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JICA Malawi Office is supporting an exchange program between Koga North Junior High School in Japan and Likuni Boys Secondary School students in Malawi based on a request from the Japanese school to exchange letters with Malawi in their English classes.

In the first session, students from Malawi shared through the video, a letter describing their school and some messages to the Japanese students. Mr. Aoyagi, who is a graduate of the school in Japan and is now working as an Assistant Representative in JICA Malawi office, also sent a "Message from a Senior" to the students.

The Japanese students were fascinated by the video as they were able to see the school in Malawi. They took notes on what they felt and the questions they had about life in Malawi, and are planning to write letters to the student in Malawi.

One Japanese student said: "Although we live in different parts of the world, I felt we were close. I wanted to know more about the students in Malawi and I also wanted them to know more about Japan because the culture and life in Malawi differs completely just by being in a different country".

A teacher from Koga North Junior High School, who was in charge of the program, said, "In the past, we have often written English letters to classroom assistant teachers from foreign countries. Since they are now familiar to us, we tend to have a few details to exchange amongst us. However, seeing the school in Malawi and interacting with Malawian students who are close in age and are very new for our students motivates our students to write letters in English!"

JICA Malawi Office hopes that this will be a good opportunity for both Japanese and Malawian students to feel closer to each other's country and develop an interest in it.

Japanese students watching and listening to a video message from student in Malawi

Japanese students watching and listening to a video message from Mr. Aoyagi