As the COVID-19 has settled down, we at HU have dispatched our students to Africa for a short time three times so far.

During their visits, students attended lectures at partner universities, exchanged opinions with local students, and deepened their understanding of the visited countries. They also visited JICA Offices in the countries to learn about the JICA’s activities in Africa, and visited the project sites where the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) were dispatched.

For the students, it is their first time in Africa, and they sometimes faced difficulties in language, food, health, etc., but managed to overcome these difficulties with the generous support of the local people and mutual help from their fellow students.

Although the program was of only about two weeks, it was an opportunity for the students to experience the diversity of Africa and to realize the importance of communication and cooperation with people from different backgrounds.

We hope that the students will connect their experiences in Africa to their studies in their field of specialization and work to solve various problems in the world, including Africa, in the future.