Second-generation Okinawans appeal for continuation of Teachers Dispatch Program to Bolivia ― “We may lose the spirit of Uchina”
On February 8 at the Okinawa Prefectural Office, second-generation Okinawans Toru Higa (right) and Yoichi Inoue call for the continuation of the Teacher Dispatch Program to Bolivia.
February 10, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo
On February 8, at a press conference held at the Okinawa Prefectural Government Office, some second-generation Okinawans (ni-sei) who came to Okinawa from Colonia Okinawa, a settlement for Okinawans in Bolivia, requested that the Teacher Dispatch Program to Educational Facilities for Okinawans in Bolivia be continued. As it stands now, the program is scheduled to be discontinued in fiscal 2012.
New Uchina Goodwill Ambassador of the Okinawan Association of Bolivia, Toru Higa, who came to Okinawa to request the continuation of the program, and chairman of the steering committee of the Nueva Esperanza Elementary and Junior High School, Yoichi Inoue, attended. The president of the Bolivian Association in Okinawa, Tetsuo Miyazato, also participated.
They praised the achievements of the teachers dispatched to date, saying that they have taught not only the Japanese language, but also the Okinawan culture and way of thinking. Higa said, “I want to provide a good educational environment for future generations. I hope that everyone comes to know that there are many Uchinanchu living in another Okinawan community in a distant country.” Inoue said, “If the program is abolished we would lose our Japanese language and the spirit of Uchina.”
Higa and others visited the Okinawa Prefectural Office, the Department of Education and the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly and petitioned for the continuation of the program. They will return to Bolivia on February 12.
(English translation by T&CT, Lima Tokumori and Mark Ealey)
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