By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The students of North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) had recently attended the 3rd IRIS Program in Japan from February 1-8.
A total of 22 NEHU students, who were among the 50 delegates from the North East, attended the programme, which was undertaken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Japan, with an aim to educate participants on issues concerning environment and disaster management awareness, technological advancement, and to promote further understanding of Japan through seminars, observational tours and related facilities, among others.
During their stay, the participants visited different places in Tokyo, Nagasaki and Unzen.
At The Tokyo Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park — a central base of operations for disaster preventions in the Tokyo Metropolitan areas — students experienced the simulation of earthquake and the preventive measures.
Other places visited by the participants in Tokyo were Tokyo Hydrogen Museum, National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Tokyo Water Reclamation Centre, Tokyo Landfill Site.
An interaction session was also conducted with the International Volunteer University Students Association (IVUSA).
At Nagasaki, participants were given the opportunity to interact and hear stories from Atomic Bomb survivor, Yoshiro Yamawaki.
The participants had also visited the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and the hypocentre of the A-Bomb.
The delegates also planted trees at Farmland of Kojiro Green Promotion at Unzen City, observed the short video of the 1991 Pyroclastic Flow eruption of Unzen Volcano, and visited Mt. Unzen Disaster Memorial Hall.
The study tour ended with a detailed workshop about the entire programme, where delegates were asked to write their entire experience of the trip.
The delegates were also encouraged to take back the experiences learned throughout the trip, and impart them in their own community, colleges, universities and society at large.