Achi Village Trip 2012

Hello, my name is SENG Vanmaren, a current graduate student in GSID. I am very
fortunate to be able to join the Achi village trip organized by Prof. Yamada. I would like to share
my experience and my feeling about this two-day trip.
On the first day, we took a Meitetsu bus from Nagoya station with 11 members,
including Prof. Yamada, Prof. Benavot, and Prof. Nui Changsong.

When we arrived at Komaba, we had to transfer to a mini-van because the school is located in a remote area. Then, we had a short walk to Seinaiji elementary school. It was a snowy day.
We were very excited to see the snow fall which is rarely seen in Nagoya city.

At Seinaiji Elementary School, we were warmly welcomed by the school principal and staff. We were allowed to observe the classrooms of different grades and introduced to school facilities. I was very surprised to learn that there are only 31 students in this huge school and there are only three pupils in the first grade. One of the first grade boys told me that one of his friends has just moved to live in other place and he was sad. He also told me that he loves playing football and I felt that he was trying to tell me that he wants to play football but there is no one to play with since there are only three students in his class. Apart from the conversation with students, I had an opportunity to talk to one of the teachers. He told me that students are instructed to solve problems by themselves. If students cannot solve the problems, teacher will help them by giving clues and explanation.
Before lunch time, my group members presented about Cambodia and Nigeria. Sokhom introduced general information about Cambodia and Cambodian greetings and I presented about why “pumpkin” is called “Kabocha” by Japanese. Jacob, from Nigeria, introduced his country.
At the end of each presentation, students were asked to answer some questions. They received a gift as a reward for the correct answer. Every student was given a postcard from Cambodia as souvenir. Then we had lunch with the students.
In the afternoon, we got a chance to observe the rope jumping exam. Rope jumping is one of Seinaiji elementary school’s activities. I was very amazed by the students’ skills.

In the evening, we were taken to experience Onsen before going to our host family’s house. Bunnara and I were assigned to stay with Koike family. We were greeted with a Shabu Shabu for dinner.

I learned that this family runs a homemade Tofu shop and they have opened a Tofu shop for 80 years. I was told by the family that they decided to make Tofu in this area because the water is clean for making a delicious Tofu.

The family allowed us to experience making Tofu. To do so, we woke up around 4 am. However, Mr Koike woke up since 3 am.

During our stay, there was heavy snow. We helped Ms Koike and old couples who live near our host family’s house clearing the snow. It was great experience for me since I am from a Tropical country like Cambodia.

On the last day, we went sightseeing in Achi Village. We visited a museum, Buddhist temples, and Kumatani children photo museum. We stopped by a local cuisine shop and tried Soba for lunch.

Before returning back to Nagoya, we stopped by the community center. There, I realized that our visit to Seinaiji Elementary school was published in two local newspapers.