Fostering Hawaii-Hiroshima Peacebuilders: 2024 Hiroshima Peace Scholarship Delegates Prepare for Hiroshima
Since their selection this spring, our 2024 Hiroshima Peace Scholarship (HPS) scholars Mia Takahashi (Hawaii Baptist Academy) and Charles Reid-Selth (Radford High School) and Ms. Jodie Chock (Kalaheo High School) have been busily preparing for their 10-day trip to Hiroshima. As part of their preparations for their summer study trip, the delegates have attended the Hiroshima Heiwa Scholarship (HHS) program, charity walk, and monthly educational workshops. They have developed friendships with Peace Scholars from Hiroshima and Hawaii and learned about the history of World War II in the US and Japan; practiced how to share their perspectives to the media; and worked on research projects that they will present in Hiroshima.
[L-R] 2023 HPS scholars Reina and Yuka, 2024 HHS chaperone Nao, 2024 HPS chaperone Jodie, 2024 HPS scholar MIa, 2024 HHS scholars Haruka and Iori, 2024 HPS scholar Charles, and Reina’s brother Kai
In March, this year’s HPS Scholars met the 2023 HPS Scholars and 2024 HHS Scholars from Hiroshima, and participated in the HHS program, including the Peace Forum and JASH and Pacific Historic Parks’ Sadako Peace Projects. Volunteers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Matsunaga Institute, 2023 HPS scholars, and their family members also assisted in our March project day. Our volunteers shared with visitors the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who was a victim of the Hiroshima atomic bombing and passed away due to the effects of irradiation at the age of twelve, and emphasized her message for world peace. In sharing Sadako’s story, our volunteers showed visitors how to fold their own peace cranes and encouraged them to take home cranes with handwritten messages of peace, which were folded and donated by students in Japan.
Charles and Mia sharing with visitors to Pearl Harbor the story of Sadako Sasaki
In April, HPS scholars learned about peace through different perspectives. They watched a testimony by Ms. Keiko Ogura, a hibakusha or survivor of the atomic bomb atomic bombing survivor, who the scholars will have the opportunity to meet when they visit Hiroshima in August. They prepared and practiced their joint self-introduction presentation and also learned interview tips from Mr. Micah Mizukami, Associate Director of Center for Oral History at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa via his online materials.
In May, HPS delegates participated in the Charity Walk together with the APCC (Asian-Pacific Children’s Convention) group as team JASH and contributed to our future educational programs.
2024 HPS delegates participated in the Charity Walk as a team JASH
In June, the scholars had the opportunity to receive media training from Ms. Jocelyn Collado from Becker Communications, who gave the training to 2023 HPS delegates. They learned how to eloquently manage their verbal responses and non-verbal poise for interviews they may be asked to do as representatives of this scholarship. In this media training, the HPS scholars had hands-on experiences being interviewed by a reporter and received useful feedback for improvement. Mahalo to Jocelyn for the special coaching again this year!
Scholars receiving media training from Ms. Collado
Our HPS scholars worked diligently on their many projects that they will be doing in Hiroshima. The scholars, along with their friends and family, have been busily folding and organizing their cranes for their senbazuru (1,000 paper crane) garland. They also prepared and practiced their joint self-introduction presentation, their individual family war story interview presentations, and hula performance which they will present at the Peace Forum in Hiroshima organized by Hiroshima Jogakuin High School to share about their relation to Japan, past and current experiences in Hawaii and the U.S., and messages for the global community.
HPS co-founder, chaperone, scholars and families preparing cranes for their senbazuru to hang in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
