No dia 18/01/19, para comemorar o Dia Internacional do SWY, realizamos o primeiro Encontro Nacional da SWYAA Brasil em Brasília. Como muitos já sabem, os participantes do programa são de diferentes partes do Brasil e atualmente, alguns deles estão morando no exterior. Por este motivo, além de um bom planejamento antecipado, é essencial a disponibilidade de tempo cada um dos participantes no mesmo período.
O I Encontro Nacional da SWYAA Brasil, contou com a participação de ex participantes que atualmente moram no Rio Grande do Sul, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, México, Brasília. Além disso, os que não puderam comparecer pessoalmente, participaram através de compartilhamento de vídeos.
O resultado do primeiro encontro foi bastante positivo, a aproximação dos ex participantes, as trocas de experiências e as atividades realizadas no encontro nos fez redescobrir o espírito de "Keep SWYing" e nos inspirou a planejar ações futuras e juntos tornar o mundo um lugar melhor. Neste encontro relembramos das atividades voluntárias realizadas por cada um dos participantes, visitamos o  Parque Nacional de Brasília, aprendemos mais sobre educação ambiental, produção de instrumentos musicais de materiais reciclados, sustentabilidade e empreendedorismo social.
Além disso, doamos livros para a biblioteca e criamos placas de catalogação para organizar os livros nas prateleiras. No final, apreciamos a natureza e cuidamos da mente e do corpo com uma aula prática de Tai Chi Chuan.

For the third time in four years, Brazil has been invited to an interexchange program held by the Japanese government. Nine delegates will take part on the newborn Global Leaders Development Program (GLDP) which will replace the Ship For World Youth Program (SWY) in 2014. 

Unlike what happened to other batches, SWYAA Brasil and the Japanese Embassy in Brazil were responsible for the selection of the participants. Most of the new participating youth (PY) study or has studied Japan-related subjects on their graduations and speak Japanese in different levels of comprehension.

GLDP Brazilian delegation is composed by:

Leonardo Kajioka Nardon (National Leader - SWY 18 PY)

Filipe Rocchetti Girardi (Brazilian Ministry of Education employee)
Guilherme Hitoshi Kaneko (State University of Maringá)
Geovana Callasans Veras Pessoa (University of Brasília)
Lázaro Rennan de Sousa Viana (University of Brasília)
Naiara Ferreira Martins (University of Brasília)
Ana Maria Sigas Picchini  (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul)
Patricia Nunes de Assis (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro)
Felipe Lopes Barcelos (University of Brasília)

The other participating countries of GLDP are Bahrain, Fiji, India, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Tanzania and Turkey. All the delegates will arrive in Japan on January 22 and participate of pre-program and training sessions until February 3. From Febrary 4 to February 12, PY will sail onboard the MS Nippon Maru ship. Participants will organize seminars, prepare a National Presentation and visit the city of Ishinomaki.

After leaving the ship, Japanese PY will visit, from February 13 to February 20,  Bahrein, Fiji, Mexico and Turkey and take part of activities with the local youth and ex-PY of SWY former editions. 

Good luck, guys!

Great news! For the seventh time, Ship For World Youth will have a Brazilian Delegation! In 2012, Fujimaru will travel through the Indian Ocean and the youth from 13 countries will visit India, Sri Lanka and Singapore.

Our noisy, loud and incredible warriors will have the best trip of their lives with delegates from 12 other countries: Bahrein, Canada, Egypt, India, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Venezuela.

The Participating Youth will arrive in Nihon on January 18th; the departure ceremony, at the Yokohama Pier, will be held on January 29th. Almost 40 days later, they will come back to Japan on March, 5th - crying a lot, I suppose. 

Ok, meet the new SWY 24 BPY!

Good luck, guys!

Ottawa, Canada - August 30, 2011 – The Canadian Ship for World Youth Alumni Association (SWYAA Canada) received an extra help this time in organizing the recruitment of its newest delegation for SWY Batch 24. Brazilian Ex-PY Jean Roberth Souza was invited to attend an Information Session on the Program aimed at interested applicants held at the Embassy of Japan in Ottawa on August 18, 2011. Besides, Jean Roberth also participated in the Ottawa regional selection committee and used his past professional experience in SWY Programs to select Canadians PYs this time. 

In Canada, the SWY Selection Process has been done directly by SWYAA Canada with the support of the Japanese Embassy and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT). All Canadian ex-PYs are invited to become volunteers during this time of the year in order to help AA to select a diverse group of talented Canadians who could represent Canada and make a significant contribution to the Program. 

Since last June, SWYAA Canada members have invited Jean Roberth to help promote SWY Program locally in Ottawa, where he has been living since 2008. He was eager to have a chance to use his past experience at the Ministry of Education in Brazil (MEC), where he worked for almost ten years, selecting and preparing young candidates to participate in international youth exchange programs promoted by the Japanese Government such as the Ship for World Youth (SWY), International Youth Village (IYV), Renaissance Programs, and Japanese Goodwill Missions. “It was a pleasure for me to help SWYAA Canada. It made me remember the time when I worked for MEC and had to select participants. Canada has a very opened and transparent system to select PYs and I believe that the selected candidates will be very well prepared for this kind of exchange program”, he adds.

Nearly one year ago, I was in a smelly train, heading to my university, when someone from Brasília called me on my mobile. Could you imagine my surprise when that lady told me that I was selected to travel to Japan? Of course, my first thought was: “ok, that woman is trying to steal my organs, it’s a lie”. But it was not!

We were selected because three years before that phone call, the other delegates and I made the Brazilian High School National Exam; we had very high notes, and because of them, we got a scholarship to study in private universities; after, because of the scholarship and those notes in the exam, government found our names and invited us to visit one of the most wonderful and interesting places in the world.  In addition, we all belong to low income families, so we’ve never travelled abroad before.

Of course, it was hard to make my fathers believe that I got a gift like that. It was hard to leave my job. It was very hard to say goodbye to my mom in the airport. It was hard to find money to survive there (just kidding, money to drink beer)! But, seven months after all, I am sure that I lived the best moments of my life onboard Fujimaru.

Because of SWY, I made the best friends ever, starting with the schizophrenic Brazilians and my beloved National Leader. I learnt with 300 people from 13 countries, dealing with different cultures and personalities, becoming a better person every single second; I’ve been in six different countries (I stayed for 3 hours in France, take that!) in just 50 days; I made unforgettable friends and now I want to save money to visit every single one of them; and finally, I fell in love with a country, and now I am trying to know what those characters mean!

And finally, some words of experience for the new SWYers. You guys can find friends, a love or even a meaning to your life.  Be patient, talk to everyone and never sleep (working and studying like a slave, I am sure you are not used to sleep, so it will be easy for you). Enjoy the opportunity, don't forget the cachaça, and let the SWY spirit touch your heart.