(Team member: son of a wrapping ribbon and felt wholesaler)
First, let me extend my most heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this entire program possible: to Rotarian Mr. Tomiji Suzuki of the Osaka Tenmabashi Rotary Club for his recommendation to the G.S.E. Program, to Team Leader Mr. Matsuoka for instructing and taking care of all the members of the group like a father, and for taking some 80 hours of his own time to take the video, to everyone in R.I.District 266 who created such a wonderful group study opportunity, to everyone in and related to Rotary District 769 who planned and created an hourly itinerary for our group and accompanied us while we stayed in the U.S. in the midst of hectic time, and most especially to the American host families who treated us as if we were their real family members. To all I extend my deepest gratitude.
During the homestays in North Carolina, we all gathered as one happy family at dinner, and discussed culture and everyday customs of each other. After one week of being together, it was time for us to visit the next home. Thought of leaving such a warm family brought tears to our eyes.
The schedule for our program was indeed a hard one. We left home at around 8 am everyday to visit and observe government functions, court, the state Congress, education systems, social welfare facilities, hospitals, business enterprises, etc., with hardly any break to return exhausted at 5 pm. When I think back on any day's schedule, it was filled with extremely valuable, fresh, and dramatic events. I'd like to tell you about what was of particular interest to me during these 5 weeks, the local government and volunteer community.
The American administrations may be briefly categorized as the U.S. National government and state, regional, and city (town) governments. During our stay, we were fortunate to have the chance to visit the North Carolina State Congress, the City Halls of 4 cities, a Sheriff's office, and 3 police departments. I'd like to talk about the role of these cities (towns) directly related to the daily affairs of their residents. Residential services include police and fire departments, road administration, waste disposal, waterworks, recreation facilities, cemeteries, and zoned city planning.
Residents elect their town mayor and town council members by direct vote every 2 years. Although extremely rare, the mayor is sometimes elected by an internal council vote. Reappointment to office is not prohibited, and the average mayoral service seems to run 6 to 8 years, with that of council members about 10 years. The elected officers are volunteers whose true businesses ranging from food store owner to tobacco manufacturing plant directors and hotel owners. Town council meetings are regularly held 1 night a month and special meetings are called whenever necessary.
At regular meetings, bills completed by the City Manager were deliberated. Of course, the number of council members will vary according to the size of the city (town), but it ranged from 4 to 9 people in the towns we visited. Furthermore, since they are volunteers, their yearly salaries are small, ranging from $2,500 to $20,000 for mayors, and about half that for council members. This is much lower than the salaries received by the same paid, elected officials in Japan.
One of the largest problems facing every town is waste disposal. The difference between Japan and America, with its vastly greater consumption, is that since America has a large land, there is a lot of surface dumping. On the other hand, high-tech equipment is used at processing sites to separate metal, paper, and biodegradable garbage. Numerous places are also collecting different types of wastes on different days. I heard that the recycling rate in one town was as high as 60 to 70%. To earmark waste for recycling, such as aluminum and steel cans, papers, and plastic bottles are put into special blue plastic bags instead of in the usual black ones.
Osaka City does not only separate collections, but incinerates all the different types of waste together. In Japan that lacks resources, it is crucial that we consider recycling methods. One way to improve this situation is to separate large recyclable trash for pickup 1 day a month, or establish recycling collection centers at regional parks or other specified collection sites.
Something else I noticed while going around in a car during this program was a roadway sign which read, "Adopt a Highway." This represented a promise by churches, institutions, and businesses to the state government to clean 2 mile stretch of a highway which is designated to be their own. At least once every 3 months for 2 years, these organizations collect and remove waste such as empty bottles and cans. With this newly established system, if these organizations and institutions put collected waste into specified orange plastic bags and place them along the roadside, the state will pick them up and dispose of them. As this work is being carried out, the road administration authorities display the "Adopt a Highway" sign with the name of the group performing the service. These authorities also furnish bright orange vests designed to avoid traffic accidents during the cleanup and gloves for protection against sharp glass and metal.
In addition to all of this, all the budget for the road service that are left over thanks to the labor services of the town's volunteers are carried over to the next year in the form of a reduction in residential taxes, making this a truly excellent service. We should reconsider our system of trying to use up the year's remaining budget by starting construction work at the end of fiscal year so that the ministry may maintain the same level of budget for the next year. Another big difference in Japan is that regional governments simply refuse volunteer help because this would deprive municipal personnel of work.
We visited 4 city councils and the state Congress, each of which was open to the public, including the deliberative council. At the state Congress in Raleigh, capital of North Carolina, Senator Koundhaus, elected from the Richmond county gave us a tour of the congressional facilities and committees and, along with Representative Dulles, also elected from Richmond, introduced our G.S.E. Team at the assembly.
Senator and Rotarian Sandy Sands of Rockingham County who was helpful during our l st week in Reidsville had this to say about the meaning of this program at the Senator's meeting. "This program doesn't merely dispatch people. Rather, through human interchange, we study the situations, customs, and culture of the other countries and, based on mutual understanding from an international point of view, contribute to world peace." These words left an indelible impression upon me.
Something else that caught my eye were the Congresspages. It is a rather uncommon word. A page is someone who carries documents between legislative members and committees within the Congress. The surprising thing, however, is that these pages are high school students who, as part of their compulsory studies in American Government, take turns for l-month periods learning about their own government through this hands-on approach. Nowadays, Japanese youngsters are so removed from politics. I wonder if this hands-on approach with high school students may be the best way to arouse their interest in politics.
The 120 lower house representatives voted on bills by pressing buttons while being seated. Within 20 seconds, each representative must press green for Yes and red for No. Which representative voted which way is then instantaneously displayed on a panel for all to see, and the voting results are tabulated by computer and properly recorded in the congressional record. There are few governing bodies employing this method in Japan. Adopting this method in Japan will eliminate the time-consuming strategies used at the national level voting process, such as buying time by going around in circles or slow decision making, enabling smooth congressional operations. Council deliberations, too, would probably require less time.
Us, G.S.E members could stay the entire 5 weeks with our Rotarian host families. During our stay, we were able to closely associate with the Rotarian volunteers who transported us back and forth to the place of meeting everyday.
Next, I'd like to introduce the numerous people we happened upon during our visits who were involved in volunteer activities. They were collecting trash from highways, working in admissions to community theaters, working as a hospital porter and receptionist, and assisting in organizing exhibition materials at the Greensboro Historical Museum. All of these activities are performed without a pay.
One hospital porter was a Rotarian who had retired and moved from the eastern part of the States to spend rest of his life in the Southern Pines area. He was comfortably retired, and yet, out of a conviction that he should render some service to society, he worked 1 day a week as a hospital porter. The receptionist at Winston-Salem Baptist Hospital was also a volunteer. At almost every public hospitals, over 500 volunteers are registered, rendering their services at their convenience.
In America, volunteer activities are freely accepted and rendered at numerous public locations. At the basis of this is the continuation today of the spread of the strongly rooted pioneering spirit that developed the American West.
I, too, have been participating in youth education activities ever since my university days. And yet, I do not find volunteer activities in Japan are not readily being accepted. With the rapid aging of Japanese society, the government should establish the policy of the placement of aged people as volunteers making the place of their work available. It will stimulate the local community activities to help build more livable social environment.
The G.S.E.'s key word during this trip was "community." In Japan, the idea of community is generally rendered as "local society" but according to an American elementary school textbook, community is interpreted as "the society which surrounds individuals". The smallest unit of a community is the family, followed by the neighborhood, the school, the city, county, state, country, and finally, the entire world.
I'd now like to introduce a couple of activities through which residents in conjunction with the community are making contributions to society.
l . Fund Raising for Chinqua-Penn's Administration Operating Costs
The Penn family, which built their wealth through growing tobacco and manufacturing cigarettes in North Carolina, donated their mansion along with its surrounding plantation to North Carolina University and these are open to the public. Since the small admissions fee does not cover the maintenance expenses, residents in the area have contributed money and created a fund for the operation and administration of these historical vestiges, creating a beautiful and clean tourist attraction.
2. Contributions for Public Structures and Equipment
The library we visited in Hamlet City was expanded some years ago. Since it was virtually impossible for the city to bear the entire cost, the residents gathered together and held Tupperware sales, donating the profits to construction costs. This is an example of the people in the community working together with the entire region to accomplish their goal.
At T. J. Bell Elementary School, to raise funds for the school's playground facilities, residents and the PTO (PTA) held a barbecue party. That day's greeting was "Did you go to school?" I was so impressed by the fact that, unlike in our town, people did not depend on municipal assistance, but, with the support of the entire area, anyone could join in and participate and accomplish their objective while having fun. I was most envious of the ways in which such energetic communities are common in American society.
Mr. Joe Towns, with whose family Mr. Matsuoka our team leader stayed in Reidsville, is in charge of the transmission of natural gas from Texas to New York through the region. Mr. Towns is taking a great care for the relation between his firm and the regional community since though the transmission site is surround by woods, ultra-low frequency sound is generated from the pressurized pumps.
He has contributed to the community in so many ways, such as organizing the "Adopt a Highway" program, setting up nests for the forest's bird life, etc.
In the middle of April every year, the PGA Greater Greensboro Open Golf Tournament is held in Greensboro. It seems that enterprises and groups are behind the success of this big event, sharing responsibility for the care of the audience at their designated sections of the course.
A Japanese based company we visited in the U.S. is also cooperating with the community every year. Just the other day, however, that company was appointed a new president, one apparently not so eager to help out with the event. Until last year, they had recruited so-called "paid volunteers" and, consequently, many people participated in volunteer activities. This year, however, volunteering was not tied to salaries so no one has come forward. I heard that, as a result, the company's executives had to fill in for the event.
This concludes my experiences in North Carolina. I strongly felt that, for matters small and large, an intimate relationship between residents, groups, businesses and the community at large was essential. I definitely felt that the success of corporations in America depended on how much they are accepted by the regional communities.
