Asaka Ishiguro, S-CAR MS Student
Asaka Ishiguro is an MS student from the Fall 2013 cohort at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Originally from Japan, she developed a keen interest in the field of conflict analysis and resolution through her work for a non-profit organization in Tokyo. Her work included helping to coordinate youth dialogue programs for Israeli, Palestinian, and Japanese students, to help them build upon good relationships so that when they returned home, they could use that bond to foster peaceful relations in the region. According to Asaka, “after a training session, one of the exchange students told me that although many people had written off the conflict in her region as unresolvable, the work that the non-profit organization that I worked for and other organizations around the world were doing would continue to inspire them to keep looking for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.” Such hope, she noted, moved her to want to learn more about how to resolve conflicts peacefully, and this led her to the program at S-CAR.
Outside of taking classes, Asaka is also working for the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, & Conflict Resolution (CRDC) at S-CAR. “I really love my job responsibilities. It puts me in contact with so many grassroots movements and individuals engaged in commendable selfless peace projects to make the world a peaceful place and I am grateful to be a part of it.”
After completing her degree, Asaka would like to continue her professional development by working in regions in which she has no experience, such as in Africa and Latin America. “I think there is a lot that I can still learn on the ground to complement what I already know, so that when I return to my country, I can set up an organization that can tackle issues all over the world. I have come to realize that conflicts are never linear and they boast a complexity about them that sometimes only experience can help to identify and then resolve.”
Asaka finds inspiration from a quote by Soseki Natsume, one of her favorite authors, who once said, “It is painfully easy to define human beings. They are beings who, for no good reason at all, create their own unnecessary suffering”. Asaka notes: “I like this quote because if human suffering is created by humans, then it can also be destroyed by humans, and this is what I work towards each day. ”
Reprinted - http://newsdesk.gmu.edu/2014/10/global-ambitions-peace-japan-mason-world/