Henri and Justus held a seminar with students of Africa Seminar, Ikubunkan Global High School.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the students of Africa Seminar, Ikubunkan Global High visit African country every year. They have visited Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (PIASS) a few years ago for the first time and met Rodrigue, one of our first exchange students from PIASS. Since then, our exchange students from PIASS hold seminars with students of Ikubunkan Global High every year.

After they waited for a chance under COVID-19 restrictions for a long time, Henri and Justus could finally meet the students on June 9. The student had asked Henri and Justus what they want to learn about Japan in advance, and they prepared so hard, such as researching about the topic, making presentation file, and practicing the presentation. In return, Henri and Justus gave small lectures about their countries.

Henri seems to be impressed because Ikubunkan's presentations were much beyond his expectation.

The following is his essay.

I met Ikubunkan Global High School students. It was a nice reunion for those who had been in Rwanda and in person and first sight for those who had not been to Rwanda. I am amazed by their organization and commitment towards Africa. It is enthusiastic for high school students in their teenages to have such commitment, knowledge and interest of African continent which is very far from their home country, Japan. What is amazing is that they have different interests which make their group heterogeneous in knowledge.

We had a pre-meeting on Zoom. They expressed the need to know about Burundi in particular about culture, economy and education. In exchange, they want to give a presentation about Japan. I was curious to know about the term "half" of mixed child in Japan. Before coming to Japan and during my first days in Japan, I thought Japan was totally homogeneous. However, I started to meet mixed children mainly in Tokyo. I was interested in how "half people" are integrated in Japanese society, which is sometimes referred to as homogenous society. Thembo also proposed to them to prepare an interesting topic, "Who is (considered) as a Japanese".

During the meeting then, we were learning from each other. Their interest is broader, and during my presentation, they asked many critical questions about Burundi and my experiences as a refugee. I loved it very much. I loved their presentation as well. I could not imagine the presentation was made by high school students. I felt happy about that and now I can't wait to meet them at their school in person before I go back to Rwanda. For Japanese parents who dream of their children getting into international studies earlier, I recommend Ikubunkan Global High school. I requested them to tell me more about their school's agenda towards internationalization and globalization the next time I meet them.