On July 25, JICA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation with Keio University for the dispatch of JICA Overseas Cooperation Volunteers in the presence of H.E. Daniel Okaiteyi, Chargé d’Affaires of the Republic of Ghana.
Under this collaboration, for three years starting in 2024, the Baseball Lab at the Keio Research Institute at SFC will send about 10 people involved in the Lab, mainly members of the Athletic Association’s baseball team, to the country of Ghana every year during the summer vacation period, with the aim of developing comprehensive human resources through baseball instruction to young people. Signing ceremony
The “Baseballorship™ Education 2 Method (Note 1)” owned by the Japan-Africa Baseball and Softball Promotion Organization (J-ABS; Representative Director: Shinya Tomonari), a general incorporated foundation that develops human resources in Africa by fostering the Japanese baseball tradition of “discipline,” “respect,” and “justice” in sportsmanship, is being used to improve the skills of local coaches and Overseas Cooperation Volunteers. (J-ABS/J-ABS, Representative Director: Shinya Tomonari), which has a general foundation for the promotion of baseball and softball in Africa (J-ABS/J-ABS, Representative Director: Shinya Tomonari).
Keio University plans to collaborate with the University of Ghana on a long-term research project on the effects of base ball leadership education conducted by JICA volunteers, which is a pioneering attempt to measure the long-term effects of JICA’s global agenda in the field of “sports and development. It will be interesting to see what kind of results baseball can achieve in human resource development.
(Note 1) It is an educational method to foster the spirit of “discipline, respect, and justice” in young boys and girls through coaching baseball and softball.
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