Paraguay National Day Special
Programs help to empower rural women
RAUL FLORENTIN
AMBASSADOR OF PARAGUAY

In celebration of
Paraguay’s 211thanniversary ofindependence, wewanted to share abright symbol ofthe friendship that
depicts the diplomatic relations
between Paraguayand Japan, which date back more than 100years. Paraguay promotes numerous initiatives for rural women to empower them,and the inspiring actions of Yoko Fujikake,dean of the College of Urban Sciences at
Yokohama National University, deserve a
special highlight in this effort.
She first set foot in Paraguay in January
1993 as a member of the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s Overseas
Cooperation Volunteers. Her task was to aid
the rural women and children in Coronel
Oviedo working with the Extension Serviceof the Paraguayan Ministry of Agricultureand Livestock. During the two years andthree months of her residency, she visited
37 villages and taught local women about
nutrition and processed food production.
Fujikake established factories to produce
processed food in two of the villages and achildren’s day care center in another. Thesefacilities enabled women to work whilestill living in their villages. They soon began
negotiating with their spouses and public
officials. The outcome of their efforts wasfruitful, successfully joining local farmers’markets to sell their products. By addressing their wants and needs to public officials,
they also got involved in managing day
care facilities. Such proactive communication initiated by the women inspired thepublic, including the men, adding support
to meet the challenges the women faced.

This development led the local women
to not only fend for themselves, but alsotransform their core belief systems. One
woman proudly stated, “I am no longer theperson whom I was yesterday.” As part ofher continuing support, Fujikake organized
a JICA Technical Cooperation Project atYokohama National University to improve
the lives of rural women in Paraguay, from
September 2016 to December 2021.
The outcome of this project showed evidence of a huge impact on local communities. Originally aimed at attracting 390
individuals, it grew much bigger, directlyaffecting 919 individuals by the end of thefirst project, 236% more than Fujikake’s
original goal. Some women became leaders in local food businesses and beganteaching business management at elementary schools. Others founded La Colmena
Entrepreneurial Women’s Association,
which systematically oversees its products.
The positive outcome is not merely on thesurface, but deeply personal. One participant said, “In the past, we used to keep ourheads down like turtles, but now we lookat the world with our heads held high up,
like giraffes.” What Fujikake has brought
to rural Paraguay unveils the substantial
improvement in quality of life, especiallywith gender equality.
Back in May 1995, Fujikake establisheda children’s foundation called Mita’i Mitakuna’i. Mita’i means boys and mitakuna’imeans girls in Guarani, the indigenous language of Paraguay.
To date, the fund has founded threerural elementary schools, as well as a nursery school. It also assisted the residents of
Banado Sur, a slum in Asuncion, inviting
the Cateura Orchestra to Japan to perform concerts in 2013. In 2018, a program
to improve the quality of people’s lives
in Banado Sur was developed with localyouth. Since 2018, the women have been
trained to obtain the skills for fingernailart, and in 2022, the hair art project will beinitiated for local residents to obtain hairstyling skills. Being actively involved in avariety of projects as chairperson of Mita’i
Mitakuna’i Foundation, Fujikake also
avidly supports the fair trade of nanduti,
the traditional lace embroidery recognized
as Paraguay’s intangible cultural heritage.
A new undertaking for this local treasure
will be developed to improve the qualityof nanduti in collaboration with Mie Elena
Iwatani, an expert in nanduti production.
In early 2022, Fujikake inaugurated thesecond phase of her project in the hope offostering the development of agritourism.
This new enterprise takes advantage of therich natural resources remaining in rural
Paraguay so that tourists will come to appreciate various local experiences, such as cassava harvesting and milking in dairy farms.
While all contributions to Paraguay by
the Japanese may be vast, by describing
Paraguay as her second home, Fujikake
continues to endorse her enthusiasm toimprove the lives of Paraguayans, especially women, in her projects.
This content was compiled in collaboration with the embassy. The views expressed
here do not necessarily reflect those of thenewspaper.

Yoko Fujikake of
Yokohama National
University points toa sign during an
intensive lecture inCoronel Oviedo in
September 2019.
Far left: Rural womenparticipate in a
lecture at the La
Colmena Branch of
Nihon Gakko University in Paraguay in
September 2017.
YNU/JICA

Congratulations
to the People of
the Republic of Paraguay
on the Occasion of
the Anniversary of
Their Independence

Ambassador Raul Florentin and Yoko Fujikake(sixth and fifth from left) pose with trainees at
Yokohama National University in November
2019. YNU/JICA

PAGE: 6

Congratulations
to the People of
the Republic of Paraguay
on the Occasion of
the Anniversary of
Their Independence