It is no secret that Japan takes the virtue of cleanliness quite seriously.
It’s nice to see a Japanese national trying to teach a Filipino community a thing or two about keeping the streets clean.
A volunteer from Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan, Masa Shimmori is inspiring the citizens of Bauang, La Union to segregate waste.
It all started when Masa met a volunteer of Bauang Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (MDRRMC) in Manila last February. The volunteer was able to convince Masa to visit Bauang. Since then, Masa made it his personal mission to pass on on the Japanese practice of cleanliness to the small town.
“Iyung pagvo-volunteer niya sa Bauang – MDRRMC ay malaking tulong dahil una, naging role model siya sa pilot area namin sa Barangay Pugo,” Mike Zarate, officer of Bauang MDRRMC, said in an ABS-CBN report
(“As a volunteer, he is a big help to Bauang – MDRRMC because he’s a good role model in our area in Baragay Pugo”)
Masa wants to teach Filipino kids the very basic lesson of throwing trash in the proper containters.
“Kids throw away, their grandma also throws away. How to change that? It’s not hard work. You only pick up the trash, throw them in a trash box,” Masa said.
In spite of the differences in language and culture, Masa has a positive effect to the community.
“It takes other nationality pa ba na magmalasakit sa ating environment. Samantalang, ito, ay dapat tayo po ang nagpapasimula nito,” Zarate said.
(“Someone who isn’t Filipino is showing care for our environment, but it should really have started with us.”)
Masa is well-loved by the kids in the area. He shares whatever food he has and he also plays badminton with them.
Masa’s original plan was to stay in the country for only a week, but looks like he will be here until August.
Thank you for the inspiration!
