The Last Week

The last couple of days have been amazing in Tokyo... beyond just going out, I've gotten to talk to so many people (both interns and students) even more, making me realize how much I will miss Ashinaga when I leave to go to China and back to America. I remember my biggest regret when I was studying abroad in Beijing was worrying too much, working too hard, and not enjoying every single moment. Instead of anticipating what to do next, I have recently been letting life in Tokyo and in the Kokorujuku just sink in... and it's been great. So note to self: Always YOLO! ;) I am learning so much from talking to the students and the interns (which warrants another post (probably will get emotional) later on).

Today, we had a conference regarding Ashinaga's 100 year education vision and the mission to end poverty. We separated into groups with Tokyo University students and made recommendations for Ashinaga's mission plan. The president judged our responses... and we got 2nd place!

The conference was really good and made me think a lot about my desire to help impoverished societies through education. But at the same time, I became a little bit concerned with Ashinaga's ambition and lack of focus... I felt like by focusing on orphans in Uganda, the original focus of taking care of the orphans in Japan became less of a focal point. I fully support Ashinaga's desire to expand internationally, but I really think that the goals need to be localized first before they become globalized... we'll see what'll happen. I'll try to keep that in mind... to have a "minimum viable product" :].

Again, I'm truly grateful I decided to spend another summer doing something related to education and service. Trust me, it gets really hard to pursue that when you're surrounded by people who work at banks, consulting firms, tech places, etc. But I'm learning more and more about managing non-profits and social entrepreneur and can't wait to start my own project.

Brief recaps:
Thursday - went to a wonderful nomihoudai (all you can drink) in Shinjuku with Ryan (high school friend). IT WAS A FUN ALL NIGHTER. We went to Shibuya afterwards.

Friday - International potluck. Made a lot of awesome desserts!!!

Saturday - We all went out to watch fireworks but the weather was so bad that it was raining like CRAZY. It was still fun.... though. We also spent the whole night at different clubs.

Sunday - Conference and skipped out on all you can drink!

The Visionary

I guess the reason I'm writing these blog posts is to record my thoughts and to practice my writing... so bear with me. I will try to make them as insightful and interesting as possible. Until I get better at writing and formulating my thoughts, however, I guess this is mostly for myself. Hopefully, in the future, I'll be able to give more valuable input to blog followers :]

So I guess I have one month to catch up, which I'll gradually try to do with these blog posts.

Today, we listened to the president of Ashinaga give a speech regarding the 100-year plan in Africa as well as his general vision for Ashinaga. To summarize, the main goal of this organization is to end poverty. For the whole world. Yes, it's a broad goal (and quite ambitious), but they're currently focusing via improving education for the most underprivileged group of students. The 100-year plan basically means that they'll take the "brightest" students from all over Africa, bring them to the top university, and then, these students will bring back what they learned in these universities to their country. 100 years of this, then poverty is gone.... according to them.

It's quite interesting to have such a vision. When somebody asked Tamai how he dealt with criticism, he simply responded that nobody has ever criticized him. It makes me wonder if a leader of an organization (the visionary) is always so separated from the logistical aspects of an organization... and kind of floating on the cloud of his vision. They say you need a vision when you start an organization, but being too much a visionary may blind yourself from criticizing yourself and thinking about the basis of your organization. I'm more a technical person, so when I hear "100 year plan" or "ending poverty" I want to know what will happen in the next months, next year, the five year plan, etc. I want to know what they mean by "expanding internationally" and "spreading the Ashinaga vision." Does that simply mean letting everybody know about the organization or building more rainbow houses across the world? Five years from now, for example, if they want to expand in the US, does that mean they want a headquarter in the US? For what purpose? For another avenue to raise awareness and fundraise internationally? If so, how?

As much as I applaud him for being so dedicated to this vision and raising $1 billion dollars to give financial support to orphans all over the world (and the opportunity to go to college), I've always been prone to ask: what could I have done better. When I think $1 billion, I don't just applaud the amount of money Ashinaga has raised. I think: how could this organization used the $1 billion more effectively? How can Ashinaga send 100,000 orphans to college rather than 90,000? ... and to even micromanage a bit more, how can Ashinaga set the basis for a successful English Summer Program for next year?

All these technical things, Tamai has no responsibility for. He is the visionary. Hopefully on Sunday we can talk to the new supervisor for the English program to propose a new basis for the English program and potentially an international tsudoi in America. I would also love to hear how they want to expand to the US and what we, as interns, and soon to be "Ashinaga alumni" can do to help.

Welcome Back!

Didn't think I needed to blog if I didn't have anything to say. I didn't wanted to bore readers with just daily accounts of what I did, but I realized that there has been such an experience. There's definitely so much to talk about. I promise after the meeting with Tamai and Okazaki, I'll brief up my experience in Ashinaga... in good ol' Hino City in Tokyo!