Leadership training for foreign volunteers

APFS aims to be a place where Japanese people do not unilaterally support foreign residents, but rather to work on the basis of mutual assistance with them. In order to embody this philosophy, we have been carrying out the above-mentioned training since this year with the support of the Tokyo Volunteer and Citizens Activities Center.

On October 12th (National Holiday), the third "Workshop to Know Yourself and Others" was held, following the first "Psychology" and second "Law" workshops, and more than 20 foreign volunteers participated, including foreigners. Through workshops such as "Fruit Basket" to get to know each other, "Portrait" to draw without dropping your eyes to the hand, and "Introduction to Others" to act as if you were the other person, people who only knew each other by greeting were able to open up and "get to know each other".

The "introductions" included the question "What do you most want to tell everyone right now?" Almost all participants answered, "I want everyone to work hard to get a visa." It became clear that they had a strong fear of being scolded at the Immigration Bureau, so we did a "role play" that was just like the real thing. A foreign volunteer who had overcome the same experience gave serious advice on how to confront the Immigration Bureau with a passionate performance, and one person who was in tears said, "It was very helpful." It seemed like they had absorbed something into themselves. With each session, an environment where we can learn from each other is being created. I'm looking forward to seeing what else will come out of the remaining two training sessions.