The SEISA Africa Asia Bridge (SAAB) is a festival focused on the concept of “CHIKEI”, which means to know, connect and to be friends. The festival has been held in Japan every year since 2015. The fourth SEISA Africa Asia Bridge was held in Yokohama, Japan, last year from 10th to 11th November.
It was organized by Foundation for Global Children, Kokusai Gakuen Education Institute and SEISA Africa Asia Bridge 2018 Executive Committee to allow the participants from African, Asia and Asia-Pacific countries to gain a deeper mutual understanding of the regions and the wide range of cultures, values, histories, etc.
The SAAB festival 2018 was a very successful event with approximately 7,200 visitors from a total of 35 countries from Africa, Asia and Asia-Pacific countries which includes 24 embassies. Four students from RTC attended the programme. Festival events included presentations, Ethnic Music and Dance, Food Culture Booths and discussions among the students and other special guests. We got a global food experience because we were served with a variety of food from different countries including Bhutan. During our stay at the Takao campus, we were being served Bhutanese dishes popularly known as kewa datshi, kopi datshi and beef momo. We were very happy to have received such hospitality.
During the two days festival, we got to present ourselves as student ambassadors of Bhutan. We represented our country in front of delegates and students from other countries. We were given the opportunity to share our culture through a traditional dance performance and it was mesmerizing to see the audiences’ reaction. Majority of the participants had seen Bhutanese dance for the first time. We felt proud of being Bhutanese and privileged to have gotten such opportunity to present our unique culture.
- Ms. Neema Tamang, (B.Com, Finance)