by Alan Imai

Mitsuhiro Oketani went to live in Senegal in February of last year. His purpose in going was to share his knowledge and experience of Natural Agriculture with the people of that country. His new life in Africa was the result of a project that was born out of the partnership between the Rodale Institute and Shinji Shumeikai. Between December 5 and 9, I returned to Senegal to visit and give him support. Mitsuhiro had recently moved from Dakar to Thies, where Rodale International Senegal is located, after spending six months in Dakar training in the French Language. The reason for his move to Thies was to work out the details of his future projects in Senegal with Rodale's staff.

There are countries in which many of the privileged who have a high status in society, even though already well rewarded, still try to get even greater benefits by taking advantage of others. In Senegal, it is considered very lucky to have a government. While waiting to depart at the airport, I experienced the government workers' corruption firsthand. After a long wait in line, I finally got my boarding pass and was able to return to Mitsuhiro to give him a final farewell. I went through the security checkpoint and was about to enter the waiting area, when a policeman standing there asked me if I had any Senegalese currency. He opened my suitcase and checked all the compartments but luckily I had all my money, U.S. dollars and a few Senegal francs, tucked in an envelope in my jacket pocket. After not finding any money, he released me. I walked on about ten meters or so further when I was called over again by plainclothes officers and again asked about money.

The officer said, "Do you have anything to declare or any money?"

Even if I had money, why would I say so? I am leaving, not entering the country. The second officer also wanted to check my suitcase.

When I said, "That police officer just searched my bag. You saw that didn't you?" He insisted on checking my suitcase again, explaining that the other officer and he had entirely different responsibilities.

Again my bags were searched and again no cash was found. These officers circled menacingly around the waiting area, making my farewell very uncomfortable. It was not until I finally boarded the airplane that I was able to relax. The attitude of these security officers towards visitors to their country creates a very negative image of Senegal.

Media such as television, radio and newspapers is limited in the cities and the majority of people in the rural areas do not think much about what is happening in the world outside, about the future of their country, or even the prospects for their own future generations. Planning for the future seems like the right thing to do for a person such as myself who lives in a western society. Before western culture was brought to countries like Senegal, people’s lives had been more harmonized with nature and they did not have to worry too much about their future because there still were abundant natural resources. What is important for them now is to learn the necessary survival skills to use what remains of their natural resources such as wild animals and plants, and to adjust to the daily climatic changes that are taking place in their country. I had an image of Africa as the place where people's lives were much more in harmony with nature than in developed countries. It was sad to see the reality.

Western culture, with its technology and conveniences, was introduced to these countries without any consideration of the detrimental effects they would have on the lives of the people who lived there. Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides were widely used in agriculture. Farmers did not know that they were dangerous. Adults and children alike would open the bags with their teeth and mix them in water with their bare hands. That unknowing carelessness caused many fatal accidents. The use of natural coffee was replaced with Nestle's instant coffee and dry powdered milk. The main base for soup is Maggie's Condensed Soup. Many European used cars are shipped to Senegal. Because the cost of gasoline is double that of diesel fuel, most drivers choose to buy cars with diesel engines, which creates more air pollution. The responsibility for all these problems cannot be placed entirely on the shoulders of the people of Senegal. This technology, lifestyle, and culture was introduced by and for the so called "developed" nations into the "developing" nations without any consideration as to the real benefits or dangers it would have for the people or environment of countries like Senegal. It was introduced to make money.

When we try to support these developing countries, we should not look at them from the constraining viewpoints of citizens of developed nations; instead we should first try to understand the developing nations' circumstances, people, and culture. We should learn to speak their languages to have the communication skills necessary to gain a greater understanding of the way they think and their way of life.

As examples of the necessity of this approach, I would like to look at two Japanese projects in Senegal, one that failed and one that is not wholly successful. Ten years ago, the President of Senegal and the Japanese Prime Minister entered an agreement that allowed Japan to aid Senegal by planting trees to prevent desertification of the land. Through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) a few specialists were sent to Senegal without adequate research on the country or its desperate situation. They prepared thousands of saplings and spent a huge amount of money. However, when they tried to transplant these trees, the farmers refused to have them on their land and the trees were wasted. This project continued for ten years without much being accomplished until it was finally closed down last September. The other project is the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV). It has been in operation for eighteen years. Every year about twenty youths with specific knowledge in fields such as agriculture, nursing, and education are sent to stay in Senegal for a two-year period. They receive language training in Japan before coming to Senegal. After their arrival, they study French and the local language at a language school. Then, they are sent to a village with the intent of developing a specific project. However, there are no specific projects developed because the volunteers do not understand either what needs to be done or what can be done. Six months after their arrival, they have to submit a report to Japan. Their language skills are never adequate and without those skills they cannot gain the experience or knowledge that is necessary to write the report. The senior members who work on this project also have to go through the same process and one wonders why they cannot identify what the new personnel are supposed to be doing. Primarily, the problem is that the two-year period itself is too short a span of time to accomplish anything viable in another country.

Last February, when Mitsuhiro and I went to the language school that he attends in Dakar we met some of these youths from Japan. At that time Mitsuhiro could not understand any French and these youths, who had learned some French in Japan, were full of hope and very confident. Nowadays, when they see Mitsuhiro in town, they come to him and tell him of the difficulties that they have trying to understand what exactly they are supposed to be doing while in Senegal. Now, it is Mitsuhiro who looks hopeful and confident. They asked him how he became involved with the Rodale Institute in the United States and received the opportunity to live as he does in Senegal. Although the JOCV volunteers live in the village, they do not experience Senegalese village life. Their lives are still organized in a Japanese fashion and they live in a Japanese community, whereas, Mitsuhiro is the only Japanese person on the Rodale staff. Everyone else is Senegalese. This gives him a tremendous advantage not only to learn the language but also the culture and way of life of the people and the country. The JOCV youth project costs a great deal of money to educate and insure these young Japanese but not very much contribution has been made to the country of Senegal in the last eighteen years!

Besides these two projects, Japan along with the United States and Europe has made other contributions, to some extent, to Senegal. However, Mitsuhiro's experience was the first personal encounter between a person from the Japanese culture and the Senegal Rodale staff. A staff member told me that, "Mitsuhiro was a very good ambassador for Japan but now he is no longer Japanese. He is a part of our family now, the Rodale Senegal Family." In mid-December, they moved to a new office and he was given a desk in the same room with Mr. Pape Kane, who is a public relations person. Mitsuhiro will continue to study French and learn agricultural conditions and public relations from him. Besides Mr. Kane, two other field staff members were assigned to visit farms with Mitsuhiro. The director, Ms. Vore Seck, suggested that if Mitsuhiro is interested, he could begin his Natural Agriculture project in a part of their experimental farm. However, Mitsuhiro does not want to make the same mistakes as the Japanese government. There are two reasons that he believes it is too early to begin Natural Agriculture at this time. First, in Natural Agriculture's philosophy it is very important to observe and to develop a deep understanding of Nature itself. It is only when this understanding is achieved that farming can be expressed as Natural Agriculture. Even if he could practice Natural Agriculture to some extent at this time, he does not feel that he possesses adequate language skills to explain what he is trying to do and there would be misunderstandings. Second, there is still much he feels that he has to learn from the Rodale Institute's experiments in Senegal's climate and environment that could be put into use when he does begin to practice Natural Agriculture, such as the proper techniques for planting trees. Mitsuhiro Oketani is not sure if five or ten years will even be enough time to discover how Natural Agriculture should be practiced in Senegal but he is sure that now is the right time to learn.

In the October 16-31, 1998 issue of "The Earth Times," there was an article about Ms Hiroko Koyama, the President of Shinji Shumeikai, whom we refer to as Kaicho-Sensei. The article stated that one of the principle activities of Shinji Shumeikai is the promotion of Natural Agriculture and that it is working with the U.S. based Rodale Institute by sending staff members to help developing countries. It is hard to say how much Mr. Oketani has contributed to-date in Senegal because his project has just begun. However, if Shinji Shumeikai really wants to promote World Peace and try to contribute towards achieving that goal, then it is essential that our organization help developing countries. To make our ambition a reality, it is key to give encouragement to people within our organization who truly understand the issues of those countries. Right now Mitsuhiro is working very hard in Senegal and if he continues to overcome the great challenges ahead of him he will be able to assist Shinji Shumeikai to develop other projects in the future. His experience will be a shining treasure for us and will grow much larger than he anticipates.

The water is different; the food is different; there are unfamiliar local diseases; and there is not much in the way of entertainment for a person who is used to life in the United States or Japan. Although I personally expected to see beautiful wildlife and unspoiled nature, it was difficult to find any natural beauty because of the widespread desertification and deforestation. It was so dusty that I had difficulty breathing. The only emotional support for Mitsuhiro is the beauty and pureness found in the eyes of the farmers and their children, which neither of us have ever seen in the faces of Americans or Japanese, and the kindness and friendship that is heard in the voices of the Rodale staff members as they call out, "Mitsuhiro! Mitsuhiro!" In all truthfulness, after spending five days in Senegal, I was ready to leave! I asked Mitsuhiro to express honestly his feelings about living and working in Senegal.

He only said, "When I was growing up in Japan, I was different from other young people. I was not interested in playing around. I love cooked vegetables. If my mother prepared them for me, I had no other requests. Living in some other place or some other environment is not my issue. My biggest challenge in living in Senegal is the difficulty in getting healthy vegetables."

Mitsuhiro especially enjoyed the naturally grown rice and vegetables that he had eaten for the last ten years before leaving Japan. I made a personal request of Kaicho-Sensei that if at all possible to please send him natural rice and Miso. She responded so quickly! Thank you, Kaicho-Sensei!

It is not easy to find a person like Mitsuhiro, who understands Meishusama's philosophy; has sound knowledge and experience of Natural Agriculture; and is ready to live in a country that is a totally different from the one of his birth. He is unique.

At Dakar International Airport we said our final farewells and then I boarded the airplane, leaving him alone in Senegal. When I thought of him staying there, I experienced such a sad sweetness that I almost cried. I felt a strong desire and responsibility to report Mitsuhiro's effort in Africa, and I will support him as much as I can and I hope others will offer him their encouragement and support as well.

FROM SHUMEI MAGAZINE, VOL. 219, JANUARY/FEBRUARY, 1999