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Junior Writers Reporting

Hiroshima-Philippines Friendship Society working to provide school supplies to children in the Philippines

The Hiroshima-Philippines Friendship Society, a citizens’ group based in Higashi Ward, Hiroshima, is working to promote exchange between Hiroshima and the Philippines. Tomoe Yokohagi, 64, the chairperson, founded the group in February 2012 along with Japanese and Filipino supporters living in Hiroshima. The group currently has 34 members.

More than 30 years ago, Ms. Yokohagi became acquainted with a Filipino student studying in Japan and has cherished this friendship ever since. She came to feel that she “wanted to do something more for the Filipino people.”

The group is now putting their efforts into collecting school supplies and providing them to street children in Cebu City. Ms. Yokohagi has many friends there, and because the city is safe, the living conditions of the children can be easily grasped. This is why the group decided to lend its support to Cebu City.

The donated supplies will be delivered to the Philippines by members of the group this December. The items will then be given to a support group for street children and a children’s shelter on the outskirts of Cebu City. “In the future,” said Ms. Yokohagi, “we’d like to ask companies in Hiroshima that have ties to the Philippines to help us deliver our donations.” The group also dreams of building a school in Cebu City in the future.

Another effort of the group will involve holding seminars in Hiroshima to share the history, culture, and ethnicities of the Philippines with the participants. Hiroyuki Tanigawa, 53, a board member of the association, said, “In order to take part in exchange as equals, we need to familiarize ourselves with the history of Japan’s occupation of the Philippines during World War II.” (Kantaro Matsuo, 13)

(Originally Published on October 8, 2012)

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