Fundraising to Invite Youth Trainees to Japan

The Japanese government has eased its boarders from March 1 for the entry of foreigners, including the incoming 30 trainees of OISCA. With an aim to empower the youths to maximize their contributions to development, we have been annually inviting youths from all over the world to train in our centers in Japan since 1967. Unfortunately, it was stopped for two years due to COVID-19.

In the middle of pandemic, our training center staff have struggled maintaining our facilities, particularly the agricultural fields. Crucial to our training program, we have to constantly cultivate the land, otherwise shrubs will grow and will no longer be possible to grow rice and other crops. As a result, the land will no longer serve its main purpose. To prevent this problem, we sought the help of our members and volunteers to maintain our rice fields, orchard, and vegetable farms.

Compared to the lively atmosphere of the training center in pre-corona years, our centers for the past two years were lacking of life due to the absence of trainees. In spite of this, we drew strength from our motivated staff who decided to stay despite the situation. But with the borders opening, we are looking forward to welcoming trainees from Bangladesh, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, and Uzbekistan.

For them to experience one of the Japanese` omotenashi, we hope that the trainees will arrive timely for the cherry blossoms. They are scheduled to undergo 3 months of intensive Japanese language to enable them to communicate with the Japanese locals, particularly when they visit local farms, and to understand the Japanese culture.