I Lesatele
The year 2022 marks 50 years of JICA (Japan International Cooperation AGENCY) volunteer work in Samoa.
JICA made its first presence in Samoa when a civil engineer volunteer arrived in December 1972 assigned to the Ministry of Public Works.
This was the beginning of the Samoans and volunteers from Japan working side by side, exchanging and learning from each other.
The significant contribution of the first volunteer in the construction of a power station led to requests from the government of Samoa for more JICA volunteers.
JICA in its infant years worked mainly in the infrastructure and agriculture sectors but throughout the years the program expanded to include education, industry, health, environment, sports and others.
So far a total of 676 Japanese have served as volunteers in Samoa and contributed immensely to the socio-economic development of Samoa.
Last week on Friday their work was acknowledged by the Resident Representative of JICA Mr Akihiko Hoshino.
“ Their activities have been well accepted in Samoa and contributed to today’s development of Samoa with mutual trusts and bonds.
“This is the fruit of their hard work having the same viewpoint as the local people in the field,” Hoshino remarked.
“When they go back to Japan, their valuable experiences in Samoa are given back to society.
“Looking back over these 50 years, I reaffirm the importance of working together; learning together and practising together, and I hope to devote myself to the future development of Samoa.”
Hoshino is confident the JICA volunteer program will continue to grow better and make Samoa, Japan, and the world better.
“We will make every effort to make Samoa, Japan, and the world better through JICA volunteer program. I’m confident that we will be able to keep thinking and working together with the people of Samoa for future challenges and generations to come.”
JICA volunteer program has been praised by the recipient organisations in Samoa for its significant contributions through their volunteers which raised the standard and quality of their work and well-being significantly.
The Fiamalamalama School is one example which has almost 10 years of continual partnership with the JICA volunteer program.
Ms. Sharon Suhren the principal of Fiamalamalama School expressed her gratitude in a booklet to mark the 50th Anniversary of JICA volunteers in Samoa. Part of it read:
“We have been blessed and enriched by the knowledge and skills that the volunteers impart to us. We are a Disability School and we rely on the knowledge and the skills of those from overseas to widen our knowledge and experiences especially in the field of disability. We learned a lot from Megumi who shared her skills and knowledge on Occupational Therapist she played a part in the design of our new building that was also funded by Japan under grassroots program. We also were enriched and blessed by Mitchi who had a wealth of knowledge on disability and she was so generous in her sharing and building connections with other JICA volunteers who can help us. Like computer technicians who can repair our computers and introducing Japanese culture into the school through food and music. We are really appreciative of all we have been blessed with because of the JICA volunteer program.”
The Samoan government has also acknowledged the work of the volunteers has done in Samoa.
Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa in a message on the 50th Anniversary of the volunteer programme stated :
“Prior to the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic, you would find them in classrooms, sports gymnasiums, recycling plants, health facilities, assisting with research and industry development, government ministries and even in outlying rural communities far from urban Apia and even further from the bustle of metropolis Japanese cities.
“This is the backdrop to the diverse panorama of experience that the Japanese volunteers have forged in Samoa.
“There is much to celebrate in terms of achievement by the JOVC program and we commend the JICA Samoa Office for effectively coordinating the program in collaborating with local partner agencies.”