Realizing his dream of building a school in Zambia, where he studied abroad. One life goal achieved, moving on to his next dream.

Ishikawa studied abroad in the Republic of Zambia in Africa for about 10 months from February of his fourth year of university to mid-December of the following year. In addition to his university studies, he also worked hard to build a school in a rural area more than three hours away by car from the city center. We spoke to Ishikawa, who is both a current university student and an international student, about why he decided to build a school and what path he plans to take in the future after this experience.

 

Why did you decide to study abroad in Zambia?

When I was in junior high school, I was shocked by a video I saw about poverty in developing countries, and I had a vague desire to do something for those who were suffering. When I entered university, I decided to deepen my studies with two themes that I could empathize with: "education" and "poverty." This gave me more opportunities to look at Africa, and in my third year, I participated as a student representative in a pre-event called "Thinking about the Future of the Earth with Ambassadors from Each Country," which was held as part of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8).

Zambia has not experienced any ethnic conflict since independence and is famous as a peaceful country in Africa. It is said that the reason behind this is the idea and education of "One Zambia One Nation". Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my planned exchange program with the University of the Philippines was canceled, and while thinking about where to study abroad instead, I decided to take on the challenge of studying abroad in Zambia, as it was in line with my theme and the words of the university's founder, "The 21st century is the century of Africa," were in mind.

Please tell us how you ended up starting a school in Zambia while studying abroad.

It is very important for children to have a place to receive education and a place to belong. This is not only important in Africa, but also in Japan. There are often cases where children are unable to find their place in the world due to their family environment or economic reasons, and end up getting involved in crime. That is why I made it one of my life's goals to build a school in a place where education is not widespread.

But how can we build schools in areas where the educational environment is not well developed? In Japan, I couldn't find anyone who knew how to do it, and when I talked to people, they would often reject my idea, so it gradually became difficult for me to speak about my dream of "building a school." However, when I took the plunge and spoke about my desire in Zambia, I heard that there was a Japanese person who was actually working on a school construction project in a rural area. This person was a JICA employee, and he was working hard to build schools not as a job but as a personal project, and he already had a track record in Ghana. He introduced me to him, and we started working together to build a school.

What specific steps did you take to build the school?

There are two types of primary education facilities in Zambia: public schools and community schools built by local volunteers. Only about 10-20% of children can attend public schools, so community schools are built by local people to somehow fill that gap.

It is not the case that a school can be built anywhere. If the adults in the area do not understand the importance of education, the building alone will quickly fall into disuse. We began by conducting a survey of local awareness of education, and then investigated whether building a school would have a negative impact on the villagers and whether there was a long-term demand for it. Once the location was decided, we negotiated with the villagers and began procuring funds and materials to build the school. In addition, because the quality of education depends on the motivation of the teachers, we also had the opportunity to talk with the teachers about the importance of education.

The school opened shortly after I returned to Japan. I was really moved when I saw a video sent to me by a friend of the villagers dancing at the opening celebration. I also heard that the original plan was to set up a community school, but the local people negotiated with the local Ministry of Education and changed it to a public school as soon as it opened. I was also very happy that our enthusiasm had reached the local people.

During your study abroad, you also donated soap and held hand-washing classes at a local community school.

When I was in the third grade, I met a person at a pre-event for TICAD8, where I participated. The person was the owner of a company that made soap with medals inside, to encourage children to wash their hands. When I told him that I was thinking of taking some soap to Africa, he sent some to his house and asked me to distribute them in Africa. I packed the soap in a carry bag and took it to Zambia.

In an environment where people are struggling to survive day to day and suffering from poverty, hygiene tends to be a low priority. However, in order to reduce the number of children who lose their lives to infectious diseases due to poor sanitation, it is necessary to take a long-term perspective rather than just focusing on immediate issues. We hope that the schools that we deliver soap to will not just hand out soap to the children, but also make hand-washing a habit. With this in mind, we visited various schools, selected schools where teachers would manage the soap and encourage continued hand-washing, and held a training session.

In the workshop, we taught the local children how to wash their hands through songs, which they loved, and they all laughed and sang along while washing their hands. It was the first time for many of the children to use soap, and they were confused at first, but when I told them, "You're a hand-washing master!", they happily showed me how to wash their hands over and over again, which made a lasting impression on me. After returning home, I received a message from a local person saying, "I still wash my hands while singing the song," so I felt glad that I had implemented this program.

This was your first time traveling abroad. What was your impression of Africa?

Zambia has a rainy season and a dry season, but power outages and water outages are particularly common during the rainy season, and there were days when electricity was unavailable all day. Because of the continuous water outages, I would sometimes wake up in the morning and start my day by carrying 40kg of water in both hands, repeatedly. I heard that the university where I was studying abroad was the best in Zambia, but the building was dilapidated, only about half the chairs were usable, and cows roamed the campus. There were many cancellations, and there were days when I went to university and just saw the cows and went home, but even in such an environment, the students were highly conscious, and even in rooms with no electricity, they would open their books and study.

I felt the national character when I went on a four-day, three-night trip with local people. When the bus broke down and we were stranded, someone started singing, and others were drawn in, singing, dancing, and cheering. The atmosphere was transformed into a cheerful one, and everyone there was smiling. I vividly remember feeling tears welling up as I sensed their power to create fun from nothing even in difficult situations, their power to break down walls and draw others in, and their power to make every moment of life shine.

From the perspective of developed countries, developing countries may be seen as places that need help. However, I felt that there is an endless amount to learn from Africa's brightness, ideas, and African mindset. In order to show this to the world, I felt a strong desire to be involved in producing human resources through education.

How do you envision your future?

After graduation, I plan to work as a development consultant promoting infrastructure development in developing countries. By studying abroad in Zambia, I was able to experience Africa firsthand and learn a lot. I would like to continue to gain more experience and do my best to help people who have difficulty even achieving basic living standards.

Also, like the JICA person I met in Zambia, I would like to personally work on building schools. I am also considering becoming a UN employee in the future by improving my own capabilities, or developing a welfare business for single-parent families or an arts and sports revival project.

Please give a message to students who are interested in attending Soka University.

By attending Soka University, I learned the importance of working hard towards your dreams and that hard work opens up a bright future.
Actually, I was crazy about soccer from the third grade of elementary school to high school, and I always avoided studying. I wanted to achieve something at university for my parents who allowed me to go to college even though we weren't very well off financially, but I didn't know how to face university life that started during the COVID-19 pandemic, so at first I spent my days aimlessly with a cynical attitude.

However, there was a classmate in the dorm who was the complete opposite of me, striving straight for his dreams, and would talk to me whenever he had the chance. I didn't think I could get along with him, but as we talked I began to think his earnestness was cool. Inspired by him, I also started to set goals and work hard at my studies and other things, and I was able to improve my TOEIC score, which had only been around 300, to the point where I could study abroad.

I can assure you that there is someone on your side at Soka University. I was able to find my dreams, passion, and lifelong friends at this university. That's why I can proudly say, "Come to Soka University." At Soka University, face yourself, believe in yourself, and challenge your dreams.