Joining over 600 delegates from ASEAN countries, a student of IV-Wisdom has recently participated in the 2011 Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) Program from December 6-18, 2011.

Denise Meghan Dado was chosen in the city-wide interview held at the Baguio City National High School Library last November 2011. The visit consisted of educational tours in the different landmarks of Japan in Kyoto, Hiroshima and Tokyo, and a 5-day stay with their assigned host family as they attended a local high school. Ms. Dado, who was assigned in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture attended, along with other 10 delegates in her group, Maebashi Commercial High School.

In one of the activities, the 2011 JENESYS Festival, Ms. Dado had the honor to represent our country by presenting a PowerPoint about the Philippines and what she can do for Asia as a Filipino and as an Asian.

The JENESYS Program is one of many student exchange programs of the Americal Field Service (AFS) Intercultural Programs. AFS Intercultural Programs allows student to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding outside the country to create a more just and peaceful world. It began as the American Field Services (AFS), dated back in 1914 after the outbreak of World War I, when Americans served overseas as volunteer ambulance drivers at the American Hospital in Paris. AFS evacuated wounded soldiers from the battlefield and helped liberate concentration camp survivors. When they returned, they founded a movement to promote peace through international student exchange, known today as AFS Intercultural Programs.

Denise Meghan Dado (front row, the 6th starting from the left) and other Gunma Prefecture AFSers with their host families and the Gunma Prefecture local government on December 11, 2011.

by: Yvon Lagdao, Kahren Yvonne Salbino, & Ivan Orille