~Article & photos from Eden Law, President, JETAA NSW~
2016 has so far been an eventful year, which has helped shape and influence JETAANSW’s event planning, showing our intimate connection to Japan and its current events. The 30th anniversary of the JET Programme remains on our radar (as it does for all chapters domestically and internationally), and the recent Kumamoto earthquake and its aftermath shocked and saddened us and our community here. JETAANSW has seen JETs sent to Kumamoto in the past, and I recently got in touch with a JET stationed in the area to be updated on his safety and condition.
The Kumamoto earthquake in April inspired us to turn our annual Trivia Night into a Kumamoto fundraiser, which saw a record number of attendees (some of whom were past Kumamoto JETs), and raised over $100, which the Japanese Consulate donated on our behalf to the Japanese Red Cross Society. The questions this year were the hardest one yet, thanks to JETAA NSW’s Sally and Justin, who ensured that only the knowledgeable will win. Ultimately, the table made up of current and former JNTO members won, which is probably not a surprise.
Connecting to an earlier tragedy not forgotten, the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake also inspired a charity screening in March, as we marked the 5th anniversary of that disaster, with the screening of Tohoku Tomo, a film made by a past JET, Wesley Julian, who interviewed the JET alumni community in Tohoku and locals, about their experience and fundraising efforts to help their local community. Raising over $300 in funds, we are always grateful to our community for their continuing support and generosity.
This year also is a remarkable year for us specifically in terms of numbers that we have sent from NSW to Japan. Over 40 JET participants – the most numbers we’ve seen in a few years – will have been selected from NSW. We continue our successful relationship with AJET, who sent Rachel Brisson to help out with our Q&A session, providing invaluable current information for our JETs. Interestingly, we have several second-time JET participants, a trend that may see a rise in the coming years. We wish all of 2016 participants the best of luck for their time in Japan.
As part of our 30th anniversary, we wanted to gauge the interest of the JET alumni, as well as to raise awareness and help shape our plans for possible commemorative events.
We created an online survey, asking for interested JET alums to register their interest and involvement in upcoming 30th anniversary related events, and the response returned almost 40 responses in 2 months – which was a terrific result. We hope to leverage this information into a productive network for the future, such as providing support for JET returnees.
I’ll keep this entry brief and conclude at this point. For more up-to-date information, join us on Facebook at our Facebook Group (facebook.com/groups/jetaanswgroup/), Page (facebook.com/jetaansw/), or email us (info@jetaansw.org).
