[Service Learning Experience] "An opportunity to put into practice what I've learned as a disaster prevention specialist" - Interview with a student who participated in the "Disaster Prevention Children's Cafeteria"
N.M., a third-year psychology student, participated in the "Disaster Prevention Children's Cafeteria," a service learning program aimed at solving problems in the local community. She came up with a recreational activity that would help children feel closer to disaster prevention, and was actively involved in running the event on the day. This time, we spoke to N.M.!
Why did you decide to participate in the Disaster Prevention Children's Cafeteria program?
I obtained my disaster prevention qualification in the winter semester of my second year, and I was thinking that it would be good to do a program related to that, so when I looked at the list of programs and saw that there was a program called Disaster Prevention Children's Cafeteria, I decided on it.
What was the most memorable or most enjoyable thing about your activities?
I was happy to see children participating in the recreational activities I had planned and to see parents listening intently to what I had to say.
What were some of the difficulties or confusions you faced during your activities?
It was the first time for everyone, and even when we thought about it, we didn't know how to put it into action. When we thought about recreation, we wanted to do it, but we didn't know what we needed to do it. In short, it was difficult to start from a state of not knowing anything.
We didn't know what kind of people would be coming or how many people would be coming, so we only had an impression of the numbers we heard from the teachers. Until we actually did the first event, we were confused by the fact that we had no idea what to expect and thought, "It probably won't be like this at all."
The "Disaster Prevention Children's Cafeteria" was a class mainly held at the Amagasaki campus, with many students from the Faculty of Education attending. How was it working with so many students from other departments?
There are a lot of students from the Faculty of Education.1With the first graders2There were a lot of first-year students, so I thought most of the people around me knew each other. I was the only one among them, but once we decided on the tasks and what we were going to do, we all became familiar with each other through the preparations we had made after doing it multiple times, so I think I was able to communicate surprisingly smoothly without having to think too much about it.
Many local residents came to the Disaster Prevention Children's Cafeteria. What did you feel when interacting with the local people?
Although we call it a Disaster Prevention Children's Cafeteria, I thought the main focus for the children would be eating and playing. However, through recreational activities and quizzes, the children happily said things like, "I now have disaster prevention knowledge." We talk about disaster prevention at home and at school as a familiar issue, so I realized that the children actually understand how important it is to learn about disaster prevention.
How do you plan to use this experience in the future?
During this recreational activity, I had the opportunity to explain and share with others what I learned as a disaster prevention specialist for the first time, and it made me realize that if I didn't have opportunities like this, I would end up forgetting it. I think that by having regular opportunities to explain to others, I can remember it for a longer period of time and actually try it out, so I hope to continue sharing it in this way in the future.
Please give a message to students who are interested in this type of activity!
You might feel nervous at first, and there will be many people from other departments, but once you start participating, you'll realize that in the end, everyone wants to do the same thing. For example, if you like children, you can focus on working with them, or even if you're not so good with children, you could take charge of recreational activities. You don't have to be able to do everything, so if you want to do something, just give it a try and you'll find a place where you can do it, so I think it's a good idea to give it a try.
[Service Learning Experience] "An opportunity to put into practice what I've learned as a disaster prevention specialist" - Interview with a student who participated in the "Disaster Prevention Children's Cafeteria"
