“PEOPLE HERE HAVE AN INCREDIBLE TEMPERAMENT”: A young Japanese man left Tokyo and came to Cicevac to help children with developmental disabilities!

Young people from Japan volunteer all over the world, and Serbia found itself on their map with the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency program within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One of them is thirty-year-old Kazuma Sugano from Tokyo, who came for two years to one of our smallest municipalities.

He planned to volunteer in Africa or South America, but after finishing social science studies, master’s studies, and two years of work experience, fate intended for him, he says – Serbia. Ten months ago, he arrived in Cicevac, a small town with nearly 4,000 inhabitants, and joined the “Okular” association.

“There are great differences between our two nations”

“My prior knowledge about Serbia, before arriving, was modest. That you are a country of football, tennis, basketball. I learned a lot about your culture and history, about the people who surround me. There are great differences between our two nations. They are reflected in temperament, work and life habits. I am most fascinated by your openness towards other nations,” says Kazuma Sugano, a volunteer from Japan.

Kazuma was attracted by the fact that “Okular” deals with inclusion, that it works with children with developmental disabilities, says Strahinja Milutinovic from that association.

He helps children and wins the hearts of the people of Cicevac

“Kazuma is a slightly more open person compared to the average Japanese person, he has a great desire to work with marginalized groups as well as generally to help people,” stated Milutinovic.

The translation into the Serbian language of the most famous Japanese children’s book, which he brought with him, was the first joint task.

“Something very interesting is that five copies of this book are in the libraries in the Vatican. Some wealthy donor bought fifty copies, it seems to me, of this book and five copies of them are specifically in Serbian,” says Aleksandra Milutinovic from the “Okular” association.

With the Japanese culture of conduct, Kazuma won over the residents of Cicevac.

“During the day we mostly hang out, go for coffees, walks and things like that. That actually suits him the most because he came from a huge city,” says Jovan Aleksic from Cicevac.

“I realized that at first glance, people here do not make a big difference between Japanese and Chinese people, so I thought of it and as a sign of recognition, I put flags on my backpack – of the land of the rising sun from which I come and yours in which I currently live,” adds Kazuma.

He celebrated his birthday in Cicevac on Easter

On the eve of Easter, he celebrated a milestone birthday.

“The celebration of Kazuma’s 30th birthday was a mix of Serbian culture and Japanese culture. He knows now what he wants to do and knows that he wants to work with young people and knows that he loves both this place and that he loves Serbia,” says Anica Stamenkovic from the “Okular” association from Cicevac.

He also hangs out with people from Krusevac. He introduced himself with the forum “Discover Japan” at the Alternative Cultural Center “Gnezdo”, where he recently held a Japanese cuisine workshop.