Two new JICA volunteers for Luganville

The number of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) volunteers in the northern town of Luganville will increase to three from next week.

On Tuesday, April 22, two new JICA volunteers – Yuki Konno and Ryoma Masuda, both from the main island of Honshu in Japan, will officially begin their two-year contracts in Luganville.

Konno, an automobile mechanic, will be assigned to the Public Works Department’s Sanma Office in Luganville and he will be assisting with maintenance of PWD’s motor vehicles including heavy works units such as bulldozers and graders.

Masuda, whose field of specialization is Environmental Education, will be assigned to the Luganville Municipal Council’s Environmental Health Section. He will be involved in teaching environmental health issues including waste management education to children in the schools in Luganville.

The two men will join a third JICA volunteer in the northern town who is attached to the Northern District Hospital and works in New Child Health education for nursing mothers.

JICA Office in Port Vila says that following their arrival on March 22, Yuki Konno and Ryoma Masuda have made courtesy calls on the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Public Works Department and Department for Environmental Education in Port Vila; taken a Bislama Training Course; undergone a homestay program where they learned more Bislama and Vanuatu lifestyle; and made site visits to their workplaces at Luganville.

For the homestay program, Konno stayed with a Vanuatu family at the Stade and Masuda with a family at Seaside both in Port Vila.

Konno and Masuda’s arrival brings to 21 the total number of JICA Volunteers now serving in the country in the areas of education, health, environment, and Public Works including infrastructure development.