Oita Students Attend the Japan-American Grassroots Summit in Atlanta as part of the TOMODACHI CIE Grassroots Summit

Fifteen students from Oita Uenogaoka High School along with 2 chaperones joined the 26th Japan-America Grassroots Summit in Greater Atlanta as part of the TOMODACHI CIE Grassroots Summit in Atlanta. Last year, students from Uenogaoka High School had hosted Colorado students from the Amache Preservation Society during the 25th Japan-America Grassroots Summit 2015 in Oita.

This one week Grassroots Exchange Program provided the Japanese students with an opportunity to learn about diversity through site visits, meeting students in Atlanta, and staying with a host family, in addition to attending the Japan-America Grassroots Summit.

On October 5, 2016, the students began their activities by visiting sites in the area such as the Carter Library, Center for Civil and Human Rights, and Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. By visiting these sites, they were able to learn the importance of diversity, especially how it affected the people in the South.

At the Opening Ceremony for the Japan-American Grassroots Summit on October 5, the Uenogaoka students introduced themselves in English to an audience of nearly 300 people, after opening remarks made by Suzanne Basalla, Executive Vice President and COO of the U.S.-Japan Council.

After attending the summit, the students traveled to Macon City where they were invited to the Youth Leadership Summit (YLS) held in Macon, Bibb County.  They joined workshops, lectures and discussion with students that were selected to join the YLS in Georgia. Each of the Japanese students was paired with one American host-student whose family offered the homestay, and the students from Uenogaoka and from Macon made everlasting friendships.