Meiji Gakuin University releases a new video in its “Why Meiji Gakuin University?” series: “What the Children of Cambodia Taught Me”

We have released the latest video in our “Why Meiji Gakuin University?” series, which depicts students considering what they can do now and how they can put that into practice.

This video features Ryo Takeuchi, a third-year student studying in the Department of Social Work of the Faculty of Sociology & Social Work. Mr. Takeuchi says he enrolled in Meiji Gakuin University to learn about international support and welfare, something he became interested in after watching a documentary.

He continues to support learning for Cambodian children he visited through both his classes and seminar fieldwork, and he is furthermore working to support the learning of nonnative children in Japan.

Mr. Takeuchi, who is learning about international support in the Department of Social Work, says, “I consider social welfare to be a discipline that considers how we can realize a society where not only vulnerable people but everyone—including myself, my friends, and my family—can lead a better life.”

He says he became interested in this field when he was a child, after watching a documentary about children in developing countries. Through seminar fieldwork in his second year, he visited a learning support facility in Cambodia, where he participated in volunteer activities such as teaching classes for children from poor families who cannot attend public school.

Through on-site activities (which he describes as “completely different from watching television or reading a book”) and seminar lectures, he says he has deepened his understanding of “others” with different backgrounds, and that he learned the importance of respecting those differences.

Mr. Takeuchi further describes how amidst online student life during the COVID-19 pandemic he struggled to deepen relationships between seminar students and enhance teamwork, what he felt during his student life at Meiji Gakuin University, and his dreams for the future.

We hope you will enjoy this video.