Japan Bridge Interview ～JISR Participants connect the bridge between Japan and Syria～

The " Japanese Initiative for the future of Syrian Refugees (JISR) " implemented by JICA provides educational opportunities to Syrian youth who have been deprived of opportunities to study due to the Syrian crisis, with the aim of "supporting Syrian refugees who have the potential to contribute to the reconstruction and peace building of Syria in the future, and strengthen the mutual friendship between Syria and Japan as a bridge".

Seven years have passed since JISR participants first arrived in Japan in 2017, and more than 50 participants have completed JISR program. Most of the graduates got their job in Japan after completing the program, and are developing their skills and contributing to the society as well as taking action to be a bridge between Syria and Japan, which is one of the purposes of JISR program.

In this article, we interviewed the members of Japan Bridge, a group organized mainly by JISR graduates. Their main activity is to support the victims of the Turkey-Syria earthquake.

In February 2024, Japan Bridge and JICA co-hosted a photo exhibition and a talk event on Turkey-Syria earthquake. At the photo exhibition, Japan Bridge’s photos of the earthquake and paintings drawn by Syrian children were exhibited for about two weeks. At the talk event on February 10, JISR graduate Mr. Anas Hijazi and the 5th batch participant Mr. Khaled Assaf introduced about Syria, the earthquake damages, and Japan Bridge activities to 40 people who attended the event, and answered to the various questions from the floor.

We interviewed key members of the event, Mr. Anas Hijazi, and Mr. Salama Iskandar.

Japan bridge is an organization that started after Syrian-Turkey earthquake on February 6, 2023. Members are Syrians living in Japan and most of them are JISR graduates.
Japan Bridge has two aims. One is to collect donations to support the people who were affected by the earthquake by providing them sustainable solutions. What we are doing now is to build a concrete apartment for Syrian families to live. The other is to share the experiences and voices of Syrian people to Japanese people through holding events and letting them know what is happening in Syria.
About 20,000 dollars have been raised so far, and the apartments that can accommodate four families are under construction. Our achievement is not only to construct apartments, but also to connect with people who have had no relations with Syria before. So far, we have held about 10 events in Yamagata City, Chofu City, and others.

There are about 40 members in Japan Bridge. From these members, we choose the Steering Committee members by voting every six months (regardless of self or other’s recommendation), and they play a major role in our activities.
Since we work as a group, when we decide something, we always try to ask all the members’ opinions.

At the time of Turkey-Syria earthquake, we felt guilty and responsible because we couldn't do anything. But then, it started with Iskandar’s proposal.

We called on Syrians to do something and exchanged opinions on what we could do. As a result, we decided to form Japan Bridge.
The name “Japan Bridge” was inspired by JISR program (JISR). JISR means a bridge between Syria and Japan and it’s very symbolic. Most of Japan Bridge members are JISR graduates, so every one of us has a commitment to become a bridge between Syria and Japan.

Of course. Life, work, and culture in Japan have taught us how to be organized. And they are utilized from the structure of Japan Bridge to daily meetings and even when we make presentations.

There is a big difference between Syria and Japan. It is that Japanese people are highly planned and well-organized. I've been told that I'm a hard worker in Syria, but soon after I started working in Japan, I felt like I was the laziest among　my colleagues. However, I believe that this experience has pushed me to improve every day, and it has definitely brought a positive impact on Japan Bridge activities. Not only me, but all JISR participants do their best by making use of the "Japanese way" experience gained through study, research, work, and friendships etc. in Japan.

Japan Bridge initially began in a "Syrian" way. The "Syrian way" means a temporary way when something happens, people gather, donate money, and that's it. However, by trying the Japanese way of planning and organizational methods, it has become a continuous activity.

There are two memorable moments for me. The first was Japan Bridge’s first event held in Ebisu on March 11, 2023. I felt rewarded because the audience understood what we wanted to say, and it was a wonderful event. The second was the event co-hosted with JICA in February. It was a lot of work in preparation, but it went really well and it felt very meaningful to do it. In particular, it was impressive that I took the stage with Japan Bridge members.

One of the most rewarding moments for me is when I meet new people. At the event with JICA, I was very surprised and happy to see many audiences from the beginning. Also, I was delighted to be asked questions to know more about situation of Syria from the audiences who participated our event for the first time. It made me realize that our messages clearly reached them while I always wonder what the audience thought about it.

My main message at the event was not to forget us, Syrians. We rarely see anything about Syria in the media these days because more than 13 years has passed since the Syrian crisis in 2011, however, it does not mean it is over. Even now, there are many people who are suffering, deprived from education. The crisis is still continuing in Syria.

The challenging part in the activity is managing relationships. It is very difficult for Syrians to work with people because Syrians are not used to act in a group. In Syria, even in schools, there are no group works. Everything is independent working. This is because forming a group could be considered criticism of the regime in Syria. On the other hand, everybody is strongly independent, and can achieve great results individually.

If we can take advantage of individual’s strength for our activities, we will be able to make stronger impacts and achievements. Therefore, it is important to bring out the good in each member's strengths and work together toward the goals of Japan Bridge.

What I want to try is to build relationships with the people who have not connected with JISR program or Syria in the past. At the moment, I don’t know how and where to approach, so if someone has any good ideas, I’d love to hear.

Whether Syrians or Japanese, it is the same human who is suffering from the earthquake. The members agreed on an idea that the support for earthquake in Japan to be the same as the support for Syria, so we decided to donate.

First, we would like to focus more on registering Japan Bridge as a nonprofit organization (NPO). Once we register as an NPO, we will be able to open our own bank account and gain the trust of the public. Currently, another organization allows us to use their bank account for the donation. By having our own account, we would like to visualize the flow of donations and maintain organization’s transparency more. After that, we would like to actively hold events. In addition, we want to provide education and training opportunities for people in Syria that will lead to their employment. For example, the opportunity to work online by providing IT training and acquiring a technical skill by providing vocational training, etc. so that they will earn income on their own.

Furthermore, we would like to involve Japanese people in our activities in the future. It is not easy, but we are currently looking for enthusiastic Japanese people who can participate in our activities as members. What we expect from the Japanese members is to give us advice from Japanese perspectives. We think that it is very valuable since our main target on fundraising and advocacy activities are Japanese people. Besides, we are all Syrians, so we sometimes slack off, but if Japanese join us, we will brace ourselves up and work more actively, in a kind of an accountability partnership.

We are posting our email address on the Japan Bridge website, so please contact us there. We share information about our activities and events through newsletters and social media, so anyone can participate in the events too.

Japanese people can do so many things and make a big difference. First of all, financial support is an important point, but I don't think everyone can afford it. I think the most important thing is to learn about Syria and the issues of Syria as much as possible. Not only learning from books, but I want you to talk with Syrians and people close to Syria.

Syrians living in Japan face many challenges such as financial problems, work, and language, etc., but more than that, most of them have no Japanese friends and feel isolated in the Japanese society. Therefore, I want Japanese people to simply talk with them. It can be anything. I always tell Japanese colleagues, friends, and people I meet “do what you can”. You don't have to do something far-fetched. For example, even if someone just smiles and says, “Good morning!” to Syrians every day, it makes them feel happy all day and it’s worth more than money.

Also, when you become friends with Syrians, you can learn how to cook Syrian food. Once you eat Syrian food, you will not be able to eat other food because it’s so delicious!

The last important point is "allyship". In other words, we want Japanese people to be with us as allies. Even if you can't do anything, I want you to get to know the Syrians, spend time with them, understand the Syrian issues and spread them to others.

I want people to be more interested in Syria and other countries facing difficulties.

The goal of Japan Bridge is not only to receive support from others, such as fundraising, but also to earn income as an organization and make our activities sustainable.

My personal dream is to be an influential person that can positively change people's lives. For example, I have a dream to establish a scholarship like JISR program or MEXT scholarship (Note 1), which would enable Syrians to study in Japanese universities or language schools.

The goal of Japan Bridge is to provide sustainable solutions for displaced Syrians and make them feel secure in their daily life in one way or another whether through livelihood, education, shelter and carrying their voice to the world.

In Japan, I learned organizational skills, planning skills, and diligence. I want the people in Syria to feel the good parts of Japan through Japan Bridge’s activities, and I want them to like Japan as they like Syria. For that, as Iskandar says, we must make Japan Bridge a sustainable organization. This is necessary not only for Japan Bridge’s beneficiaries, but also for Japan Bridge itself. We also want to keep our members motivated through continuous participation in our activities. In this way, I would like to contribute to the success of Japan Bridge.

For myself, I have about 200 dreams, but I want to touch people more, like touch their hearts. I think that the image of Syria and Syrians is very bad for Japanese and other foreigners. For example, it is often associated with images of conflict. Through my various activities, people around me understand me and sometimes say that you are a great Syrian, but I am not. There are a lot of Syrian people who are better than me. I want people in Japan and around the world to throw off the bias about Syrians and to know who Syrians really are. Therefore, I would like to be a messenger between Syria and Japan.

In Syria, there are many people who are still facing a lot of hardship. I have had a lot of difficulties in the past, but I was very lucky to be able to come to Japan through JISR program, receive an education, and get a job in Japan. I wish such great opportunities visit the people in Syria too. In the future, we, JISR graduates would like to return to Syria and work on Japan Bridge’s activities together. We believe that we can carry out a big project in our home country and making use of the connections and experiences we have gained in Japan with JICA, companies, and various organizations and individuals. We have decided to mark "From the People of Japan" on our project, which I was impressed by every time I saw it in Syria. It shows that Japan's ODA support comes from the people of Japan.

Note1: Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) Scholarships(Japanese only)

Note2: In the Japan Official Development Assistance (ODA), in order to widely spread Japan's support through development cooperation, a Japanese flag sticker with the words "From the People of Japan" is used for sticking to various equipment provided by Japan and designing plates for buildings. (Reference: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, "(ODA) Overseas Development Cooperation Publicity")

Through the interview, it become clear that their motivation for Japan Bridge and their own activities come from strong feelings to the Syrians suffered and affected from civil war and earthquake.

In addition, as referring to the donation of Noto Peninsula Earthquake, there are many things to learn from the idea of helping someone in need as same human beings, whether they are Syrians or Japanese. Now, it is more important to know and share what is happening in Syria as there are less opportunity to see news about Syria.

Wishing the future success of Mr. Iskandar and Mr. Anas as bridges between Syria and Japan.

Japan Bridge email: info@japan-bridge.org

Japan Bridge website