With The World conducts overseas training programs in the Philippines where students learn about the SDGs through all five senses. From July 22nd to 27th, students from Saitama Prefectural Wako International High School participated in the program in the Philippines. This article reports on the students' learning experiences there.

Learning through knowledge and experience, from culture to SDGs

In the Philippines, with the cooperation of the NGO LOOB, we learned about social issues and themes in Iloilo City in English. Then, we went to fieldwork locations related to the themes we learned about during the training and interacted with local people.

During this training program, we also had the opportunity to interact with "waste pickers"—people who make a living by collecting garbage at sanitation plants—and conduct direct interviews with them. The students prepared to ask questions in English about their work, family, and daily lives, and each group asked their questions.

From the West Pickers:

"For the sake of future generations, I want the sanitation plants to disappear. Even if it means losing my job, the happiness of future generations is more important."

"My current income is nowhere near enough to support my children."

"What I learned through this job is that 'life is unfair.'"

We were able to hear some very valuable stories, among other things.

On the final day of the training program, students participated in an "SDGs Ideathon" where they developed and presented initiatives to address local social issues based on what they had learned. The presentations showcased each student's unique ideas, such as a recycling workshop focusing on the Filipino culture of using small bags (sachet culture), and a litter cleanup campaign. Working in collaboration with local university students, the presentations effectively reflected local needs, resulting in truly excellent results.

reference:https://loobinc.com/

Interacting with many people leads to "growth."

In this training program, local university students became members of each group and always acted together. At first, there seemed to be a lot of uncertainty and nervousness among them, but as the training progressed, they were able to deepen their interactions while actively enjoying themselves both during the training and at the fieldwork sites. Furthermore, as they deepened their friendships, they were seen to share their own thoughts and cultural backgrounds, respect the way others communicated, and flexibly adjust their own interactions.

Conclusion

To the students who actively engaged with the local people and helped each other, making this a wonderful training experience, and to the teachers, staff, and parents who provided tremendous cooperation in making this program possible, thank you very much.