ARI Family Blog

Otim ’23 was just six years old when war tore his family apart. Growing up in Gulu, northern Uganda amidst the peak of Joseph Kony’s insurgency, he witnessed the ferocity of the Lord’s Resistance Army. His father, who moved from China to Uganda under a construction work contract, returned to China when the insurgents began targeting the Chinese in the area. He left Otim’s mother, who was just 17 years old, to raise Otim and his younger brother alone.  Otim’s mother worked to support her two young boys by cooking … Read more

2026.8.13.

What are low cost but effective ways to raise livestock? Why is livestock nutrition important? How do you select, clean, and store seeds for your farm? These questions and more were answered through theory and practice by our guest, Shaun Snoxell from ECHO Asia Impact Center. Participants especially enjoyed learning about practical feeds and ways to calculate nutrition. In addition, they could make fermented banana stem feed with local resources and are now looking forward to using it. We are grateful for ECHO Asia’s continued partnership with us as we … Read more

During September, we are highlighting the global impact of ARI training through the work of our graduates.This week, we share an activity report on Mimi, a 2017 graduate from the Philippines, written by Steven Cutting of the ARI Graduate Outreach. 【The Richness of this Community】Mimi: I have been serving this community for seven years, but for my own people, I have done nothing.Job: If you want to do something for your community, go to ARI first, and then go to them.Mimi: But I am afraid. I’m afraid to travel abroad.Job: … Read more

2026.9.4.

In September, we will be highlighting the global impact of ARI’s training through the work of our graduates! For our first story, we introduce Jonah, who is promoting environmental education through educational programmes in Namibia, southwestern Africa, where climate change poses a significant challenge. [Achieving 100% Recycling Through ARI Learnings] Our organization, the Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust (NaDEET), aims to inspire people to understand and actively contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each year, we host more than 800 participants through our five-day residential environmental … Read more

One month has passed since the launch of our crowdfunding campaign. Thanks to your warm support, we have successfully achieved our goal of raising 2.2 million yen for the Western Japan Study Tour expenses. We extend our deepest gratitude to all of you. While we introduced the destinations for the study tour last month, in September, we would like to share the activities of ARI graduates. The true impact of our training programs—including the Western Japan Study Tour that you are supporting—is demonstrated in the dedicated work our graduates carry … Read more

2026.8.1.-9.30.

On August 22, we hosted ARI Friends Day thanks to the generous support of many people. We are deeply grateful to all the visitors who joined us despite rain starting and stopping throughout the day. A new initiative this time was the sale of handmade food and products created by our participants. Highlights included West African-style peanut soup and fufu, donuts, ice cream, cookies branded under “5 Bread and 2 Fish” (https://ari.ac.jp/en/a-time-to-heal-summer-2026-pts-cookies/), organic fertilizer, and a knitting workshop using recycled waste plastic. Many of these items were created as individual … Read more

We held our midterm presentations. The theme was “What is your biggest learning so far?” As usual, the use of computers is prohibited during presentations at ARI. Participants used the back of used calendar, drawing pictures and writing explanations; one participant even drew a picture of a goat and wore it around her neck. We’ve already reached the midpoint of our training at ARI. The topics which they chose ranged widely—from agricultural techniques and what they’d learned in class to insights gained from daily life, the philosophy they’d learned holistically, … Read more