What kind of image do you have of an international volunteer? Do you think that you have to go to a developing country and work on the ground with local people? That’s one of the ways to help. But you can volunteer anywhere and anytime, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, donating old textbooks can help. These textbooks are later sold and the proceeds are donated to charity. A donation is a very simple act, but that’s all that is needed support children’s education in developing countries. The student organization STUDY FOR TWO (SFT) does such volunteer work and has two branches at Nagasaki University. We feature the main Nagasaki University SFT branch in this issue.
☆☆☆
STUDY FOR TWO (SFT) is a student volunteer organization that was founded in 2010. The organization sells textbooks that members collect from students at half price to other students and donates the proceeds to schools in Bangladesh and Laos. The organization was founded by Mr. Kotaro Ishibashi, who realized that many children could not go to school when he visited Laos. He was aware that university students want to volunteer because it will help them in their job search. If this in turn helps to other countries’ students, it would be a win-win situation for both sides. The organization’s name, STUDY FOR TWO, takes its name from this win-win situation because students in Japan and students in developing countries benefit.
SFT has many university branches in Japan, including two at Nagasaki University: the NU Branch and NU Katafuchi* Branch. We interviewed three members of NU Branch: Ms. Kai and Mr. Sakurai are both branch leaders, and Ms. Yuasa is in charge of public affairs. Ms. Kai, who is also the representative of Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu region, began volunteering for SFT as soon as she entered Nagasaki University because an upperclass student from high school encouraged her to join. Mr. Sakurai also began volunteering during his freshman year because of an upperclass person’s invitation. He was also interested in the study tour (mentioned below), but he could not join due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Yuasa watched a documentary of children who could not go to school and joined the group because she wanted help these children.
* Katafuchi is an area where the Faculty of Economics is located on a separate campus.
Ms. Kai: I really enjoy the activities because I can make a lot of friends all over Japan. We set a mutual goal, for example, to sell enough textbooks to earn “more than two million JPY total this year.” I like that feeling of unity in working towards the goal.
The NU Branch was started by the current fourth year students when they were freshman. They are now busy with their job hunt. The core members of the group include about 24 students including Ms. Kai, Mr. Sakurai, and Ms. Yuasa. We asked them if there are any problems during the restrictions on face-to-face activities on campus.
Mr. Sakurai: Before the pandemic, we gathered the textbooks near the cafeteria with a signboard (see the picture below). But now we cannot have such face-to-face activities, so we have to ask our seniors and friends individually for their support. During the first and second year we did not have enough textbooks to sell so we only raised about 10,000 yen per year. Now that we have more stock in our fourth year, we already have about 20,000 yen, which is the largest amount our organization has raised. Because the COVID-19 positive cases are lower in Nagasaki at this point, we are allowed to distribute brochures on campus now and hoping that we can sell the textbooks physically soon again.
The SFT’s biggest event is the study tour. According to Mr. Sakurai, the study tour is attractive because the members themselves can see how the money they collect and donate is actually used on the ground. Among three interviewees, only Ms. Kai could participate in the tour (she paid for the study tour herself).
Ms. Kai: I went to Bangladesh in the summer of 2019 and joined a school visit program for about three days. SFT supports the school through Room to Read, a non-profit organization. The organization showed us the building that our contributions supported. It was impressive to see that the name of SFT engraved on a monument near the building (see the photo below).
Although the study tours are suspended due to the pandemic, SFT organizes online events to learn about Laos and Bangladesh. For instance, at the event “Laos at home,” a Japanese volunteer who is living in Laos introduced a local market near where she or he lives.
We asked about their future goals.
Ms. Kai: I am a student in the Faculty of Education now, but I am not going to be a teacher. Rather, I would like to keep working to support developing countries. I want to develop teaching materials, but not in the traditional format, so that I can create more educational opportunities for kids.
Mr. Sakurai: I am also a student in the Faculty of Education and I want to be a teacher in Nagasaki Prefecture. I will not be able to keep volunteering because teaching is very busy, but I want to support students who want to volunteer.
Ms. Yuasa: I am going to graduate from the School of Medicine and become a nurse. I would like to help people who are suffering in Japan first, and in the future, I wish to be involved with international volunteer work again.
There are many people who want to do something but do not know what to do. Only a few can find something they can do and have enough courage to follow through. In that sense, SFT will provide an easy way for students to contribute, starting with just donations of textbooks no longer in use. If you want to do more, you can collect textbooks and sell them, and participate in the study tour. Moreover, these experiences will help them to take bigger steps in the future after graduation.
Twitter：https://twitter.com/STUDYFORTWO5