【Cross Cultural Exchange Report】 Learning about different cultures helps us develop compassion and mutual acceptance.

EN-TRY World Exchange currently allows online exchange with over 300 preschools in 14 countries. In this report, we will introduce the Tanzania program and interviews with teachers! We will introduce with photos the activities through which Japanese and Tanzanian children came into contact with Tanzania!

●Exchange overview

On February 6th, children from Poppins Nursery School Mitaka Minami (Japan) and Sure Starts Inclusive Early Childhood and Primary School (Tanzania) participated in an online live international exchange. This was the first exchange for both schools!

Poppins Nursery School Mitaka Minami is a licensed nursery school located in Tokyo. Poppins' unique approach of combining education and childcare, "Educare," nurtures the individuality and abilities of each child. In addition, SDGs education is also part of daily activities in order to nurture children who will soar out into the world in the future.

The 5-year-old class participated in this exchange. For your information, the 4-year-old class is currently working on an international exchange with Australia!

Sure Starts Inclusive Early Childhood and Primary School is located in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and serves children aged 0 to 12 years old. Their mission is to provide a holistic education with a focus on social and emotional learning by promoting learning based on each child's individual needs. They nurture children's innate abilities, talents and interests.

Children aged 4 to 5 participated in this exchange from the Reception class.

●Preparatory learning by Tanzanian children

Japan and Tanzania are more than 10,000 km apart, and Japan is 6 hours ahead of Tanzania. Although the cultures are also very different, the children were exposed to a wide range of things, from kanji to the tea ceremony, and seemed very excited about the new experiences.

The official language in Tanzania is Swahili, but English is also taught. In the classroom, there is a free writing space where the children can freely practice writing. For this exchange, the teachers put up panels with the kanji characters from one to ten so that the children could also learn kanji!

They also experienced the culture of the tea ceremony, which is not often experienced in Tanzania. They imitated the tea ceremony etiquette by using tea utensils as a tea ceremony. It is rare to have a chance to experience this in real life, so it was great for the children to be able to put into practice what they had seen in the video. They reported this to their parents, and it seems that even parents are surprised by unfamiliar cultures.

They also enjoyed EN-TRY's video materials!

●Preparatory learning by Japanese children

Corn is the staple food in Tanzania. They tried making and eating ugali (a traditional African food). They started by touching the corn flour, checking the smell and texture... "It smells like corn potage!"

When they added water, it became like flour clay, and when they tried it, the children were confused by the bland taste and thick texture. But by the end, they had fun researching combinations with side dishes.

They tried practicing greetings in Swahili (goodbye, thank you), but it was hard for the children to remember words in Swahili that they were unfamiliar with. However, they were excited that they might be able to communicate at the live show, so they tried greeting each other while looking at the poster, and some even wrote it down on paper to take home and practice. And they actually managed to say "goodbye" at the live show! The children seemed very happy and accomplished.

These activities were planned by Ms. Matsui, who was in charge of the program, by selecting ideas from the EN-TRY collection of ideas for "getting to know the country." The children love origami and drawing, so they tried their hand at elephant origami and safari painting.

●Comments from teachers at both schools after the Live session

【From Japan】 We spoke with Ms. Matsui, who is in charge of the class.

I (Ms. Matsui) believe that learning about different cultures leads to fostering a sense of mutual acceptance. I think it is important not only to gain knowledge, but also to recognize differences, broaden interests, and learn compassion, knowing that everyone is different and everyone is good.

However, before the exchange program began, I was anxious. Of course, I was excited and looking forward to it, but I wondered if I could deepen the activities while raising the children's expectations...

However, once the program started, not only the children but also I had a lot of fun. Magoo (the exchange guide) sent us reference materials and worksheets, so I think it was good that we were able to use them to expand our activities at the nursery.

After the program, the children discovered things related to Tanzania, such as videos of animals and picture books about the country's flag, and responded happily to them. Making friends from other countries has given them a sense of closeness, and they have become deeply interested in neighboring countries such as Kenya. Based on what they have learned, they have broadened their imaginations, asking questions such as, "Is it hot? Do they eat ugali?" Perhaps because they have come to understand the differences by interacting with children of different skin colors, they have begun to ask what kind of people live in these countries. One child who knows many countries through soccer said that next he would like to meet a child from Brazil!

I had a very good time this time, but I hope we can continue to meet once every few months, rather than just once. I want to introduce seasonal events to each other and deepen our relationship. I feel it would be a waste to do it just once.

【From Tanzania】 We spoke to teacher Nataša Krsmanović.

We had a wonderful time on the day of the Live and throughout the entire program. Our children seemed to have really enjoyed the exchange program, and they were still talking a lot about their Japanese friends the day after the program and the day after that.

We have shared the video and report with the parents, so we are sure they will be pleased.

The program was not only a Live session but also had a rich pre-learning period, and we were able to lead the children with the support of Magoo (interaction guide) at every point and with the help of various new teaching materials. I think the content was of high quality, including not only activities for the children but also sharing with parents.

But what we felt was most important was that the children had a great time.

We would definitely recommend the EN-TRY program to other schools in Tanzania, and I look forward to sharing it with my friends back in Serbia, where I come from.

●Conclusion

It is very important to acquire various information as knowledge and to learn languages. EN-TRY provides various teaching materials and the school seems to have made efforts to allow the children to experience the world using flags and other things.

However, from the children's behavior and feedback from the teachers, we heard wonderful voices saying that it was wonderful that they felt close to a faraway foreign country through the time they spent together, and that they gained joy and a sense of reality by actually interacting with it.

Of course, just having an online live session once will not mean that the children will be able to speak the language or have sufficient knowledge. However, we believe that the experience of making friends with children in faraway countries can be a major catalyst that will change the way children see the world in the future.