Chidera is one of the four alumni who were interviewed for the 2018 TOMODACHI Initiative Annual Report. Check out her interview below!
From Washington DC, attended the TOMODACHI US-Japan Youth Exchange Program 2017.
Family from Nigeria, currently in High School, Senior Year. Wants to be a polyglot.
After coming back from Japan, she continued to study Japanese but some schools began to not give credit for certain languages. Feeling that this was unfair, she went to testify to the Board of Education about the importance of studying a foreign language and the ripple effect it could have on families and community.
"When you meet people from the other side of the world, it's easy to get caught up in the idea that you're different, but I've learned that we aren't that different."
Q: What impact did you receive from the TOMODACHI program?
“When I think TOMODACHI, my first thought goes to ‘Friend’ because that’s the literal translation, but but it means so much more to me now going on the program. Now it represents ‘Foundation’ for me. One of the biggest changes I saw in myself after the program is that I have a stronger need to speak my mind, and that’s what led to more maturity in me. Not only did it found the growth of me as a person, but also my relationships with other people. Showed that I have the ability to get along with most people I meet. When you meet with other people from the other side of the world, it’s very easy to get caught up in the fact that you’re so different but it takes a person with a good heart to see that you guys aren’t that different.”
Q: What does Leadership mean to you?
[On testifying at the Board of Education] “After meeting such inspiring people and communities through the TOMODACHI program, I wanted to help my own community after that. Being a small girl in a big city, I didn’t really know how to do that at first, but once I heard that students weren’t gaining credit or recognition for the study they put into these languages, I wanted to make sure that wasn’t happening. As s student who wasn’t getting any credit for learning Japanese, I felt like everything I was doing was going to waste and I didn’t want anybody to feel that way. So once I saw the opportunity I said, ‘Yes I’m going to do this. I will do whatever it takes to make sure that this can happen for students like me.’
Q: What is the impact the TOMODACHI Generation can provide to communities and beyond?
“When I initially went to Japan, all I wanted to do was stay in cities like Tokyo. I initially didn’t want to go to the country and get lost in the trains but once I heard that Tokyo was stealing away the tourism from places like MinamiSanriku and Kesennuma where they need it, I realized I was sort of a victim of that. I was so focused on seeing one part of a country, when there’s so many other parts to see. I realized through the people I met on the TOMODACHI program that it’s important to… anytime I heard of someone who wanted to come to Japan, I wouldn’t tell them things that everybody knew. I would tell them about the fish industry in Kesennuma, or how people have been recovering after the 3.11 earthquake, and things like that.”
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