Kanako Komagata as she prepared for her Bangkok trip. ARISA NODA
Katoh Gakuen Gyoshu’s grade 11 student Kanako Komagata spent her winter holidays in the slums of Bangkok working with the Duang Prateep Foundation.
For ten days, Kanako lived in a Khlong Toei slum home for Thai teens who are recovering from drug addiction. She spent her days helping out at the home, talking about Japanese culture at local schools, and assisting with the foundation’s tree planting program.
In preparation, Kanako studied the Thai language, as well as collected new pencils from her schoolmates to take as gifts to the schools she visited.
Asked why as a busy IB student she would give up vacation time to be in a slum in Bangkok, Kanako explained that before coming to Katoh Gakuen Gyoshu two years ago she never would have thought of participating in such a program, but the IB’s Creativity, Action, and Service (CAS) requirements “have changed my life.”
She added, “I have enough CAS hours for my diploma, but it was like everything just built up to this … It was like I am meant to do this.”
— CRAIG SUTTON
