FASID（財）国際開発高等教育機構 Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development ＞＞English Site

FASID Fieldwork Program
What Former Participants Say About This Program

Summer 2007-Kappe Village, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Akino Midhany Tahir (Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology)

First time I heard about the fieldwork program, I was very eager to find out more. I decided to join out of curiosity. My expectation was that throughout this program, I would be able to learn more about working with community, which has always been my passion. To be honest, I had a blur idea about the program. But when I flew from Tokyo to Makassar, somehow I had the feeling that it would be one of unforgettable experiences I have. Also, I knew that I was going to be with friends who seemed to be very nice, and indeed they are, so I was very looking forward for it.

When I stepped my foot on Kappe for the first time, I suddenly realized that the village would be part of me for the next few days and that I wanted to know more about it. I took a quick glance at the area and the people, and started to wander on how these people live. The village was quite small and isolated, so what is it there that makes people stay, and how do people think about their lives? I think, unconsciously I imagined being a young villager there. Then I found myself assuming that I may not be happy, may not be satisfied with life and would want to escape from there. Of course my life and feeling is not comparable with theirs, but somehow I felt the need to find the answer. So when we were told to find and pursue our wonder, I decided to find answer of those questions.

In a few days I learned a few things about life in Kappe. The most obvious thing was that there were not so many young people around. They migrated. Staying was not a preferred option and those who stay were almost all forced, either by marriage, by family condition, or by other situation. They believe that there were no available opportunities to make a living besides dying fishponds. In contrast to that, other groups found out that actually the village is rich of natural resources: sea resources, rice paddies, gardens, etc. If know how to deal with the resources, people can actually live a more prosperous life. Yet, the village was dying. It was running out of young people; it was losing its local wisdom because of few transfer of knowledge on how to manage resources; and there were many other intangible problems.

Then I looked at my host family, young ex-migrant couple with 2 years-old child, and realized that my age difference with them must not be more than 10 years. By the time my age is the same with them, I am pretty sure that I still want to explore the world, so I was really curious on how they finally decided to come back to the small village and settled there for good, knowing that less prosperous life was waiting in front of them. What is more, when asked whether happy or not, they said they are, very. It made me wandering about what the meaning of happiness is. Can it be measured by materials, or by fulfillment of basic needs, or simply by living with the loved ones?

Later, I realized that this experience was not about finding answers of different questions I had, nor about meeting the expectation and purposes I planned. It was more about finding myself. There are many unanswered questions from this experience that make me step back and look through what I have had and what I hope to do in the future. I believe these questions is what motivates me to work with community, and that tat some point of my life, I will finally find the answers Apparently, the village becomes part of me longer than I expected and this program is indeed an unforgettable experience for me. The most important thing is, there, I found a new family and friends.

Summer 2007-Kappe Village, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Yoko Homma (Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University)

“How did I enjoy the program? What did I feel through the program?”

After this special experience on the FASID Fieldwork Program, I am still not sure about what I gain from it and what fieldwork is after all. Furthermore, I have got more questions and “wonders” about it now here in Japan. Looking back at the reason why I participated this program, it was very simple; to know what fieldwork is actually. Is fieldwork a method for a research? Can it be academic? What kind of things we need to be careful about when we do fieldwork? These kinds of questions used to be in my mind, always, and still now though. Personally, I have stayed many developing countries before and I experienced and learned many things before. So I tried to have different perspectives and emotion this time, which means that I tried to free myself from current interests and situation now. Yet, surely I could say that this program gave me many chances of re-thinking about “me in the field.”

We’re told that we should “Empty our minds” and be apart from our individual disciplines or particular themes. They were the most difficult tasks for me. According to my experiences in developing countries, I used to be seeking indicators to see how poor people down there. I always have no doubt towards this action because I am a student of Development Studies or a stuff of NGO for Development. So it was very hard for me to forget about my background more than I expected. First half of my stay in Kappe’, I and my mate were going to see cash flow in the village and income of the villagers but, however, we gradually felt that this was not what we really want to know about people in Kappe’. We were still not sure about what we really wanted to know but we were pretty sure that our “wonder” came up un-naturally and also our way of doing fieldwork, asking villagers about money only by interviewing, is something wrong. Then I realized that interviewing is not the only tool to collecting information. As other group did, there are many other ways to see the fact in the village: for instance, counting coconut trees. Counting coconut trees doesn’t need interpreters, doesn’t bother villagers and doesn’t contain anybody’s perspectives. I have never tried to think of this kind of way but I strongly felt that it is also important.

Yet, language matters a lot. There is information which we cannot get without using language. When we Japanese are in field outside of Japan, we need to speak local language or an interpreter. I have studied Indonesian language a little before but it was not enough for collecting detailed information. Not only for interviewing but also living with host family, we need the language. Some people might say that communication doesn’t need language, I agree with them somehow, but we definitely need language to build firm relationship. After making my Indonesian mate tired, I really want to do my own fieldwork with my own words. I will learn Indonesian Language more for my study. During my stay in Kappe’, I found that the most important thing for fieldwork is relationship between villagers and me. And it always takes time to have good relationship. We cannot get reality from the field without having good relationship between me and villagers. For this, again Language is important. And also, I realized that I loved to be “field-oriented.” I have been too much care about whether if it can be generalized is not that important. Now I can say that it is also important to pick up the reality from the real field.

I enjoyed very much this program in many ways. The participants are so nice and the people in Kappe’ are so warm, in particular my dearest host family. I will keep in touch with them. Thank you very much to all.

After all, I am still not sure about what fieldwork is. There is no answer for it, I guess. So, this program has not finished yet in my mind……

Summer 2005-Sinjai Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Nagayoshi Hiroyuki (Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo)

I'm very satisfied with this program as a whole. I could have experienced lots of invaluable things through the program. Especially, I was really impressed with the hospitality of villagers when we were staying at their village. Although I could not speak Indonesian well, they did not hesitate to talk to me and invited me to the meal all time. Sometimes I was embarrassed of their too much welcome because even if I was full enough, they encouraged me to eat. However, I came to understand that was their usual way of welcoming someone few days later, and I got to feel happy. Also, I was surprised that they all were like one family. In other words, their community relationship was very tight. As we discussed about kinship in the village, it seemed like their daily life have depended on their special relation ship. Since such tight relationship existed in the village, they could share the information by chatting or gossiping. Actually, some information such as the happenings in the village or our acts had flowed very fast among the villagers. Moreover, we found this kind of relationship made it possible to manage water distribution for agricultural use without any formal organization. On the other hand, it is also the fact that the other research group has found some information such as health information does not flow well. I could not find the exact reason for this fact, but I guessed some information is controlled or filtered by some authorities. Furthermore, I also found it interesting that kinship did not work at all in some business cases. For example, I heard from the member of the coffee research group that it was not just negotiation but conflict when coffee buyers or collectors tried to buy coffee from farmers. As a whole, it is not too much to say that the existence of tight kinship was the most curious findings for me through the research.

From the research experience, I found to get accurate data in the village is extremely hard. I got to realize this fact mostly from the interview to villagers. Actually, when we made the interview about household water distribution system, almost all interviewee villagers told us different situations. Thus, to deal with this issue, we tried to follow the actual water pipes. However, since most of the pipes were constructed underground, we could not make it. We could just observe some water resources and water tanks. In addition, we could not find any particular problems related to water distribution this time. It seemed that villagers were satisfied with water, but we could not verify it. For those reasons, I'm still not completely satisfied with the outputs of the water distribution research group, but I'm sure I learned a lot from group members. Also, for the quality of data in the village, I realized that even the data from public officials seemed like not reliable. I think we can see the same situation most of the village in developing countries. The lack of accurate data would be an obstacle for research, but we should regard this situation as the meanings for the research, and have to do our best to find the real fact.

From the living experiences, as I have already mentioned, I got to know many surprising things and impressed things. Also, I realized that the self sacrifice would play very important role to be really involved in different culture. Sometimes it is difficult to accept their customs, but we should receive everything if we would like to truly understand the different culture. I do not think I could be totally involved in their community this time, but everyday life was filled with discovery and many attractive events. I got to realize the happiness covered their daily life.

I would like to conclude the program for me was not just for learning and improving academic skills but the precious opportunity for perceiving the culture itself and making wonderful friendship. I'm sure this program was valuable enough and I will keep studying hard about international development. Finally, I would like to appreciate sincerely to all the people related to this program.

Spring 2005-Polewali Mamasa Regency, West Sulawesi, Indonesia

Iwasaki Sayaka (Kobe University)

Let me start this essay by saying thank you very much to all for everything for our fieldwork program. Whenever I recall the days in Sulawesi, it is all about my friends and host family that come to my mind. I exchanged experiences, ideas and even emotion with other participants during the program. Having shared joy and hardship for 12 days in Silopo, I started to feel much closer to them toward the end of the program. It is really challenging but fun to work for one thing with people with completely different backgrounds.

Everything was "nice and impressive", borrowing the expression by a participant, but the most exciting program among our activities in Sulawesi was the home stay in the village. Though you may be afraid of lack of facilities etc, our life there was quite comfortable. My host family was so nice and treated me like their real family. I didn't really notice how nice they are when I was with them, and now that I am away from them and settle down in my own place, I realized how nicely they treated me and how much I was protected from all the risks by my family.

I have so much to tell about my host family as well as about friends, but it may be better to move to something related to our fieldwork because I believe this essay is to provide information for candidates for next fieldwork programs. So I try to write about what I learned from my experience in Silopo focusing on what will be beneficial to my needs for research for my master's thesis.

What I call "fieldwork" here is in fact "field observation" because it didn't contain research designing, library work and legal arrangement. While we are conducting fieldwork in the village, we observed some aspects of villager's life. In my case, my 4 teammates and I observed migrant workers from the village to Malaysia. It was really amazing, even with our limited ability of language, interviewing and other techniques, we could gain quite a lot of information with the help of facilitators and our only Indonesian teammate.

Through this program, I could experience diversity of contemporary world especially in terms of economic level and cultural aspects, and make good friends. By living at the place, we experienced how different villagers' life and ours, and sometimes I felt a bit difficult to talk with villagers when they pointed it out. And by sharing the every difficulty in adjusting ourselves into new environment, participants grew, I believe, strong friendship among one another. Thanks to the experience in the fieldwork, now I am more aware of problems in society in my front and better at communication with other people.

In addition to them, the most close-at-hand fruit, for a student, from this fieldwork program was to know what could be gained from field observation. After I came back to Japan, I tried to find paper information of what I have enjoyed in Sulawesi and found some works by scholars and writers. By reading these works, I realized how much I learned through the fieldwork. Fieldwork we did there was activities such as seeing, asking, trying (tasting, doing, etc), which are nothing particular in our daily life. However, when I read papers about what we observed in the village, I found myself clearly imagining what the text says. Compared to the reading without any preliminary knowledge, how vividly and precisely the text penetrates into my memory!

These are what I learned from the fieldwork program. However, to tell the truth, I am not yet very sure what changed before and after the program so far. But undoubtedly, I have "nice, Impressive" and "unforgettable memory" of FASID fieldwork program. Terima kasih!

Summer 2003-Gowa Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

佐藤　晶子（上智大学大学院外国語学研究科　博士前期課程）
「海外フィールドワークプログラムは終わらない」

FASIDの海外フィールドワークプログラムは3週間。観光旅行気分で参加するには少しばかり長すぎるし、本気で学びたい人にはあまりにも短すぎる。しかし、このプログラムの真価は、実は終了してからにあるのではないだろうか。

正直に言ってしまうが、プログラム終了時には私自身このプログラムを通じて何を得たのか、何が変わったのかわからなかった。ただひたすら慌しく、時間ばかりが過ぎていってしまったというのが本音である。

だが、今年の夏のプログラムが終了してから2ヶ月以上経った現在では、やはりその時の経験がじわじわと効いてきているのである。人生観がひっくり返るような劇的な変化では決してない。いつのまにか、日常生活のあらゆる場面において以前よりも「ちょっとだけ」色々なことを考えるようになっている自分がいるのだ。

たとえば、学生なら誰もが経験するだろう大量のコピーミス。以前に比べると後ろめたさが格段に違う。なぜなら、今や第二の家族といっても過言ではないホストファミリーのこどもたちが、一冊のノートを本当に大事に使っていることを知ってしまったから。「紙は大事に使いましょう」なんてことは、もちろん知識としては知っていたのだ。ただ実感がわかなかっただけなのだ。それならば、自分にできることは？

たとえば、講義中に出てくる「グローバル化」という単語。「現代はグローバル化の時代である。」と聞かされれば、単純に「そうだよね。」と思っていた。だが待てよ。スティ先の村人たちを含め世界の何十億人の人々は、恐らく実体のないマネーを扱うことはないし、外国に行くこともなければ、パソコンを日常的に利用することもないだろう。そもそも「グローバル化」とは何なのか？「反グローバル化」運動はなぜ起きているのか？以前なら聞き流していた言葉も、いつのまにか「もっと知りたい」につながっているのである。

これらはほんの一例である。そんなレベルなら、わざわざ参加しなくてもいいのではないかと思われる向きもあろう。しかし、大事なのは「（プログラムを通じて）個々人が以前より深く広く自分の頭で考え行動すること」なのだ。もちろん、違う価値観を持つ人たちと議論すること、ホームスティで現地の生活を自分の目で見ること、講義を受けて新たな知識を得ること等々は重要なのだろう。

それでも私は、プログラム自体はあくまでもきっかけに過ぎず、終了後こそが勝負なのであると思っている。という訳で、海外フィールドワークプログラムは私の中では一生終わらないのだ。

最後になりましたが本プログラムを支援してくださった方々、本当にありがとうございました。参加学生を代表して御礼を申し上げます。

Ihsan Nasir (Hasanuddin University Medical Intern)

Dear my friend,

I really don't know why I'm writing this letter to you, I don't know why I have to tell you this, I just feel that because you will not be here to judge any of my doings, I just need someone to see what I feel right now. You may wonder why you, but please if you just finish this long letter, then I'll be grateful and of course it is your decision whether you want to judge me or not at the end.

You might consider me so far as a cheerful person, well actually I am. But what you don't know that something changed inside me, inside my mind. You may not believe what the FWP done me a great change. So far I lived my life with a pattern. Dorm, hospital and lab, are the pattern I said. It's not that I don't like one of them but I think I can't live with this straight way, at least not now. You know what, after the FWP, I haven't signed in into any department of the hospital. I haven't continue my study since, Maybe I got bored. I did come to the hospital a couple of times but I was just there doing nothing, I'm afraid to get the pattern started all over again and I still don't have any guts right now.

After FASID, I found that I couldn't see my life anymore. In Halahalayya, It was the time when I felt I'm nothing, and I didn't know how but it was a life excitement I felt. Being a lower class citizen made me learn so much instead of having a great role in the community. It's not that I don't want to be a doctor, I want to be a good one as a matter of fact, but I think if I continue this pattern then pity me. If you want to be a doctor then you don't have to be something else, you don't need to find a job, after you finish the school then "boom" you are a doctor! You can see your life ahead. But in my opinion, I can't see the excitement of life that God gives. I want to feel earning something hardly because if you know me well, you'll find out that I can easily get desperate, I really want to learn to stop that.

I know that many people depend on me. My mother, brothers and sisters. They really hope I can be a doctor as soon as possible. My family have their own reason that our family can earn something from me when I'm a doctor and no more burden on shoulders. Nothing wrong with that, I want to see my family in wealth, I want to give them as much as I can get to make them happy but maybe right now I'm happy being an idealist. I feel that they cannot see this in a different angle as I do. I just want to have many identities as you once said to me. And this is something that of course a problem that way too big to tell them. I cannot just tell them, "I'm sorry, I want to stop my study for a year or two to earn my own money by working as a clerk or washing dishes or working in a factory or even as a cleaning service". My family and people around me just can't let go the thought that, "Iccang, you are a future doctor, a future doctor is a high class profession". Come on, I'm not even a doctor yet!

Right now I feel that I'm so pathetic. I need to get away from here for some times. Thank you for 'listen'.

Yours truly,
Iccang

Spring 2003-Bulukumba Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Tsuru Akiko (University of Tokyo)

Before I entered Lolisang village, I was curious about why the villagers had accepted us. I wondered if they understood our activities and what they expected of us. During the 10 days I stayed in village, I sometimes tried to explain what we were doing there, but I felt few people understood. I myself was also becoming confused about what we were doing there.

I think one of the most difficult parts of the fieldwork was explaining what I was doing and what I wanted to do. Some villagers asked me whether I came to Lolisang in order to study "Bahasa Konjo" (the native language in Lolisang). If my purpose was the acquisition of language, it might have been easy to explain, but my original purpose was to learn how to carry out fieldwork. I wondered how the villagers would feel if I had said I was interested in their lives and wanted to observe how they lived.

When we arrived at Lolisang village, I was surprised by the warm welcome we received and again wondered what they understood about us. Actually, I felt we were treated as special guests during the entire 10 days we stayed in Lolisang. The villagers never complained about our behavior even when we used too much water without thinking, or when we came back home too late. I thought that our everyday schedule should fit within the villagers' time schedules, but this was difficult because our actions were mainly based on the activities of the FASID group. When I was in my host family's house, I tried to follow the customs of the village. But when I was with the FASID group, I was in my own familiar society. I was always worried about not spending enough time with my host family, and wondered how they felt when I sometimes refused their invitation or request.

Another thing I found difficult was learning how to focus on topics. What we observed was not an experiment in a laboratory but the whole life of a person. I learned that if I try to take only a snapshot, many things are left behind.

For the "Thank You Party," we arranged the seats for everyone in the shape of a square. Afterward, we realized that the men sat lined up on one side, while the women sat lined up on the opposite side. The way people ended up sitting was interesting for us because it reflected the rule we had typically observed in the village.

We prepared several plates of snacks for our guests. Some of the plates were placed among the villagers, but few people reached to take anything. I had one more plate in my hand that I was going to pass to the villagers as well, but there seemed to be enough plates among them. So I gave the plate to the children standing behind the seats and said, "Shilakan makan (Please have some)." The snacks on the plate disappeared in one second. At that point, I realized I should have given all the plates to the children.

This experience made me think that a something similar could happen during fieldwork. We can easily analyze what is on the seat, but there are also many things behind the seat we do not see. Often the things behind the seat are what we really want to understand.

Meanwhile, our "Public Health group" focused on health behavior and maternal healthcare. We spent a lot of time discussing, carrying out various interviews and observing. We did not reached at any clear conclusions from information we got. However, the group work was a valuable experience for learning how to prepare questions and set the interview location, determining what kind of information we can get from observation, and understanding the importance of cooperation among group members. One mother answered our question about learning how to give birth by saying it is, "just TRIAL and ERROR." I think we made a good try.

I was always happy in Lolisang. Wherever I went, the villagers treated me kindly. At first, I was concerned about what they expected from me and I wondered whether I could meet their expectations. I still do not know if I did, but I hope that time we spent together gave them some happiness.
I loved talking with the people of Lolisang. Whenever I tried to talk with them, they also tried hard to talk and listen to me. When we understood each other, we were so happy. Each word we exchanged has become a cherished memory of Lolisang.

I would like to say "thank you" to each member of the Public Health group, the participants and the FASID staff. In addition, I wish to express a warm "Terima Kasih Banyak (Thank you very much)" to my family, Bapak Baharuddin, Ibu Sardania, Ayshla and Ainul, their relatives and neighbors, and each villager of Lolisang.

Winter 2002-Sinjai Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Ito Yoko (Nagoya University)

My impression of the program prior to participation was that it would be somewhat of a skill training session. I participated with two expectations. First, I expected to gain many practical skills for conducting research. Second, I expected to have a good time with the people whom I meet in the program. Soon after the fieldwork started, I realized that my first expectation was not going to be met given that there was a discrepancy between what I envisioned the program's purpose to be and what it actually was. However, I realized almost immediately that my second expectation would be fully met.

In one respect, I am glad that the first expectation was not satisfied. Although I did not acquire specific research skills, I learned a great deal about what my values regarding education were through discussions and interactions which often proved confusing, puzzling, or frustrating. But through the process of trial and error, I was forced to clarify my perspective which lead to a better understanding of what I held to be true. While many questions I had remained unsolved, others were enhanced albeit it often became more complicated. What do I mean by "education"? Why am I trying to promote more "education" in foreign countries? What benefits do people have by being "researched (interviewed and observed)" by me, who is merely a student? How can I carry out the responsibilities that I owe to the people I study? The greatest question which remained unanswered for me is "In what way do I want to be involved in "international development"?" I did not expect this question to be answered in this program, nor do I expect it to be answered in the near future. But minimally, I was able to gain additional experiences and knowledge on which to base my thinking in further considering this issue.

Without a doubt, my second expectation was fully met. I enjoyed myself and learned considerably from each person with whom I spent time. The time with my host family and with the other program participants was especially precious. The sincere hospitality and the warm kindness of the local people, including my host family, enabled me to appreciate everything I saw, heard, felt, touched, and experienced in the village. Discussing, becoming confused together, engaging in the process of trial and error, and simply chatting with the other participants enabled me to learn as well as establish a bond among us.

I also had some challenges. Some were related to the research, and others were related to specific aspects of the program. The challenges regarding the research enriched me as a student and prepared me for subsequent research, which I will likely conduct on my own.

I was also given the opportunity to challenge myself by volunteering to be a representative of the participants. I do no usually take a leadership role in a group as I prefer to be a follower. But I wanted to assume the role in order to see if I was capable of taking on the responsibilites. The program has concluded and I still do not know how well or how poorly I executed the role. However, it was an extremely enjoyable role, enabling me to learn more about myself.

Winter 2001-Surin, Thailand

Mary Jane Garcia Dizon (Miyagi University of Education)

FIELDWORK: "BAN SAWAI - An Experience Worth Remembering"

I have been fortunate to be one of the participants of FASID Fieldwork program in Ban Sawai, Surin City, Thailand. A remarkable and indispensable experience I considered a once in a lifetime opportunity. Looking back, whilst listening to the lecturers note regarding the fieldwork, I can only whisper prayers and hope for the best outcome. And indeed, the result of the experience is far more than I expected.

Being the participant's representative, I am appreciative of my co-researchers cooperation and initiative to act as one whenever there is a need to come up to a decision. The group was composed of five nationalities. Working with different kinds of people who share different ideas and perspective is a tough one to imagine. However, despite the differences, we were able to work as a unit, and at the same time appreciating each other's uniqueness and individuality.

In the field, I stayed with a host family who had been very supportive of my personal and professional needs. The people of Ban Sawai are compassionate and loving. I can always feel their sincerity judging from their smiles and kindness in extending a hand to help. The villager we interviewed (from TAO, Women's Organizations, Farmers, Monks and Ordinary people ) had been very honest in providing the group the necessary information needed to achieve the objective of the fieldwork.

Ban Sawai is a community of people who enjoys the simplicity of life and at the same time willing to adjust to the changes present in the environment. Communication had been a problem but it was a barrier made easy because of the willingness of each individual to learn and exchange ideas and experiences.

In the fieldwork, I have been very fortunate in having wonderful people around me. I have also had very fruitful working relations with my co-participants and the activity organizers. However, I would like to end this reflection in giving the most credit to the people of Ban Sawai.

Winter 2000-Surin, Thailand

Sayaka Suzuki (Sophia University)

The Fieldwork Program, I participated in 2000, gave me tremendous experience. I shared much valuable time with many people whom I met in Ban Sawai, including my host family and the members of this program.

First of all, I was anxious about this program, before participating. I was afraid that someone would give me a lecture about what development is and what we should do. Recently, the word, "development" is often used. I, however, personally think that it is sensitive subject. Because the person who develops a place often ignores what the local people think. In the most of cases, the person is the outsider of the local community. So s/he is needed to understand the people. I, however, have doubts that one can understand others truly.

Throughout this program, I realized that I had had a false idea of this program. The facilitators gave me many opportunities to think about many issues by my self, instead of forcing me what to think. I came to think about the meaning of development more deeply than before.

Second of all, I was afraid if I could communicate with local people because of the language barrier. Although I tended to be quiet in the beginning of this program, my host family and relatives tried to talk to me. One day I started trying to know what they said. Strange to say, I could answer the question in Khmer(although I could not understand any words in Khmer). They taught me that desiring to understand each other is the most important thing when we want to communicate with others.

Of course, people in Ban Sawai are in different situations from ours. I, however, found that people in Ban Sawai and we are alike. I remembered one of my colleagues said, "My host sister always talks about TV stars and make-up. What is the difference between the teens in Ban Sawai and Japanese teens? There is only little difference."

Now, I have a plan to research in a village in the Philippines from coming November. Thanks to this program, I have got a wish to know people in other culture and encouraged to do so. I will never forget people whom I met in Ban Sawai and my time there.

Spring 2000-Bohor, The Philippines

Hideaki Fujiyama (Kyusyu University)

In the spring of 2000, I had the opportunity to participate FASID Fieldwork Program in which I met many students from various backgrounds such as economics, anthropology and architecture so on. There, we took several lectures to cultivate fundamental perspectives on development of a local community. While our home stay in the local family, we had invaluable experiences by immersing us in the local culture and customs, discussions with professors and students, and communication with local people. Especially, I was greatly impressed by the lecture given by one professor who compared the implications of "development" and "Kaihatsu" (the Japanese term corresponding to "development"). He pointed out that the term "development" has been usually translated into "Kaihatsu" in Japanese. The denotative sense of "Kaihatsu" is that an external actor exercises power or gives influence to the object. However, the term "development" connotatively implicates "Hatten," too, meaning that the object makes progress autonomously. Furthermore, he added that "Kaihatsu" and "Hatten" are not yet sufficient definitions for local development. He claimed that "Koryu," which means two objects interact and influence each other, is the most important perspective in understanding development. And this is what we should keep in mind when we engage in development activities or practice.

Right now, I have been working for a development-aiding bank being in charge of energy sector for several Asian countries. As there have been critics that money and information have tended to be greater leverage, it has been true that the lenders have been in the position to exercise influence by setting conditions in financing the projects. As a result, inevitably, there has been recognizable unequal power balance between the lenders and the recipients. Therefore, I have been trying not to forget the "Koryu" perspective learned from the professor. In this sense, the FASID Fieldwork Program has given me very precious experiences and lessons.

*Hideaki contributed another article in FASID NEWES No. 51,page7(Japanese).