5 junior and high school students from Japan visited our GC International AG office in Lucerne, Switzerland, on 24th March to give a presentation and lead a discussion with us.
They all came from the areas the most heavily hit by the earthquake when they were 6 to 10 years old children.
The tour members are chosen to spread their experiences learnt from the disaster by interacting with Swiss local host families for the duration of two weeks.
The key message these children aim to deliver is the importance to establish a relationship and network in the local community, consequently forming a resilient community spirit and togetherness which is immune to the effects of natural disasters.
One 14 years old student’s dream is to become a cardiac surgeon so that he can help to save as many people as possible.
Another student, 16 years of age, set a vision to build a community to strengthen a bond between people as an architect.
We are really impressed and moved by their perseverant minds and optimistic attitude toward their future regardless of their challenging circumstances, as their lives are still on the path to full reconstruction.
In return, GC International AG chairman Nakao gave them a presentation on how the GC group tackles social and health issues in the growing aging societies and how we communicate the important message through the group’s companies.
GC International AG and the student group both confirmed that we can learn a lot from Swiss society which can be beneficial to Japan, as Switzerland is very successful in forming and keeping a strong social fabric in the local community, embracing the cultural diversity it has.
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*“Support Our Kids” program was launched in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, aiming to help the affected children regain their pride and confidence.
It has sent 404 students from the area to the overseas host families in 11 different countries affiliating with diplomatic offices, embassies.
