Nurturing a Peacebuilder

Tsubasa Tasaka (M.A. Political Science ’18) believes that diversity plays a huge role in fostering a just and lasting peace. “Diversity is what builds understanding,” he says and the 29-year-old has taken this belief to heart. Tasaka, after all, is a Japanese citizen born in the Philippines who spent his formative years in the Philippines, Jordan, Korea and Bangladesh.

Growing up, Tasaka’s father worked for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japanese governmental agency tasked to administer the country’s development assistance initiatives and grant aid to developing countries.

“I think that being able to experience multiple cultures at a young age broadened my perspective. Getting exposed to and immersing myself in different cultures and countries have fundamentally shaped the way I think,” he says. “The experience of seeing poverty at a young age changed my perspective.”

The visceral connection to the nitty gritty of development work resulted in a startling realization for Tasaka: He wanted to gain a wider understanding of peace promotion and understanding conflict. His search led him to the Asian Peacebuilders Scholarship (APS).

“Although I have lived abroad from more than 10 years, I wanted to immerse myself not just in academics but also in the field. I wanted to connect the dots of academics and reality because I notice that in many times a severe gaps exist,” he says and APS was the perfect fit.
 

Training peacebuilding practitioners 

A shared initiative of the Ateneo de Manila University, Nippon Foundation and the University for PEACE (UPEACE), APS is a program that aims to train young Asian professionals become peacebuilding practitioners. Students receive 2 Master of Arts degrees— one from UPEACE in an area related to peace building and the second from Ateneo de Manila in Political Science with a Major in Global Politics. Students selected in the program also receive a full scholarship that covers tuition, airfare and monthly stipend.  The academic program is divided into 6 terms with students shuffling between Ateneo and Costa Rica, where UPEACE is located.

Since its inception in 2007,a total of 321students have graduated from the program and have taken up employment in various organizations, from government and non-government agencies to international groups like the United Nations.

For Tasaka, applying for the program meant getting insights into the importance of diversity and how it could address disparities and the continuing challenges in this global society. “I wanted to make sure that the studies that I would choose was something that I am truly passionate about.”

Going back to Ateneo

He also relished the idea of getting reacquainted with Ateneo, especially since he holds fond memories of the Loyola Heights campus: In 2011, Tasaka studied in Ateneo as an exchange student.

“It was nice coming back to Ateneo. I had wonderful memories here as an exchange student back in undergraduate and really enjoy the atmosphere of the University” he shares.

After completing the first leg of his coursework for MA in Political Science, Tasaka flew to Costa Rica.  Preparing for Costa Rica, he remembered, was “a lot of work” but his determination did not waver.

Encouraged by the emergence of the use of renewable technologies in Costa Rica and the global challenges of climate change, Tasaka focused on the management of natural resources for the UPEACE component of his study.

“In UPEACE, I majored in Sustainable Natural Resource Management.  Knowing that Costa Rica was famous for its green technology and environment, I wanted to gain first-hand experience. I reached out to a former UPEACE students and learned that the course was structured with multiple field visits and hands on learning experience,” he says.
 

Hands-on learning experience

The 21-month program is structured in such a way that students are given the chance to see the topics they’re studying first hand—giving them a personal level of understanding. For his field project, Tasaka chose Myanmar.

“Our field project was to conduct a gender equality training to youths in Kachin State, Myanmar. We partnered with KBC (Kachin Baptist Convention) and conducted a 5-day gender equality training to future leaders of KBC, “he recalls.” The project made me realize what I wanted to do in the future. I learned the difficulties and the rewards of contributing to empowerment and knowledge.  I also learned the importance of cooperation in a team with multiple backgrounds.”

Lessons sank in a way different from how one would learn in a traditional classroom setting. “The elective classes and field classes were also highlights because we were able to learn from experts in the field,” Tasaka says.

But the program is truly an eye-opener not only in terms of academics. There is what Tasaka refers to as a “balance of learning.”

“I maximized my opportunities to travel while I was in Costa Rica and I was able to visit Peru, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba, Germany,Netherlands, and a few other countries” he says.

Post-graduation, Tasaka is starting a new work at Google Japan, Tasaka is now applying the lessons he learned from his APS studies such as cultivating dialogues to effect change. Gender equality is also something that the young peacebuilder wants to focus on.

When asked for advice to the current cohort of the APS program. Tasaka stresses the importance of listening.

“This was something I strengthened through the program: to be an active listener. To deeply listen and be able to think and act in others shoes; to listen and observe before any intervention takes place.”

Another advice is to stay out of one’s comfort zone.

‘’Just get up and start a conversation. If we want to become future peace-builders, everything should start with a dialogue instead of violence.”