacific that embodies a genuine and authentic service in the community and to the church. A step to embrace new possibilities for collaboration between universities, local and regional networks, as well as the international association by transforming the world through education - an appropriate “Jesuit” brand of higher education.∎
TEAM XAVIER ATENEO. XU delegates Garnelo Jose Cupay (right), Khessa Mari T Obuta (center) and Jett Torres (left) take a pose at Caritas International office after the five-day field study in Kamaishi City, Japan.