Wed, 30/04/2014

Recently Mary hosted a morning tea for the Tohoku Youth Program, a group of young people made orphans by the tragic tsunami in 2011.

The Tohoku Youth Program, run by the Australia-Japan Society Inc in the Canberra, assists the young Japanese people made orphans by the disastrous earthquake and tsunami to enjoy a short holiday in Canberra. During their visit, the young people are home-stayed in pairs with generous families in Canberra.

The group was led by Mr Hiromitsu Mori, who studied at the ANU more than 30 years ago and who has also held the position as the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Mr Mori was assisted by Ms Aki Kobayash, a representative of Ashinaga Ikuei Kai, a not-for-profit organisation in Japan that assists young people affected by the tsunami.

“This is the third group of young adults from the Tohoku Youth Group I have had the honour of meeting and I am grateful that I was able to have morning tea with them during their busy schedule in Canberra,” Mary said.

“It was wonderful to see the smiles and grins on their faces when I asked them of their Canberra experiences, even though there was a language barrier,” Mary said.

The Group’s busy schedule included a visit to Radford College, Questacon and a meeting with the Japanese Ambassador. Ms Porter also successfully arranged a visit to the National Zoo and Aquarium.

For more information on the Australia-Japan Society, please visit http://ajsact.com.au/