Social Business Japan Forum 2017開催
【2017年2月活動報告】
1.First of all
Thank you for always Euglena As of the end of February 2017, we were able to deliver a total of about 1.4 million cookies to children, compared to the target of 1.5 million meals for this term (April 2016 to the end of March 2017). As with February, the attendance rate is high in March, so we plan to distribute about 1.6 million meals by the end of March.
2. Social Business Japan Forum 2017 held
Social Business Japan Forum 2017 was held in Tokyo on February 21st. It was filled with nearly 500 visitors and closed with great success. We invited Mr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and the winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, to discuss "how to take root in social business in Japan". Mr. Yunus is also the chairman Euglena, a group company in Bangladesh. In addition to Mr. Yunus's keynote speech and activity reports of companies developing social businesses in Bangladesh (Grameen UNIQLO, our company, etc.), our president Izumo also participated in a panel discussion as a panelist.
In a harsh environment, I was able to receive the enthusiastic message of a speaker who creates jobs and conducts sustainable business by himself. Mr. Yunus also gave us a powerful talk about being a "Job Creator" instead of a "Job Seeker" and making a profit and connecting that profit to the next social business (Photo 1). We received many thankful comments from the visitors, such as "I was inspired by the very suggestive content of both the lecture and the panel discussion."
Photo-1: Mr. Mohammad Yunus during the keynote speech
Photo-2: Izumo explaining the GENKI program
3. Children who cannot eat cookies due to transfer
Many children transfer from mid-December, the end of the school year, to early February, just after the start of the new school year. The main reasons for changing schools are moving due to parents changing jobs and changing schools in search of a good learning environment (cheap tuition fees, full facilities).
The same is true for GENKI program schools. At a school with 400 students, 10%, or about 40, transferred to another school during this period. The principal is worried because many of the schools to which he is transferred are not eligible for cookie distribution and will not be able to eat cookies. Since it is our task to keep cookies eaten continuously, we continue to convey the importance of cookie nutrients in briefing sessions to teachers and parents on a regular basis.
4. International Mother Language Day
In Bangladesh, there was a time when the native language, Bengali, was robbed. Before becoming independent of Pakistan, a faction that promoted Urdu as the official language and those who wanted to use Bengali as the official language clashed with the Pakistani army in the capital Dhaka, and many people It was a sacrifice. Speaking Japanese has become commonplace in Japan, but there are countries other than Bangladesh where their mother tongue has been deprived, and in 1999 UNESCO designated February 21 as the day for linguistic diversity. "International Mother Language Day" has been established.
In Bangladesh, on this day, with pride in trying to protect his mother tongue, he turned flowers to Shohid Minar (a national monument built in memory of the victims of the Bengali language movement in 1952) I pray to you. At one school, children handcrafted a monument (Photo 4) and decorated it inside the school (Photo 5) to celebrate. Principal Rashida said, "Every February 21st is an important day to study the history of Bengali and think about the dignity of the mother tongue as a whole school."
Photo-3: "Shohid Minar" monument
Photo-4: Children making "Shohid Minar" by hand
Photo-5: "Shohid Minar" displayed in the school
5. Summary
We are aiming for 2 million meals a year next fiscal year. We will not only increase the number of distributions, but also enhance the contents of the program. In addition, we are planning a third blood test in May, so we would like to demonstrate the effectiveness of this program. Thank you for your continued support.
Euglena Co., Ltd.
Bangladesh office
Shahid
Yousuf
Mohiminul
Emon
Rowshan