[Date & Time] Saturday, October 9, at 9:10 ~ 15:30
[Spots] Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kamakura-bori Museum, Hasedera Temple, and Kotokuin Temple (Great Buddha)
[Visitors] 15 participants from 8 countries in Africa, with 4 from Rwanda, 3 each from Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire, 1 each from Cameroon, Chad, Morocco, Sao Tome and Principe, and Togo
[Attendants] 3 KSGG members
[Language] French (by a JICE interpreter)
The participants came to Japan to see the Japanese tourism and I was a bit nervous because I had heard that they were also concerned about how KSGG people would guide them around Kamakura. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day, and I worried over traffic congestion, for it was in the middle of three consecutive holidays.
We started off from JICA Tokyo Center by bus a bit after 9 o’clock and I told them in the bus about our KSGG organization and the history of Kamakura using pictures. Everyone was all ears. I was surprised that there are goodwill guide activities like ours in Africa, too. The JICE interpreter was efficient in translating what I talked about into French. There were slaughters and refugee problems caused by civil wars in Africa, but every participant was cheerful. Among them, however, there were some who have fought a civil war. We saw something tense in their looks.
We had lunch, shopped at Komachi-dori, and visited Hasedera Temple and Kotokuin Temple, but we could complete our tour ahead of schedule. Finally, when we gave them origami (paper folding) dolls, they all looked very happy. A Moroccan lady was kind enough to give us beautiful key-ring-like presents in return. When we sent them off, it began to rain in buckets, but we were lucky that we could stay away from such a driving rain and finish our tour ahead of schedule.
[Spots] Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kamakura-bori Museum, Hasedera Temple, and Kotokuin Temple (Great Buddha)
[Visitors] 15 participants from 8 countries in Africa, with 4 from Rwanda, 3 each from Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire, 1 each from Cameroon, Chad, Morocco, Sao Tome and Principe, and Togo
[Attendants] 3 KSGG members
[Language] French (by a JICE interpreter)
The participants came to Japan to see the Japanese tourism and I was a bit nervous because I had heard that they were also concerned about how KSGG people would guide them around Kamakura. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day, and I worried over traffic congestion, for it was in the middle of three consecutive holidays.
We started off from JICA Tokyo Center by bus a bit after 9 o’clock and I told them in the bus about our KSGG organization and the history of Kamakura using pictures. Everyone was all ears. I was surprised that there are goodwill guide activities like ours in Africa, too. The JICE interpreter was efficient in translating what I talked about into French. There were slaughters and refugee problems caused by civil wars in Africa, but every participant was cheerful. Among them, however, there were some who have fought a civil war. We saw something tense in their looks.
We had lunch, shopped at Komachi-dori, and visited Hasedera Temple and Kotokuin Temple, but we could complete our tour ahead of schedule. Finally, when we gave them origami (paper folding) dolls, they all looked very happy. A Moroccan lady was kind enough to give us beautiful key-ring-like presents in return. When we sent them off, it began to rain in buckets, but we were lucky that we could stay away from such a driving rain and finish our tour ahead of schedule.