Ms. Kyoko Takahashi
Ms. Kyoko Takahashi shares her experiences and thoughts on Belize. Ms. Takahashi was assigned at the Dangriga Town Council in Dangriga from April 2004 to March 2006 as a volunteer in Community Development. Her main activities were to promote cultural activities in Dangriga for cultural tourism. She accomplished her master's degree at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in London, and worked at JICA as a Clean Energy Specialist. She is currently in the doctoral course researching about sustainable city at the University of Tokyo while taking care of her two kids:
"Since I was born in 1981 which is the independent year of Belize, I felt very strong sympathy for Belize, "we are born in the same year!". Belize was such a young country and people in Belize were energetic, I felt that people in Belize are truly positive with their bright features. I was also motivated by their passion and optimistic thinking on the development of Belize, I was happy to obtain a variety of supports to accomplish my volunteer activities.
In order to find what actions were needed for Dangriga, I spent a long time discussing with colleagues and people in Dangriga. I finally found out cultural tourism might be one of the good options to achieve both people's cultural development and income generation. Dangriga is rich in Garifuna culture, which is recorded as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. I explored Garifuna cultural spots such as restaurants, arts and crafts, drum music and dancing and temples. I also found out these cultural spots were difficult to find for guests from outside of Dangriga, because these cultural assets were mainly recognized only by local people. As a part of my JOCV activities, I decided to make a "Cultural map of Dangriga" in order to visualize these cultural assets for visitors. I also realized that Dangriga accommodates diversified people such as Maya, Mestizo, Creole, Taiwanese and so on. Not only Garifuna people, but also other ethnicities show diversification of their culture. I thought it might be a good idea to raise awareness of cultural richness in Dangriga, I arranged and implemented "Dangriga Cultural Festival". I also invited Japanese university student group to show Japanese culture in the Festival, it was the highlight of my volunteer activities and I was happy that people in Belize enjoyed the Festival.
After my volunteer work in Belize, I obtained a master's degree in Social Policy and Development at LSE in London, and worked as sustainable energy development specialist in JICA. Currently, with taking care of two kids, I'm working on doctoral research at GPSS-GLI at the University of Tokyo [1] to study sustainable urbanization. The experience in Belize was my first step of my current career in the field of international cooperation, I feel Belize suggests the future direction in my life.
Message for Belize:
Due to the Covid-19, Belize also faces difficult moments to survive on both saving people's lives and economic stabilization. I believe that people in Belize are optimistic at any time as I remember, and I am sure you definitely find a variety of possibilities to enjoy your life in any difficult moment. I really hope that the Belizean spirit can be spread around the world and it will help people to believe in our bright future.
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