The fifth “Find-Your-Role-Model” Session in AY 2022 was held

For the 69th Find-Your-Role-Model Session, we hosted Dr. Naoyuki Kawahara, who provides medical support to people in Africa, as an Executive Director of the NPO Rocinantes. 

Dr. Kawahara gained his clinical experience in the General and Gastroenterological Surgery Department of Kyushu University School of Medicine and obtained his PhD in biochemistry from Kyushu University. He served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a medical officer from 1998, working at the Embassy of Japan in Tanzania, the UK, and Sudan. While he was in the UK, he studied Tropical Medicine at the University of London. In January 2005, he resigned his post, and in 2006, he established the NPO Rocinantes, which has been providing medical support activities centered on mobile clinics in villages without doctors in Sudan. Since then, they have expanded their activities to include various healthcare projects such as water and sanitation, school and education, sports, exchange, and maternal child health; and in 2019 they set up another base in Zambia.

Dr. Kawahara began his talk by sharing a couple of episodes that were essential in shaping his current career. He talked about the turning point in his career in Sudan as a medical officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At that time, he faced a situation where he was helpless to provide medical care for the patients in front of him due to a change in relations between nations. This caused the government to withdraw support, and because he was a medical officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he had to follow the Japanese government’s policy. This experience led to him establishing the Nonprofit Organization Rocinantes. Listening to his experiences made us realize that the countries and organizations where international support activities are conducted and the position we hold have a great impact on what we can do.
 
As a big turning point of Rocinantes’ history, he talked about the order from the Sudanese government to shut down their activities. This order was also influenced by a situation between countries. Though it sounds like an obstacle, he told us that the order provided a good opportunity for them to clarify their vision, which is to create a sustainable system in which local people can provide medical services by themselves. Listening to the story of how he involved local people, we learned the importance of leadership which can share problem awareness and vision with people to engage and motivate them to work together toward their future.

As a recent initiative, he is aiming at promoting a digital Maternal and Child Health Handbook (MCH handbook) in Africa. He has taken on the challenge of creating a new system along with Africa as Team Japan in cooperation with Japanese universities and companies working on the technical issues. We were very impressed that Dr. Kawahara has the mindset of exploring ways in which Japan can contribute to the world but at the same time searching for ways that Japan and Africa can develop together. 

At the end of the session, Dr. Kawahara gave the audience a couple of important messages. He told us the importance of creativity. For example, he advised that we should have the vitality to examine the current healthcare system in Japan for problems and think of a new system that can solve them. Through his messages, we learned the importance of having creative and innovative ideas and making an action plan to realize them.
 
Dr. Naoyuki Kawahara, who has been working globally from the viewpoint of international support activities, shared invaluable episodes and lessons filled with energy and passion that gave courage to all of us, especially those who plan to pursue a career in global health, to take the first step in paving our career paths as global leaders.

Flyer(EN)_Dr.Kawahara
Date & Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm, Monday, November 7, 2022
Platform: Zoom Meeting
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