A BRIDGE IS BUILT
SelbyC. Jenkins
Principal, Port Hacking High School (1959-1968)
The J.O. student exchange project, now in the twentieth year of operation, was the first such venture to be organized as a school-to-school project which brought visiting students directly under the control of the host school. The advantages of such an arrangement are very obvious and certainly explain why this particular project has continued without interruption for such a long period.
Long association with the international work of Rotary and twenty years of experience as a High School Headmaster had encouraged me to believe that a valuable contribution to the cause of world peace and international understanding and goodwill might be made by bringing together young people of different countries and different cultural and historical backgrounds. Such a project, if successful, might demonstrate to the world that it is possible for people of different races to live, work and play together in complete harmony and understanding.
The years following World War II were a testing time for the education services of many countries. Here, in Australia, our schools were called upon to provide for an influx of refugees, families from all parts of the world displaced by war and compelled to seek new homes. Most of these new citizens came to us with no knowledge of the English language, so we had to contend with a major problem of communication. Having seen how readily pupils of twenty-seven different nationalities could be assimilated in a large high school, my thoughts returned to the idea of using student exchange to promote international brotherhood. After much reading and numerous consultations, I decided to negotiate with Japanese education authorities.Unfortunately, Japan was a country of which I knew very little and there was nota single person whom I could claim as a friend. However, valuable help and advice were given to me by the Japanese Consulate-General in Sydney and theAustralian Embassy in Tokyo and I gradually began to fell confident that it would not be difficult to find in Japan a kindred spirit who would share my enthusiasms for a project which might help in some small way to make this world of ours a better and happier place than it had been for our own generations.
In1962, as a preliminary to a much more ambitious programme, we established a student exchange project with Mount Roskill Grammar School of Auckland, NewZealand. This gave us very valuable experience and three years later we were ready to seek a “sister school” in Japan. In August of that year I sailed fromBrisbane on S.S.”Arafura” which was carrying a cargo of wool and meat for Yokkaichi, Nagoya, Kobe and Yokohama. That was the first time I had ever heardo f Nagoya. My original plan had been to proceed direct to Tokyo to contact the Education Department. But typhoon Lucy changed all that by delaying the ship as we approached the Japanese coast. While Lucy was doing her best to upset my schedule, a radio message from the Australian Embassy in Tokyo informed me that all schools were on vacation in August and advised me to contact the Mayor of the city I might be visiting. The captain of Arafura was a good friend ofNagoya and he strongly advised me to make my way to City Hall as soon as we reached Nagoya. I landed there on Tuesday 24th August , 1965 —a date which may be regarded as the birthday of the J.O. Exchange Project. I arrived at City Hall shortly after 11 A.M. and a few minutes later I was telling Mayor Sugito of my desire to start an exchange plan for high school students of Port Hacking and a Japanese high school. An hour later I had the pleasure of knowing that my plan had been approved. Mayor Sugito told me to expect a communication from Nagoya Kita Senior High School at an early date. He must have acted very promptly, for when I reached Sydney ten days later a letter from Mr. Okada, Headmaster of Kita High School was there waiting for me.I knew then that my dream was about to come true and that early in 1966 there would be Japanese exchange students at my own Port Hacking High School. TeruyoInoue and Shigeko Niwa were the two lucky girls chosen to pioneer the project and the morning of their arrival at Sydney Airport was certainly a day to remember.
The welcoming party included a large group of pupils from Port Hacking High School,reinforced bay a few hundred curious citizens attracted by the students lined up outside of the Customs Hall. The appearance of Shigeko and Teruyo was the signal for an ovation that Japanese girls will remember for the whole of their lives. The enthusiasms of the onlookers was shared by journalists of Sydney press and two of our dailies printed large photographs of the girls on their front page, with the caption “A CHERRY BLOSSOM SMILE FOR SYDNEY.”
Years have passed since that arrival morning in 1966 and the host schools in and around the Sutherland Shire have changed from time to time. Much progress has been made and the “Bridge of Friendship” which was once only a dream in an old Headmaster’s mind has become a reality. In 1970, Australian students went for the first time to Nagoya, and Sydney and Nagoya are now “SisterCities.” Many former exchange students have returned as mature adults to the host country of their schooldays and parents of students have followed in the footsteps of their children, sampling the warmth of the friendship awaiting them in a foreign land.
I sincerely thank Mr. Okada for his loyal friendship and support at every stage of the J.O. Project and all the good friends in Japan and Australia who have made the project possible. I shall always be most grateful to the young exchange students who have been such splendid ambassadors for their country and their school. Our deepest gratitude is due to the parents who trusted their children to our care and to the host families who opened their homes and their hearts to our visitors from another land.
My personal involvement in the exchange project has naturally been reduced by my retirement from the teaching service, but I find great satisfaction in the knowledge that I have been privileged to see at least one dream come true.
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From “Building A Bridge of Friendship beyond the Equator: 20 years of Nagoya Kita Senior High school Exchange Programme”
published by T Okada in 1985.
『友情は赤道を越えて〜北高学生交換20年史〜1985』 p.129-130
