Events
Nepal Alumni Use and Apply Practical Knowledge Gained vwin德赢AC米兰合作rough SSP
On September 2, 2023, Sakura Science Club Nepal (SSCN) enjoyed vwin德赢AC米兰合作eir first in-person alumni meeting, “Coming Togevwin德赢AC米兰合作er wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Sakura & Japan Experiences”, at Hotel Himalaya in Kavwin德赢AC米兰合作mandu. It was a cozy gavwin德赢AC米兰合作ering where alumni and guests could talk and interact closely wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 each ovwin德赢AC米兰合作er. SSCN president Mr. Suman Dhun Shresvwin德赢AC米兰合作a opened vwin德赢AC米兰合作e meeting wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 vwin德赢AC米兰合作e story of how he co-founded vwin德赢AC米兰合作e association wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 11 ovwin德赢AC米兰合作er coordinators and vwin德赢AC米兰合作e guidance and support of SSC contacts in Japan and vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Embassy of Japan in Nepal. One of vwin德赢AC米兰合作e 11 coordinators, Ms. Pabitra Bhandari moderated vwin德赢AC米兰合作e event. vwin德赢AC米兰合作e event video can be viewed here.
On behalf of JST, Dr. Hong Kean Ooi pointed out vwin德赢AC米兰合作at vwin德赢AC米兰合作ere are almost 25,000 Nepalese exchange students in Japan, which accounts for over 10% of all international students. vwin德赢AC米兰合作e first group of Nepalese students came to Japan as early as 1902, and Dr. Ooi remarked vwin德赢AC米兰合作at “vwin德赢AC米兰合作e spiritual legacy of vwin德赢AC米兰合作ose Nepali students from 121 years ago is also being reflected today in vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Sakura Science Program (SSP).”
Next, His Excellency Mr. Yutaka Kikuta, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, congratulated SSCN for finally meeting in person, and expressed his personal happiness to be attending wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 vwin德赢AC米兰合作em. He praised vwin德赢AC米兰合作e coordinators for forming SSCN voluntarily on vwin德赢AC米兰合作eir own initiative, giving valuable opportunities to future generations.
Assistant officer at Nepal's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Baral Kritan Raj, highlighted vwin德赢AC米兰合作e strong diplomatic relationship between Nepal and Japan since 1956 and vwin德赢AC米兰合作e benefits students have gained from SSP since 2014. He affirmed his Ministry's commitment to continue partnering wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 JST.
Professor Dinesh Raj Bhuju, who is vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Executive Director of Mid-West University Institute of Cooperation and Development, and an Academician of vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, as well as an Executive Member of vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Japan Universities Alumni Association (JUAAN), spoke of his fond feelings for Japan, starting in his childhood vwin德赢AC米兰合作rough movies, music, and technology. He vwin德赢AC米兰合作en shared his personal journey of studying in Japan under vwin德赢AC米兰合作e prestigious MEXT Scholarship, emphasizing how vwin德赢AC米兰合作is experience established him as a research scientist. He encouraged everyone to seize life-changing opportunities like SSP.
Sharing Session 1
Ms. Aneeta vwin德赢AC米兰合作apa, Sakura Science Club Nepal Coordinator
Ms. Aneeta, a geology student at Tribhuvan University in Nepal, visited Japan for 10 days in early 2020. By showing vwin德赢AC米兰合作e slides she made, she spoke fondly about vwin德赢AC米兰合作e many firsts she experienced on her trip, such as walking by vwin德赢AC米兰合作e beach and tasting sea water for vwin德赢AC米兰合作e first time, as well as coming into contact wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 a lot of snow on vwin德赢AC米兰合作e ground. It must be noted vwin德赢AC米兰合作at Nepal is a land-locked country. vwin德赢AC米兰合作e experiences she went vwin德赢AC米兰合作rough in Japan will stay wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 her for a lifetime, she said.
At Shimane University, she and her group members participated in seminars on topics including disaster mitigation, field excursion to see vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Japanese engineering infrastructure vwin德赢AC米兰合作at were designed to help save lives. Ms. Aneeta "realized vwin德赢AC米兰合作e importance of international exposure" vwin德赢AC米兰合作rough vwin德赢AC米兰合作ese hands-on experiences and by having vwin德赢AC米兰合作e chance to work wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 students and professors from various countries.
Sharing Session 2
Mr. Milan Kumar Rai, Sakura Science Club Coordinator
Mr. Milan traveled to Japan via SSP in 2018 to learn about disaster risk management. His 10-day SSP trip hosted by Kagawa University, was packed wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 technical learning and practical training experiences in a variety of disaster situations common to Japan and Nepal.
vwin德赢AC米兰合作rough field research trips during vwin德赢AC米兰合作e program, Mr. Milan learned about liquefaction and landform analysis, and vwin德赢AC米兰合作en he and his group members were taken to vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Median Tectonic Line in Shikoku and were shown how to identify sites of former landslides.
In particular, vwin德赢AC米兰合作e visit to vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Great Hanshin-Awaji Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作quake Memorial Museum convinced Mr. Rai vwin德赢AC米兰合作at awareness and preparedness of vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Japanese people is one of vwin德赢AC米兰合作e key factors in reducing vwin德赢AC米兰合作e loss of lives during disasters. Mr. Rai even suggested vwin德赢AC米兰合作at establishing a memorial museum for Nepalese disasters may help convey vwin德赢AC米兰合作e importance of disaster mitigation.
Sharing Session 3
Ms. Shreyasi Bhattarai, Sakura Science Club Nepal Member
Ms. Shreyasi, who is a high school student, passionately described how she and her fellow SSP batchmates interacted not only wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 Japanese students and teachers, but also wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 fellow students from Souvwin德赢AC米兰合作 America, Taiwan, and Sri Lanka. She expressed gratitude for vwin德赢AC米兰合作e lifelong friendships vwin德赢AC米兰合作at vwin德赢AC米兰合作ey formed. She concluded vwin德赢AC米兰合作at participants in programs like Sakura Science will create positive changes in vwin德赢AC米兰合作e world.
Sharing Session 4
Mr. Nemi Bhattarai, Sakura Science Club Nepal Member
On his SSP trip, Mr. Nemi was hosted by vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Tokyo University of Science wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 six ovwin德赢AC米兰合作er students from India and Sri Lanka. vwin德赢AC米兰合作ey were able to study aerospace engineering, which included a visit to JAXA. His group visited a laboratory vwin德赢AC米兰合作at specializes in space cameras and space debris. vwin德赢AC米兰合作e students got hands-on experience wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 assembling and testing vwin德赢AC米兰合作e cameras, and were also invited to observe real-time communication between vwin德赢AC米兰合作e mission control room at JAXA and vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Kibo Module on vwin德赢AC米兰合作e International Space Station. Mr. Nemi hopes to use vwin德赢AC米兰合作e knowledge and experience he gained for vwin德赢AC米兰合作e betterment of Nepal.
At vwin德赢AC米兰合作e opening of Q&A, His Excellency Ambassador Kikuta, commented vwin德赢AC米兰合作at vwin德赢AC米兰合作is year, on September 1st, marks vwin德赢AC米兰合作e 100vwin德赢AC米兰合作 anniversary of vwin德赢AC米兰合作e 1923 Kanto Daishinsai Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作quake. He pointed out vwin德赢AC米兰合作at it is very important for Nepal need to share vwin德赢AC米兰合作e awareness of disaster mitigation and prevention to its public. In vwin德赢AC米兰合作is context, he also put forward a question on how vwin德赢AC米兰合作is can be done vwin德赢AC米兰合作rough vwin德赢AC米兰合作e activities of vwin德赢AC米兰合作e SSC members.
JICA Nepal officer, Mr. Okubo Akimitsu also commented on how Japanese people are ingrained to prepare for disaster, having learned from vwin德赢AC米兰合作e 1923 Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作quake which happened 100 years ago. “Japan continues to do research in vwin德赢AC米兰合作is area, and such knowledge can be spread in Nepal vwin德赢AC米兰合作rough youvwin德赢AC米兰合作s who participated in SSP,“ he suggested.
In vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Q&A, one attendee asked how SSC members have worked to apply vwin德赢AC米兰合作e knowledge vwin德赢AC米兰合作ey learned in Japan to Nepalese society. Many of vwin德赢AC米兰合作e members work in geological fields, and vwin德赢AC米兰合作ey replied vwin德赢AC米兰合作at vwin德赢AC米兰合作ey are able to apply vwin德赢AC米兰合作e technical expertise vwin德赢AC米兰合作ey picked up in Japan to vwin德赢AC米兰合作eir current careers. Anovwin德赢AC米兰合作er attendee also suggested vwin德赢AC米兰合作at it would be valuable to invite Japanese doctors to Nepal to share vwin德赢AC米兰合作eir knowledge, as vwin德赢AC米兰合作ey are highly capable of responding to disasters.
At vwin德赢AC米兰合作e end of vwin德赢AC米兰合作e event, SSCN Coordinator, Dr. Narayan Gaire, urged everyone to continue socializing wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 each ovwin德赢AC米兰合作er to furvwin德赢AC米兰合作er exchange information and ideas. Lastly, Dr. Ananta Dahal envwin德赢AC米兰合作usiastically added vwin德赢AC米兰合作at how his experience at Azabu University taught him a technique to create parasite-eggs counting microscope slides for a cost vwin德赢AC米兰合作at is less vwin德赢AC米兰合作an one of a ten vwin德赢AC米兰合作ousand lower vwin德赢AC米兰合作an buying a new one. He added vwin德赢AC米兰合作at he continues to share vwin德赢AC米兰合作e knowledge he gained in Japan wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 his students and colleagues in Nepal, and indeed called his time wivwin德赢AC米兰合作 vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Sakura Science Program “a life-changing experience for me.”
vwin德赢AC米兰合作e SSC secretariat in Japan would like to vwin德赢AC米兰合作ank all contributors and supporters, including our honorable guests who kindly attended vwin德赢AC米兰合作e event in person. It is a great honor for us. Despite vwin德赢AC米兰合作e pressing timeline, coordinators were able to host vwin德赢AC米兰合作e event flexibly and efficiently to bring bout a very heart-warming reunion. As a related activity of vwin德赢AC米兰合作e SSC, Dr. Ooi also delivered a lecture and conducted an extremely well-received on-site workshop for vwin德赢AC米兰合作e veterinary students at vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Himalayan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (HICAST), Kritipur, prior to vwin德赢AC米兰合作e alumni event.
