International Exchange Programmes between Japan and Other UNESCO Member
States for the Promotion of International Cooperation and Mutual Understanding-2007 Programme for Professionals in the Fields of UNESCO’ s CompetenceA Study Tour for Learning Good Practices of ESD in Non-Formal Education
All rights reserved. No portion of this report may be reproduced, by any process ortechnique, without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copy rights © 2008 by the Steering Committee for ESD Workshops & Symposium, andAsia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO.
Published in May 2008
Edited by Yoshiyuki Nagata, Aiko Morikawa, Reiko Nakata and Sachiyo Soga
Printed in JapanTABLE OF CONTENTS
Prefacei

Programme Information
1. Introduction and Programme Background
2. Objectives
3. Results

1
12

II.

Proceedings

3

III.

Comments and Suggestions

27

IV.

Technical Inputs
1. “Challenges of Development Work in Lao P.D.R.”
Mr. Sombath Somphone, PADETC
2. “Education for Sustainable Developmentin the Asia-Pacific Region”
Ms. Yokoi Aya and Ms. Suzuki Kaoru, UNESCO Bangkok

I.

V.

Annex A
1. Programme Schedule
2. List of Participants
3. List of Collaborating Organisations
4. Photos
5. Final Wrap-up meeting with PADETC staff
Annex B
1. “Challenges of Development Work in Lao P.D.R.”
Mr. Sombath Somphone
2. “Sustainability in the Educational Philosophyand Practice of Moo Baan Dek”
Ms. Rajani Dhongchai

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V. Annex A

1. Programme Schedule
DATE
Day 1:
6 February, 2008

Day 2:
7 February, 2008
(Vientiane, Laos)

TIME
10:45
15:45

Departure from Narita
Arrival at Bangkok

19:35
20:45

Departure from Bangkok
Arrival at Vientiane

9:30-10:00
10:00-11:30
11:30-12:00
12:00-13:00

Opening Session at PEDETC
Lecture by Mr. Sombath Somphone
Break
Lecture by Ms. Chanthalangsy Sisouvanh andMr. Bounpanh Vannboubpha
Lunch Break
Visit the Non-Formal Education Development
Centre (NFEDC)
Visit the Department of Non-Formal Education,
Ministry of Education.
Sightseeing at Patousay
Wrap-up Meeting

13:30-14:00
14:00-15:00
15:30-16:30
17:00-18:00
20:00-21:00
Day 3:
8 February, 2008
(Vientiane, Laos)

10:15-12:30
12:30-13:30
14:30-16:00
16:45-17:30
17:45-18:15
18:30-18:50
19:00-21:00

Day 4:
9 February, 2008
(Vientiane, Laos)

ACTIVITIES

9:30-10:30
10:45-12:00
12:00-13:00
13:30-17:00
18:30
19:30
20:00-21:45
22:00-23:00

Visit the PADETC project site: Thaphoxay
Village
Lunch and Cultural Exchange Activity
Observation of Monk Training at Nakounnoy
Village
Visit the PADETC Project Site: Phakaned
Handicraft Company
Sightseeing at That Luang
Wrap-up Meeting
Dinner with Mr. Sombath Somphone
Visit the PADETC’s Garbage Separation Site:
Lao Chalern Recycling
Interaction with PADETC volunteers at school
Lunch Break
Wrap-up Meeting wit Mr. Somphone andPADETC Staff.
Departure for Luang Prabang
Arrival at Luang Prabang
DinnerWrap-up Meeting45Day 5:
9:30-10:00
10 February, 2008
10:15-11:00(Lunag Prabang,Laos) 11:00-12:00
12:00-13:00
13:00-13:30
13:30 Day 6:
11 February, 2008
(Kanchanaburi,Thailand)

8:00
9:40
9:40-14:00
14:00-14:30
15:00-17:00
17:00-18:30
18:30-19:30
20:00-21:00

Day 7:
12 February, 2008
(Kanchanaburi andBangkok, Thailand)

7:45-8:30
8:30-10:00
10:00-11:30
11:30-12:30
12:30
13:30-14:30
14:30 -16:00
16:30-17:30
18:00-19:30

Visit Wat Hosin
Mt. Phousi Climbing
Visit Lunag Prabang National Museum
Visit the World Heritage Sites: Wat Xiengthong
Lunch Break
Sightseeing
Departure for Bangkok
Arrival at Bangkok
Move to Children’s Village School: Moo Baan
Dek in Kanchanaburi
Ap naam (Swimming in the River Kwai)
Welcome Session and Lecture by Ms. Rajani
Dhongchai
Break and Dinner
Gathering with Children, Cultural Exchange
Activity
Wrap-up Meeting

20:30-23:00

Morning walk
Morning Assembly with Children
School Tour led by Ms Rajani Dongchai
Lunch and Shopping
Farewell to Moo Baan Dek
Visit Kanchanaburi War Cemetery
Visit Kanchanaburi War Museums
Visit the office of FFC (Foundation for Children)
Dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Dhongchai and Otherstaff
Wrap-up MeetingDay 8:
10:00-12:00
13 February, 2008
(Bangkok, Thailand)
12:00-13:00
13:30-18:00
19:30-20:30
23:00

Visit the UNESCO Bangkok Office, Lecture byMs. Yokoi
Lunch with Ms. Suzuki
Final Wrap-up Meeting
Dinner with UNESCO staff
Departure for Narita

Day 9:
14 February, 2008

Arrival in Narita Airport

7:30

46

2. List of Participants
Mr. Yoshiyuki Nagata
Director, Selection Committee Member of ACCU-UNESCO Asia-Pacific ESD Programme

Associate Professor, University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo
Email: yoshy@pobox.com
Mr. Hironari Gotoh
Representative, Glo-cal Neighborhood
Email: glo-cal@uranus.dti.ne.jp
Mr. Yoshihiko Fujita
Specialist, Planning Division
Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU)
Email: fujita@accu.or.jp
Ms. Tamami Zaha
Specialist, Education Division
Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU)
Email: tzaha@accu.or.jp
Ms. Kana Matsui
Freelance Symposium Coordinator
Email: U1125kana@gmail.com
Ms. Aiko Morikawa
Postgraduate Student, International Christian University
Email: aiko_morikawa@hotmail.com
Ms. Reiko Nakata
Postgraduate Student, University of Tokyo
Email: nakata05@hotmail.com
Ms. Sachiyo Soga
Postgraduate Student, University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo
Email: erafeliz@hotmail.com
47

3. List of Collaborating Organisation
PADETC（Participatory Development Training Center）
Tel: (+856)-21-219130, 243790, or 252457
Fax: (+856)21-219130
Address: P.O.Box 2147, Vientiane, Lao P.D.R.
E-mail address: padetc@etllao.com
padetc@padetc.org
Moo Baan Dek (Children’s Village School)
Tel: (+66)09-410-4427, 09-410-4429, 06-303-6386
Fax: (+66)03-451-5106
Address: Latya-Srisawat Rd., Kanchanaburi 71190, Siam (Thailand)E-mail address: mbd@ffc.or.th48

4. Photos
7 February, 2008
Lecture at the PADETC and Visiting the public offices49

8-9 February, 2008
Observation of the PADETC’s activities

50

51

9 February, 2008
Final Wrap-up meeting & Presentation

52

10 February, 2008
Luang Prabang53

11-12 February, 2008
Death Railway and Moo Baan Dek In Kanchanaburi

54

13 February, 2008
In Bangkok

55

5. Final wrap-up meeting with PADETC staff
On the first day, we were asked by Mr. Somphone to make comments and suggestions
on what PADETC is doing. Having observed its activities for two and half days, we have cometo the conclusion to make a presentation with pictures in front of PADETC staff in order toexpress our feelings and impression. The pictures with explanations presented by eachparticipant are as follows.
Ms. Reiko Nakata
この木なんの木気になる木

Kono Ki Nan no Ki ･ Kini naru Ki(Title of a Japanese song, which means:
I wonder what this tree is – I am curious about it!)This is a tree, a big tree, which I felt on thejourney and through meeting people in Laos. AndI felt that I am a part of this tree.
The root of the tree is the “Asian-beat” –songs and clapping rhythms of the village women,dance and music of the student volunteers. I felt
like I “knew” this rhythm – or I should say mybody and heart knew this rhythm. It reminded meat once of my grandmother and mother, and I felt home. There I knew our roots are the same. Iam Asian.
The trunk of the big tree, there is the life – the happy life of the human being. I felt thatthe women in the weaving village are living with both livability and contentment – they now
have income and can buy things they need. And what is most important, they live happily
together with their family and neighbors. They told us with joy that they could afford theirchildren to go to school, and that they have good (and even better) relationship with theirhusbands and children.
But now the tree is growing bigger and bigger – in different directions. Main big
directions of the branches of the tree are inspired by Mr. Sombath’s diagram. Of these branches,
economy has the strongest power. The power is really strong, that is pulling everything towards
it. The tree is loosing its balance.
The village women are living life with balance and contentment – but will it last? Or is it56

to be pulled towards economy? That is the question I want to ask. And I will be following it, as
one of the small leaf on the big big tree.
And that question comes back to me, too, reflecting. I will be in the middle of theeconomy branch soon, when I begin working at a private company in Japan. My challenge is,
how to pull this branch towards the other branches, and making them connected and entwined.
Though that must be a hard job to do, it is worth trying – with a smile!
This tree is named – after a communication and collaboration between us and PADETC
staff – as the tree of Buddha!
Reiko Nakata☺

Ms. Aiko Morikawa
Sustainable Living in Laos
Before coming to Laos, our group had an
opportunity to meet Ms. Kobayashi, a specialist
from JICA who used to work in Laos. She told usthat Lao people may be the happiest people in theworld. At that time, I had no idea why she wouldsay so. However, having visited Laos and spenttime with Lao people, I feel like I know why she
said so.
After visiting Laos, I came to realise that thekey to happiness / contentment is “togetherness”
and “connectedness”. When I visited the weaving
village, where one of the income generation
projects of PADETC is taking place, I saw women
working together, cooking together, eating, singing and dancing together. They seemed very
happy and contended with their life. They welcomed us into their home, and treated us just liketheir family. I immediately felt at home as I was invited to their home, and I had a great timeeating food, singing and dancing together with other people. I felt very happy, and thisexperience has convinced me that happiness comes from feeling close to other people.
Also, I was fascinated by how Lao people were living closely to their surrounding nature.
In the weaving village, vegetables and animals were grown and raised in their garden; clothes
were made out of silk that silkworm produced; and furniture or houses were made of woods andbamboos. They were using what was available to them in the local community to sustain their57

living, and they were using them very wisely. I thought they have a great wisdom that people inJapan or elsewhere may have lost.
I think it is important that people feel connected to other people and to the surrounding
nature not only to feel happy / contended but also to have a sustainable living. However,Japanese people as well as others in the world have been forced to work more to make moremoney to survive in this globalised society, and losing the feelings of connectedness with others
and nature. As a result, many people in Japan are committing suicide, feeling depressed or
isolating themselves from the society.
What can we do to solve and cope with this problem? What can we do to make our living
more sustainable in this globalised world? This is a difficult question, and no single answer isthere. However, I now know that there are people who are working for the better like you, and it
encourages me to do the same.
I am hoping that we keep this relationship last long, and work together for sustainable
development. Thank you so much for your great SMILES ☺

AikoMr. Yoshiyuki Nagata
Dream of a Cocoon~ Where are they going? ~When a silkworm makes a cocoon, it dreams a beautiful
dream, imaging that it will give a world of human beings
comfort, security and happiness. Nowadays however, their
dreams are being threatened by an unidentified black cloud of“globalisation”. As long as Kip, Laotian currency, fromproducts of cocoons is connected with basic human needs
such as health, school education, and possibly with modest
luxuries including Honda, Sony, Nokia, one can see smiles
on people’s faces. But there is a turning point where thesesmiles disappear, and their original dreams become
unbalanced and twisted. Lao people in villages we visited
seemed to be standing at the threshold of “globalisation,” andheading into a sphere of the black cloud.

58Ms. Sachiyo Soga

The Earth and Myself
While I stayed in Vientiane, I had some opportunities to see the PADETC’s activities.
Among them, what moved me the most was the visit to the Thaphoxay village where women
were engaged in weaving and producing the silk clothes. Women were very cheerful and looked
like mothers in big families. They were connected with nature, for example, trees, rice andvegetables, animals, fields, and so on. And they were also connected with their families and thecommunity. After visiting the village, we moved to the company, where silkworms were raised
and strings from cocoons were produced. I saw a life cycle of silkworms for the first time.
I felt the connectedness of all things through these. I re-thought about silkworms from theview of a Japanese letter. Silkworms can be written “蚕” in Chinese character. Upper part is “天heaven”, and lower part is “虫(insects or bugs)”. It was amazing and mystic that silkworms（蚕）in Japanese shows that silkworms are insects connected with the heaven. At that time, I had aninspiration to create a letter that there has a life (命) between heaven (天) and insects (虫). I
created this new Chinese character to mean “the earth”. We, all of the lives, including the insects,animals, plants and so on are living in the Earth between the heaven and the land in which
insects are living. The letter tells us that all of the lives are connected with the Earth. That is
why we have to protect it, and not to dominate or control it.
And in the second paper, I expressed myself. In the earth, I also live. But I sometimes forget
to reflect on myself because I am busy in daily life. Since coming to Vientiane, especially since
I asked Mr.Somphone when the happiest time is, I have thought of myself. I tried to face myself.
I stared at my name that means who I am, and I found the following.
My name is Soga (曽我) Sachiyo (幸代). Soga is a family name and there is ga (我) thatmeans I or myself, and Sachiyo is a given name and there is sachi (幸) that means happiness. So,I wrote 我幸―I am happy, or I have a happiness.―in the paper. That is my name and I could
realise who I am. I appreciate giving me such a wonderful opportunity. Thank you.

59

Ms. Tamami Zaha

Where We Live Together
This is the world I felt during our short but inspiring stay in Vientiane,This is the world
Where people live hand in hand,Some are smilingSome are crying
Some are raging
Where everyone has a heart, which all connected within
This is the world
Where we see with our eyes
Where we listen with our ears
Where we feel with our skin
Where we taste, and speak, with our mouth
Where we smell with our nose
Where all the feelings are being integrated within
This is the world
Where there are dogs that we live together with
Where there are cats that we live together with
Where there are fish that we take
Where there are ducks that we take
Where there are silkworms producing silk that we wear
Where all the creatures are connected within
60

This is the world
Where we fly by plethora of airplanes
Where we drive plethora of cars
Where we consume and discard the resources within,
Nonetheless, we create circulation within
This is the world
That is embraced by the earth and spirits
With grass, flowers, trees, and rivers
This is the world
Where each and every one of us keeps brightness within
Which is the energy concentrated and permeate into the world
This is the world
Whose pattern can be found in any corner of the globe
This is the world
Where we live together.

Ms. Kana MatsuiSpiral Tension
Spiral has tension. There are two vectors; oneextends upward and the other downward. In this figure,the vectors extending upward (yellow part) areconnected with PADETC (the centre circle) andexpressed good condition of the society. On the otherhand, the downward circles are not connected withPADETC; Lao’s sad reality and Japanese society.
Although we saw some good practices of PADETC in
Lao, we could also imagine the dark aspect such as
poverty of this country. Japan as well, is facing somesocial problems due to losing connection or compassion
for each other. Many people are suffering in this no-smile society.
61This figure may also be divided into right and left depending on economic
circumstances. In addition, we should never miss some dark or bright points in each of upwardand downward. They suggest that each side has opposite possibility.
Through this study tour we could share a lot of things with PADETC members, and it
was just like flowers blooming. We can bring these flowers back to Japan and share them with
our suffering friends.
Again, spiral has tension. It never comes back to the same place. We should
lead its spin into upward direction.

Mr. Hironari Gotoh
Crisis of a Sustainable Society
I would like to explain about the country, LaosP.D.R., by making an analogy of a fish in the MekongRiver.

A fish in the Mekong River is getting fatter and fatterthese days.
Feeling dizzy and being constipated, he went to see adoctor one day. The doctor said,“You have lifestyle-related diseases. A fish like you
cannot become normal again once you start eating toomuch, and once you start eating only what you think aredelicious. You should eat moderately and have a balanced diet by having more plankton and having
less fried food. If you do not change the way you live your life right now, you will end up withhaving a disease of an internal organ, and will be diagnosed with cancer within 10 years.”
Having heard this, a fish reflected on his own lifestyle.
Then, he realised that what the doctor told him was true: he was constantly having a lotof processed food that tastes good. Furthermore, he realised that abnormal change was occurring not
only in his body, but also in the river itself: the temperature of the river was getting higher andhigher these days. As the temperature of the river has gone up, his friends and he brought airconditioners in their rooms. While everyone says that it is comfortable to have air conditioners intheir rooms, the temperature of the river keeps rising up. Then, he started to feel that something waswrong about his surrounding environment.

62Published bySteering Committee for ESD Workshops & Symposium
c/o Dept. of Education, University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo
4-3-1 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan 150-8938
TEL : +81-3-3407-5914
FAX : +81-3-5485-3526
May, 2008
Printed in Japan