I would first like to extend a warm welcome to The Right Honourable David Carter, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to the ambassador to Japan, His Excellency Mr. Mark Sinclair. On behalf of Sendai Ikuei Gakuen, welcome.
My name is Takehiko Kato, and I am the principal and CEO of Sendai Ikuei Gakuen.
Here at Miyagino Campus, the damage we incurred after the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent aftershocks was so severe that expert consultants recommended complete reconstruction of our buildings. And 13 months later, on April 9th of this year, we were able to re-open our newly rebuilt campus to our returning students. It is a source of great pride and joy that we can offer our campus as one example of the continuing recovery taking place in the Tohoku region.
As you know, we were able to construct 3 new buildings in just 2 years despite the rising cost of building materials, lack of workers, and other problems we faced in the months after the disaster. This was all largely thanks to the hard work and cooperation of the construction companies and affiliated business who worked so hard to help us rebuild.
On October 1st, we celebrated our 108th anniversary. In that time we have faced 3 major reconstructions: since the forced relocation due to the air raids and troop occupations of World War II, the buildings damaged in the great fire of 1965, and the 2011 disaster, our school has now rebuilt itself 3 times.
This recovery was accomplished through many individual and vital efforts, including the swift and clear instructions for rebuilding from the government, and the guidance given to us as a model of private school recovery from the prefectural government. It was accomplished through the support and hard work both at home and abroad from students, parents, and alumni, many of whom were themselves victims. And it was accomplished by students who returned to their school lives in such difficult conditions.
Please now take a moment to observe our newly rebuilt school facilities, which combine both state-of-the-art education facilities with the newest anti-earthquake design.
This disaster is a good opportunity for this school to once again consider the importance of our school’s educational philosophy of “globalization”. Many of our friends around the world have shown their support in the wake of the earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster. In particular, our students who were victims of the disaster were immeasurably helped by the invitations and experiences studying abroad with our sister schools.
Mahurangi College, represented today by Ms. Tracy Martin, has been a sister school of ours since 1994. I would like to thank her and Mahurangi College again for the donations and messages of support, as well as for giving full scholarships to students studying abroad in the wake of the disaster.
Since 1992 we have established 9 sister school relationships in and around Christchurch and Auckland, where more than 40 students have enjoyed a study abroad experience. In the past, we have also welcomed 10 of your rugby students and three coaches to our school. Today, the alumni of our study abroad programs act as a bridge between New Zealand and Japan.
Sadly, our school, known for its early and eager adoption of international understanding and exchange, continues to face many difficulties due to the number of rumors surrounding the safety of Sendai following the earthquake and nuclear disaster. But even in such conditions, the Christchurch Boys’ High School, a sister school to ours and themselves victims of the 2010 earthquake in New Zealand, came to volunteer in disaster areas of Tohoku in April 2012, just one year after the earthquake. And moreover, in February of 2013, of our 80 sister schools in 14 countries, the first to re-establish exchange programs was Kaiapoi High School.
Your country’s continued presence and support has been a huge encouragement both to me, and our school. I would like to ask for your continued interest and cooperation in our exchange programs, and to extend my deepest gratitude once more.
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