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Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders Vol. 5

Do you know how ARI participants make it all the way to Japan?
ARI has been running a four-part series following new participants’ journey to ARI as part of a campaign.
As an extra feature in this series, we bring you the stories of graduates from Myanmar, where an earthquake struck at the end of March. We hope you will learn about the multiple hardships faced by the people of Myanmar, which are not easily conveyed in the news, and about our graduates who are working hard to live alongside their people in the midst of such tough situations.

【Graduates from Myanmar】
On March 28, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Myanmar. Its epicenter was near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city and the quake killed 4,410 people and injured more than 11,366 (as of April 16, according to Democratic Voice of Burma). The media showed us tragic images of collapsed skyscrapers, temples, and homes and these are still fresh in our memories. 
But I wonder how much you are aware of the tragic situation that has been unfolding in Myanmar for more than two generations, which so rarely makes its way to a newspaper or TV broadcast beyond its borders. 

The History of Myanmar, a Multi-Ethnic Country
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is located in the western part of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. Since its founding, Myanmar has been the scene of long-running conflicts between its ethnic minorities and the Myanmar military, stemming from the desire of the ethnic peoples in present day Myanmar to return to the autonomy they had before the colonial period.

Myanmar has lived under a military dictatorship since the first military coup in 1962, but in 2015, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won the election and Aung San Suu Kyi became the leader, bringing Myanmar to democracy.
Unfortunately, the political situation changed drastically when the military staged a coup d’état in February 2021, and the country fell under military rule once again.  To this day an endless civil war continues between the Myanmar military and the Peoples Defense Forces composed of ethnic minorities.

Immediately after the coup in 2021, Myanmar troops fired indiscriminately on demonstrators in Yangon and other large cities. This was followed by military operations mainly in the mountainous areas where ethnic minorities hold power, such as the Sagaing Region, Magway Region, and Chin State.  Air strikes, burning of entire villages, the use of civilians as “human shields,” looting, rape, landmines, chemical weapons, and cluster bombs (which are internationally banned) are all part of the military’s tactics. Additionally, there are unjust arrests and detentions, torture, killings, and forced military service. Speech is strictly controlled. 

Myanmar, a Country with Many ARI Graduates
Myanmar is a country with a high population of ARI graduates – 97 and counting.
Myanmar participants tend to be friendly and good at singing and playing the guitar.  Even though some of them struggle with speaking English, they often play a lubricating role in the ARI community, with its great diversity of countries, cultures, and characters.

I had two friends from Myanmar in my class, both of whom were proud ethnic minorities from mountainous areas. Just before the end of the training program, I asked one of them how long it would take to get from the airport back to his hometown. The answer was “two days.”
I was absolutely shocked and thought I would never see him again in my lifetime.
Later I learned that it is not unusual for Myanmar participants to take some days to get home.

A Rare Fate
Surprisingly, I had a chance to meet this participant quite soon. In January of 2020,
I joined the activities of a Korean couple in medical service, introduced to me by a member of my church.

After a few days of those activities in Yangon, I boarded a domestic flight for the western mountainous region. At the airport, I was met by a graduate from the previous year, a fellow countryman of my classmate. Since I went by plane, the journey did not take two days, but it still took a full day to get from this small airport to the town of these two graduates.

Their hometown was a beautiful and quiet place, cooler than Yangon and home to a national park with the third highest mountain in the country. My classmate had been working in a remote location and was scheduled to return home during my stay, but he informed me that foreign supporters of his organization had just arrived and needed to be guided, so unfortunately it would be difficult to meet me. With only one day left, I made up my mind and told the graduate who was hosting me that I really wanted to see my classmate. He thought for a minute and accepted my request.

The next morning at 6:00 AM I was on the back of his motorbike zooming into the countryside to see my ARI friend. It was a 10-hour round trip, so we just kept going and going, refueling a few times along the way. When we finally stopped at a town for breakfast, my legs were numb from the cold and the vibration of the bike. Both of us sat silently sipping the hot water that had been served to us. After that, whenever I saw a store selling warm clothes, I thought many times about stopping and buying them, but gradually, as the sun got higher, it got warmer.

By the time we arrived, it was already noon. My classmate introduced me to his colleagues, and then suggested that three of us go to a restaurant for lunch, explaining, “It’s a little far, about 10 minutes away.” My intrepid motorcycle driver replied, “What are you talking about to people who drove 5 hours to get here?” and we laughed a lot. Seeing my classmate, my friend from Myanmar, slowly leading us on his motorbike, helmet in hand, I was warmed by the fact that he had not changed since our time at ARI.

Perhaps I was overworked by this bullet trip, because I suffered from a stomachache and diarrhea the next day, but nothing could replace the joy of meeting a classmate I thought I would never see again.
Looking back, I can only call it a miracle, as it was just a month before the pandemic of COVID-19 closed all the borders.

A Sudden Coup
In February of 2021, a coup d’etat by the Myanmar Military changed the lives of the people of Myanmar.
My friends’ social networking sites immediately filled with photos of them protesting the military with three-finger salutes and videos of demonstrations, but due to intensifying repression the network was shutdown. After that, I was unable to contact them for a period of time, and I worried daily about their safety. When I could finally reach them again, they sent me many photos and articles. I was shocked to see how the towns I had visited had been destroyed – burned trees in national parks, innocent civilians killed in their homes, terrified children, churches razed to the ground.
Most people fled the town, which had become a war zone with regular clashes between the Myanmar military and self-defense forces. They ran away to live as refugees in tents at a monastery on the state border or in places in the jungle. Local volunteers, like my classmate carried food and other supplies on their own backs and delivered them to those in need, to places that even UN officials could not go. The Myanmar Military did not take kindly to such activities, and if found, they risked arrest, so providing humanitarian assistance was a life-threatening situation.

ARI also received donations from supporters who were concerned about Myanmar graduates.
The words spoken by Steven Cutting, a staff member of ARI’s Graduate Outreach section, left a deep impression on me.
“The graduates are leaders in their communities. When their people suffer, they also suffer. When their people run, they also run. But they are still leaders and act as leaders. They still care for people as much as they can.”
Never have I felt more than at this moment the meaning of ARI training to nurture those born and raised in rural areas and encourage them to work in their homelands.

Myanmar has been fading from people’s memories due to many other wars that have broken out around the world, and international aid groups are gradually withdrawing from the country because of the military’s attitude of suppressing humanitarian assistance. However, my classmate, in cooperation with several local volunteers, has continued to support internally displaced people from his hometown until today.

After the Earthquake
When I heard that a big earthquake had struck Myanmar, my first thought was the impact on the civil war. I wondered if this was an opportunity for a ceasefire and for the international community to take another look at the situation to see if it could be brought under control.

However, on April 1, General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar military, declared that they would continue to fight resistance forces throughout the country despite the devastation caused by the earthquake. He sees this as an opportunity to retake territory and continues the bombings.
According to my classmate, they do not care about the victims at all.

A Life to Love What I do, Rather than to do What I Love
Even under these circumstances, my classmate still never gives up helping others. This is largely due to the environment in which he was raised and the social perceptions that have been cultivated in that environment.

He strongly believes that helping others is helping oneself. Culturally, helping others is perceived as “storing blessings for one’s kids.” Meaning that if one is helpful to others, others will be helpful to him/her or his/her children in the future (even if s/he has passed away).
His great grandfather used to tell him, “Never fail to help people in need even if s/he be your enemy. Love shall prevail in the end.”

In the Gospel of Mark chapter 10, there is a scene in the Bible in which the disciples are arguing over who will sit at the right hand of Jesus when He is lifted up to heaven.
To these disciples, Jesus said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
As a Christian and follower of Jesus Christ, this bible passage always reminds him of “how greatness should be made.” It is all about sacrifice based on love, care, and compassion.

What he really likes about ARI is “putting actions into words,” meaning “action first” and that action is put into words. For example, people “first farm in a sustainable way” and then “talk about sustainable agriculture,” and ARI “first produces commodities on its own land” and then “talks about food self-sufficiency.” All words are coming after actions!!
Leading a rural community where “people believe more on action than words,” servant leadership is an effective tool that breaks the boundaries of hatred and enmity.

He has not given up his dream of building a sustainable and self-sufficient community, a model for sustainable community building, in his community when things are back to a new normal.
His belief that people can still help others despite their own difficulties continues to inspire us a lot.



Written by Makiko Abe (Fundraising ＆ Domestic Programs Assistant / Community Nurse)
English editing by Steven Cutting (Graduate Outreach)

Click here to read the series of articles

Vol. 1【Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders】

Vol. 2【Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders】

Vol. 3【Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders】

Vol. 4【Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders】

Vol. 5【Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders】← Now, you’re here.

Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders Vol. 4

Do you know how ARI participants go through the process of coming to Japan?

ARI is currently running a four-part series following the participants’ journey to ARI as part of a Campaign.
The last in this series is Kai Shinoda, a staff member in charge of recruitment at ARI.
The participants’ journey to ARI was a great adventure, but the process on the ARI side, from selection to airline ticket arrangements, was also full of sweat and tears.

 [Kai, ARI Admissions Staff]
Kai Shinoda took a year off from university in 2020 to volunteer at ARI.  Little did he know at that in 2022 he would take up a fulltime position here as the admissions officer. 

ARI’s application process is intensive. We are looking for very special people who seek the opportunity to train at ARI, not for their personal benefit, but for the sake of their people. During screening, Kai conducts online interviews with every applicant that has a Wi-Fi connection, which is almost all of them!  It is not unusual for his schedule to include talking to a Mayan in the morning, a Maasai after lunch, and a Naga just before supper. This is one of the fun parts of his job, full of rich learning about the issues in these people’s countries and how they plan to tackle them. 

Once the screening is finished, it is time to get those selected from their home villages all the way to Japan.  It is a process Kai has done four times, supporting them along their journey, and he already has a lot of memorable episodes – unbelievable stories! 

For example, last year a participant from Malawi arrived to ARI late because the government’s passport issuing system had been “cyber-hacked.” The opposition party was upset with the recent election results and threatened to erase important data and demanded money from the ruling party. Somehow the new government resolved the issue, but the date of birth on the passport that was finally issued was incorrect, which led to further delays.

Another example is getting to Japan from Guatemala, South America. The usual route is via the U.S., but just before the trip, the two young women coming from that country wanted to give up, because they heard I will take six months to process a transit visa and even that visa is difficult to get, due to the suspicion of the US that they might be trying to stay in the country illegally.  Kai was able to arrange a direct flight from Mexico, which was VERY convenient, but it got cancelled because it flew over Russian airspace, which was no longer possible due to the war with Ukraine.  In the end, their route took them Mexico to Eastern Europe to Asia – the longest way around the world!

One issue that plagued Kai this year was the visa application process for a participant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The DRC has been in a state of conflict for almost 30 years. A few months ago, one of the main rebel groups, M23, began an intense offensive and our participant said it was too dangerous to move around the country to apply for documents. Instead he had to cross the nearby border into Uganda, and fly from there to Ethiopia, and then back to the capital of his own country!  Thankfully, on March 27th, he finally arrived safely in Japan!

It is the job of the recruitment staff to take on these unimaginable difficulties one by one and find the best way forward. Nothing can replace the moment when they finally meet face to face at the airport in Japan!

In the end it is completely worth the time, effort, worry, and loss of sleep to bring these rural community leaders to ARI. According to Kai, “Some people may think it’s obvious and we don’t need to state it explicitly, but I think the most important step toward solving a social problem is to realize that it’s a problem in the first place. It is even more cautionary to note that when we spend our entire lives in a world full of problems, we are less likely to notice them.”
“We call our students, ‘participants,’ meaning those who teach each other, including staff and volunteers. At ARI, we, from similar circumstances and from completely different backgrounds, learn and teach each other, which makes us aware of problems once again. It is a place where we can then think together about our next move. I am always excited to see the changes that await these graduates at ARI before they return home.”

It is this positive attitude that gives Kai the power to tackle these tough tasks. That, and knowing there are still so many amazing rural leaders in the world that he has yet to meet.

Click here to read the series of articles

Vol. 1【Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders】

Vol. 2【Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders】

Vol. 3【Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders】

Vol. 4【Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders】← Now, you’re here.

Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders Vol. 3

ARI is currently running a four-part series following the participants’ journey to ARI as part of a Campaign.

The third in this series is Pierre from Haiti, and Ms. Tomoko Oka, General Manager of Pierre’s sending body, Haiti no Kai (The Association of Haiti). Focusing on agriculture and education, Haiti no Kai’s philosophy is to “live together” with the Haitian people.
All ARI participants are required to apply through their organization and will continue to work for the same organization after graduation. Therefore, not only the participants who actually come to Japan, but also the sending organization also sends out its staff after much effort and support.
We hope that you will learn about the thoughts and feelings of the people from the sending bodies who work with ARI participants, which you would not normally have the opportunity to know about.



 [Pierre, 2023 graduate from Republic of Haiti and Tomoko Oka (Haiti no Kai)]

How much do you know about Haiti?
Haiti is a republic in the Caribbean Sea, occupying the western part of the island of Hispaniola (the eastern side is the Dominican Republic).  When Columbus landed there, he praised for its beauty. Today, the beaches are as stunning as they ever were, and it is a popular stopover for cruise ships. However, according to Ms. Tomoko Oka, General Manager of the NGO, Haiti no Kai, the country has two faces.

Haiti’s turbulent history
The name “Haiti” means “Land of Mountains” in the native language of the island, but the indigenous people, numbering 500,000, perished at the hands of Spanish invaders, who brought disease and forced them to labor in silver mines. Later, black slaves were brought from Africa, and after a long period of toil and hardship, they won independence from France, defeating Napoleon’s army in 1804. This was the birth of the first black republic in world history. However, in exchange for independence, France demanded 150 million francs in reparations from Haiti, and Haiti went into financial ruin after a long period of debt repayment, which was paid off in 1922. Furthermore, even after independence, interference from powerful nations continued, and the lives of the Haitian people have been dragged down by U.S. occupation, coup d’états, and an ongoing struggle for power.

The once beautiful mountains were heavily deforested under Spanish and French colonial rule, to make way for coffee and sugarcane plantations, and by the 18th century the forest was reduced to about 1.5% of its original size. This has devastated the land, and the topsoil in the fields is washed away every time it rains, making it impossible to grow crops. In addition, the area is geographically in the path of hurricanes.

These factors have had a significant impact on the lives of the citizens. I was struck by the following story on the Haiti no Kai website, “…For example, on Sundays, we look around the house thinking, ‘Ok, let’s get something to eat,’ and we drink a cup of coffee, and that’s all we take in a day. And then we all have a conversation. ‘Oh, by the way, when was the last time we ate meat?’”

Protecting Life today through agriculture; Nurturing the Haiti of tomorrow through Education
Haiti no Kai was founded by Ms. Eiko Nakano in 1986 to provide literacy education and lifestyle guidance to poor children in the Republic of Haiti, to improve the lives of the local people. Its original purpose was to support the activities of Ms. Nakano’s kindergarten teacher, Sister Hongo, who had been assigned to work there.

In 2001, they sent their first participant to ARI.  This was after Sister Hongo asked Ms. Nakano to find a place in Japan where they could train leaders to teach fellow Haitians to become self-sufficient farmers, and she recommended a person in this regard. Ms. Nakano thought an organization with Christian values, such as ARI, would be more suitable for Haiti and decided to send this person.

The staff member, Exil Deslandes, was very talented. After completing ARI, he returned to his hometown and founded KFP (Kominote Familyal Peyizan / A Community of Resident Families), which serves about 100-200 families. The main activities of the KFP are eating (agriculture and school lunch) and learning (running an elementary school). Louise-Taire Pierre was sent to ARI as a successor of Exil in 2023. He is a diligent, hard-working man with a passion for learning, and was highly recommended by the local staff.

At the time he was preparing for his journey to ARI, the Japanese embassy in Haiti was closed due to the worsening security situation, so Pierre had to go to the neighboring Dominican Republic to apply for a visa. The only way to get across the border was to take a bus out of the capital, and transportation costs were high. It took a lot of courage to go to the capital, which was a lawless zone with rampant gang activity. The Japanese staff told Pierre to come to Japan with as small a bag as possible, as traveling with a large suitcase would make him look rich and put him in danger. In fact, when he left for Japan, he was carrying the largest amount of money he had ever held in his life.

More adventures were yet to come. As a person from a developing country, it was difficult to obtain a transit visa through the United States, so he had to cross from the Dominican Republic to Japan via Mexico.  Adding to his travel difficulties was the fact that he could barely speak English at that time (though at ARI he learned it very quickly and was nearly fluent by the end of the training). All the Haiti no Kai staff were on edge until the moment Peirre landed in Japan and met the ARI staff waiting for him at the airport. Unfortunately, his luggage was lost during the transfer in Mexico, but he was thankful that he himself made it safely. His suitcase had contained several bottles of castor oil, that had been prepared as a souvenir by Exil. 

Haitians have a culture of wearing the finest clothes when going to church on Sundays, and on his way to Japan, Pierre also bought new clothes and a new bag with the money provided by his sending body. This episode shows how precious this opportunity to travel to Japan was for Pierre! In fact, he still remembers the exact date of his arrival in Japan as well as the date of the opening ceremony.

Self-transformation at ARI
Even though Pierre had been working with a graduate of ARI, he really didn’t know what to expect when he arrived on campus.  His first challenges were the English language and living together with people from different cultural backgrounds.  “I wondered how can I adapt with different people? The cultures, backgrounds, food…everything was different. That was so difficult.”

He was frustrated by people’s unexpected attitudes. But after a class given by Tomoko Arakawa, former director of ARI, he tried to reflect on himself and began to reach out to help his classmates, volunteers, and visitors. This experience has served him well in his work until today.

Sowing seeds for the future
A year and four months have passed since Pierre returned to Haiti. Now he has two activities in mind, one of which is to teach people income-generating skills, such as mayonnaise making and soap making. The other is training local farmers and junior high school students in organic farming and providing environmental education for forest conservation. Putting the skills learned at ARI into practice in the community and producing tangible results is not something that can be done overnight, and there is also the issue of funding.

The Japanese staff also face major challenges. Haiti has been without a president since the assassination of President Moïse in 2021. Public discontent with the prime minister, who has taken the helm of national politics, has exploded. Many areas have fallen under the control of gangs, and the security situation in the capital has deteriorated markedly. The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an evacuation advisory for Japanese nationals, and since then, Japanese staff members of the organization have not been able to visit the areas where they work. Despite these restrictions, their activities have not ceased and continue based on the deep relationship of trust between the local and Japanese staff.

Ms. Tomoko Oka, General Manager of Haiti no Kai, whom I interviewed, has four children, works as a teacher during the day, and devotes the rest of her time to the activities of the association, often starting her work at 2:00 a.m. I asked her why she supports the Haitian people with such passion.
“I have been blessed with the opportunity to receive food and education, and my desire to help those who are not so fortunate is the foundation of my work. When I was in Haiti in the past, I saw Haitians sharing a plate of food among several people, and when the sun went down and it was dark, young people would gather around the UN troop compounds’ outdoor lamps to frantically read their schoolbooks.  I met Haiti, a country I have a connection with, and I feel Haitians are friends who will live together.”

Additional Note: Community Update
On April 4, I received an email from Ms. Tomoko Oka.
Over the past week, a gang that has been running rampant in the capital city has expanded its influence to a neighboring town about 40 km from Pierre’s community. Many residents have abandoned their homes or have been evacuated. Pierre and Exil said, “KFP is an organization that helps the poor, so we can’t overlook the evacuees,” and requested support from the Japanese staff. They have been talking day after day and are now making preparations for relief.

“Both Pierre and KFP are trying to help people in more serious situations than themselves, even though their daily lives are in a state of hardship. They are trying to take important human actions.” These words of Ms. Oka left a deep impression on me. 
Please keep them in mind and pray for them.

I hope the seeds they are sowing with sweat will bear fruit abundantly in Haiti, and more rural community leaders will be born.

Click here to learn more about Haiti no Kai and support their work: https://haitinokai.wixsite.com/-site

Click here to read the series of articles

Vol. 1【Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders】

Vol. 2【Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders】

Vol. 3【Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders】← Now, you’re here.

Vol. 4【Do You Know? The Great Journey of Rural Community Leaders】