SWYPEOPLE

MUSCAT — A reunion for the Ship for World Youth alumni was hosted by Keiji Omori, Japanese Ambassador to Oman, at his residence under the auspices of Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, minister of sports affairs.

The Ship for World Youth is a long-running international youth exchange programme sponsored by the government of Japan for the past 20 years.

The ship has been to different parts of the world carrying onboard 120 Japanese and 140 overseas youths from 13 different countries each year.

The 20th voyage of the Ship for World Youth will call at Muscat early next year with 260 youths from UK, Brazil, Costa Rica, Finland, India, New Zealand, Oman, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, US, Vanuatu and Japan.

The Omani participants have to undergo a rigorous screening test before they are selected to represent their country, said Ghazi Al Zadjali, adviser to the minister of sports affairs.

“Next year we will have 11 delegates from Oman onboard the Ship for World Youth,” informed Ghazi.

A number of programmes have been lined up for the visiting ship, which will call at Sultan Qaboos Port, most probably next February for two days. These include visits to the Nizwa souq, cultural programmes as well visits to places of historical importance in Muscat.

Oman has been represented five times in the programme by more than 60 national youths and visited three times by the ship. Preparations to receive the ship are underway at the embassy of Japan and the Ministry of Sports Affairs.

Meanwhile, during the reception hosted by the Japanese ambassador, the Omani delegates who went on the 19th Ship for World Youth voyage from January 16 to March 8 shared their experiences onboard Nippon Maru. They said that the wide-ranging cultural, intellectual and sports activities and discussions on various global issues had given them a chance to witness different cultures and learn more about them.

The participants got a chance to see different parts of the world and experience a slice of international society onboard for about 40 days.

The idea of Ship for World Youth was conceived by the government of Japan in the 1980s when globalisation was an imminent trend, and the programme was first conducted in 1989 with the objective of broadening the global view of the Japanese youth, promoting mutual understanding and friendship among world youth.

Source: http://timesofoman.com/inner_cat.asp?cat=1&detail=10223&rand=0QfjweFv5sTKvjUne56pnx0u9i