If you wish to work at NGO, start out in the work world first

Children smiling in front of the water tank made by Japan

  Being a member of AAR Japan as well as had being of JMAS, I was a resident officer of some countries in South and Central Asia and Africa. The NGO resident officer covers a broad range of duties. To give some examples, one is accounting. This duty is very important when reporting accounting to contributor of funds. Another is administration tasks such as management of local personnel or local office. Beside above tasks, we meet local executives or officials of related-bureaus to ask for their cooperation for our business or reporting the business situations as well as signing conclusions.
  As these kind of administration works account for most of the duty, you might be bewildered if you draw an image of working very closely with the local people.

Mr. Sakurai handing soaps donated by Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. to HIV orphan

  When I am asked the difficulties and issues I face at the resident country, I would say, I don’t take things difficult, I take things for granted so life here is not that challenging. (Of course everything is more inconvenient here compared to Japan). One thing I can tell is that what is common in Japan is not the same in developing countries. First, time consciousness here is different from Japan. Don’t try to proceed things in your time consciousness or you will be stressed out. I advise you that it is better for you to adjust to developing countries’ time consciousness.
  For instance, provided that you are going to hold a ceremony commemorating the transfer of an institution that AAR Japan has established to the partner country’s government. In Japan, final attendances will be fixed no later than 3 days before the ceremony, considering the affiliated tasks such as asking whether one is attending or not, or requesting to give speeches to the related minister or ambassador. However, in developing countries, attendances will not be fixed until a day before the ceremony. It is not my surprise even an amendment occurs as of 4pm of a prior day. Unexpected changes require many additional paperwork so what indispensable here is the flexibility. I was also made an accusation in my previous workplace. As of now, I can laugh away of this happening but please be reminded that, if you are dealing with people, to be interested in and to have respect matters the most. Capability to use language comes the next. 　
  If you happen to fall in love with a foreigner who cannot speak Japanese and wish to go out with him/her, I bet you will work hard to communicate with him/her. Same goes with this. I myself, too, was not a fluent speaker. Each time I organize a workshop for residents, I tell the local staffs that “speak in a sincere manner so that children and elderlies can understand, then everyone can get the picture.” People in developing countries have diverse backgrounds of education etc. Speaking more academically, it’s like you can’t make students in Faculty of Law understood the studies of science and engineering.   
  Although I study about the country and its businesses before I get posted, I try to abandon my pre-knowledge once I am stationed. Never push my common sense or knowledge to local people. Observing the place with transparency, I can promote new projects through listening to opinions of local people and staffs. 　
  Furthermore, I always try to be self-critical. I keep asking myself, is my decision the best one? For example, when I am taking contact abroad from Tokyo office, I sometimes receive request from a company. On such case, I ask myself whether I am not listening too much of a company’s request. I try to stay neutral and fair. On the other hand, working at a resident country, I strongly feel that I want to help the local people so I need to keep asking myself whether I am not listening too much of the resident people’s request. I try to be objective and refuse things that are impossible as well as conveying the NPO’s vision. Of course, if the request is reasonable and necessary, I negotiate with Tokyo Headquarter for permission. I keep in mind not to support more than necessary and not to be too conservative due to respecting too much of fund contributors or Tokyo Headquarter.

Certificate of completion of training for teachers in Tajikistan

  In my student days, I was participating in volunteer organized by the citizen group that supported learning of foreigners living in Japan. I was preparing Articles of the Group together with Chuo University Faculty of Law’s senior student. My senior taught me in an easy-to-understand way, that I learned from this senior that clever person can teach in an easily understood manner in a simple words. I was impressed with this finding and it has changed my way of thinking. 　
  What I want to say to students who are seeking jobs is to “take it easy.” If you study hard, you can choose the university you are interested in and pave your way, but when it comes to job seeking, it is a matter of compatibility. Keep challenging until you get to meet a company you think it fit well. At the company I worked first, I spent my days asking to myself, “am I ok with here?” My parents used to tell me that few people can be a professional in the field one prefers, but I was skeptical in such opinion. That is why I decided to be an exchange student at the graduate school in England at the age of 27. Some Japanese may think that 27 is too old to be a student, however, to my surprise, there were 60 years old students in the graduate school I went. Thanks to such experience, I believe that taking actions when you decided is what matters.
  In addition, I was anxious since I did not have any special qualifications which will be an advantage when seeking job at NGO. Then, a European acquaintance of mine told me that “NGO is not a place that every workers possess some kind of special qualifications. There are workers who is in charge of logistic, and actually, logistic is the core part of NGO.” Being an exchange student was also a big event in my life that changed my sense of value. Everything and every time we challenge, we need to be mentally prepared!
  Enjoy the privilege of being a student! Keep challenging on things you can only do now. Have your dream; think deeply what and how you wanted to be in 10 or 20 years later. This way of thinking will help you when seeking jobs or when you become a manager of a company and need to create business plan; “what should our company be like in 10 to 20 years from now on and how will that be accomplished?” 　
  My recommendation to those who wish to work in the field of international cooperation, especially in NGO, is that “come to this field after experiencing various fields. “ There is not such area of “this particular field is the best to experience before working at NGO or international cooperation fields. It can be any. Every kinds of experience matters on the site of international cooperation. To tell the truth, those who have experiences in different fields can approach the issues from different point of view. Various perspectives are very important at the scene of international cooperation. When seeking jobs in Japan, enjoy the privilege of “a new graduate hiring”.