More Japanese Volunteers in town

A new group of Japanese Volunteers arrived in St. Vincent recently on the heels of tropical storm Emily, augmenting the 5 Japanese volunteers who are already in place.

Kazunori Saruwatari, Masahiro Tatsumi and Kanako Ono landed on the island on July 13th after a grueling trip that took them nearly half way around the world. On the day they arrived, they were welcomed by the tropical storm Emily.{{more}}

The volunteers will live and work with the people in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for a period of two years.

Kazunori Saruwatari is a physical education teacher who has more than 15 years experience teaching junior high school in Japan. He will be working at Union Island Secondary School.

Masahiro Tatsumi is a mathematics teacher with a Master of Science in information technology. He will be dispatched to Girls’ High School.

Kanako Ono is a community development officer who will be dispatched to Byera Development Organization.

The volunteers are undergoing a one month orientation course to prepare for their jobs. Orientation consists of courtesy visits, an introduction to St. Vincent (education, fisheries, medical treatment, security, and politics), Vincentian culture (dialect, food, cultural events, protocol and history), home stays, English, and the research on specialized topics.