Seibo shared about Malawi and the school lunch support system through coffee as part of an international support program at the Saitama Sakae High School’s Learning by Exploring club. I met everyone through a volunteer award and heard presentations on “student-led town development” among other themes. Inspired by activities like local community events organized with local businesses’ support, disaster prevention education using community exchanges, and children’s cafeterias, I visited the school and started these activities.

During this time, we also focused on international support, connecting students’ attention to local children and community support. This initiative extended our focus to the community of Malawi, a small country in Africa. I hope this project can lead to applying our exploratory efforts in Japan to international support as well.

In the first lesson, we introduced Malawi together with Lenne, an intern from the Netherlands, mixing in English. We also touched on the cultural differences between Japan, the Netherlands, and Malawi. It was a great class, deepening the content as part of an international exchange lesson.

Additionally, it provided an opportunity to reflect on Japan’s unique culture and challenges from a relative perspective. We introduced the history of Japan being supported by a culture of charity, such as school lunch aid after the war, and the support Japan received from Malawi during the Great East Japan Earthquake.

I hope we can continue to think together about the significance of providing support from Japan to other countries in this way. I look forward to working together on future activities!