2023.07.25
On July 25, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Keio University for cooperation in the dispatch of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV). The MOU was signed in the presence of Mr. Daniel Okaiteye, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of the Embassy of the Republic of Ghana in Tokyo.
Signing Ceremony
Under this collaboration, which will last for three years starting in 2024, JICA will dispatch 10 students from the Baseball Laboratory at Keio University’s “Keio Research Institute at SFC”—mainly members of the baseball club—to Ghana every year during the summer vacation. While there, these student JOCV will coach the country’s youth in baseball, seeking to contribute to human resource development through “Baseballership™ Education.”
Working with Ghanaian coaches, the JOCV will utilize the “Baseballership™ Education Method (Note 1)” of the Japan-Africa Baseball and Softball Foundation (J-ABS), a general incorporated foundation that develops human resources in Africa by fostering the Japanese baseball sportsmanship values of “discipline,” “respect,” and “justice.” In doing so, the JOCV and coaches will aim to improve baseball and social-emotional skills among the country’s youth, thereby contributing to the development of Ghanaian society.
Keio University plans to collaborate with the University of Ghana on an extended research project studying the effects of Baseballership™ education. This will be a pioneering attempt to measure the long-term effects of JICA's global agenda of “sports and development,” and the findings of the project are expected to demonstrate the positive impact baseball can have on human resource development.
(Note 1)
“Baseballmanship,” a coined term that combines the English words “Baseball” and “Sportsmanship,” refers to an educational method for fostering values such as “discipline,” “respect,” and “justice” in youth through baseball and softball coaching.
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