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Studying abroad in the U.S. and volunteering at a refugee camp create a path to international cooperation

Masaki Watabe was drawn to international cooperation when he was studying abroad at Georgetown University in his third year. His initial focus was American foreign policy, but his classmates from diverse backgrounds and global issues such as poverty and ethnic conflicts struck him. Also, volunteering at a Bosnian refugee camp in Croatia inspired him to be a part of humanitarian aid. “Refugees are just like us,” Watabe said. “They are doing all that they can to live their daily lives together with their family and friends.”

After graduating, Watabe was hired by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a governmental agency that is responsible for Japan’s overseas development assistance. He worked diligently, wanting to give his share for developing countries suffering critical issues. Watabe traveled all over inner-China and started agricultural development projects with the locals.

“This experience taught me to communicate with the locals and see things from their perspective. A project’s success depends on how the beneficiaries feel about what’s being done. Development should not take a top-down approach. It must be collaborative.”

To further hone his expertise and grow as a professional, he entered graduate school in England and applied for a position at the United Nations.

“Now that I am a U.N. staff, it is rewarding to be able to serve humanity and inform people the importance of peace, development, and human rights, as stated in the United Nations Charter.”

Watabe faces challenges in a multicultural workplace and in developing countries under dire circumstances. However, he feels his coworkers are all eager and motivated to achieve their career goals in their own ways. “I thrive in this kind of environment,” he added.

He advises Waseda undergraduates to gain hands-on experience and create a new path for themselves to survive in an age of globalization.

“In Japan today, we must think more about children fighting poverty, gender inequality, and disaster prevention because they are all global problems prevalent to us. I’m sure there is a way to find a place nearby where you can connect with the world and learn a valuable lesson.”

Heartfelt experiences at the refugee camp

Watabe shared his experience volunteering in a Bosnian refugee camp in Croatia.

“The month I spent in the Bosnian refugee camp in Croatia was a life-changing experience. Until then, I examined conflicts and refugees from an academic point of view. I had studied about Bosnia and written a thesis on ethnic conflict. However, volunteering at the refugee camp was a firsthand experience for me to directly hear stories from refugees about what it was like being one. The only things I could do were to play with children and listen to the elderly, but I felt a heart-to-heart connection with the refugees. I believe I was able to gain this invaluable experience because I was a student.”

Leadership through cooperation and communication

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) organizes all governmental organizations, the UN organizations, the Red Cross, NGOs, and non-governmental groups. It takes leadership in logistics in case of a conflict or a natural disaster. Watabe currently works in the Kobe office and act as a spokesperson for OCHA in Japan. His work entails working together with people from diverse backgrounds, putting together reports, and delivering messages through the media. He said, “the English that I have honed during university really helps. My workplace values me because not only am I able to cooperate with people regardless of their nationalities, I am also very punctual and hardworking, an innate characteristics of being Japanese.”

※The article is based on an interview conducted in 2015.