Project B: A Catalyst for Social Change
Written by: Adam Foroozan Margiadi
Edited by: Wong “Louie” Yi Shion
Ever wondered how you could impact the world while being at APU? Look no further as APU’s Project B has been the premier launch platform to help students' social initiatives take off.
Since 2017, the Student Office has offered various incentives to help support student extracurricular activities. Depending on the type of activity, different subsidies and advisory support are given to students. The most famous out of all these incentives would have to be Project B, where students can present their creative endeavors that would reach beyond cultural boundaries and ensure collaboration among the local and international community. The goal of Project B is to allow students to apply their learning from class to reality through practical application.
To better understand the scope it takes to be selected as a Project B group, APU Times interviewed two of the selected groups chosen last year. Firstly, we have Ajnas Ahmed, a 7th-semester APM student from India who co-founded Genect, a project where they aim “to connect multiple generations.”
The basic concept is to recruit APU students from various countries and bring them to local nursing homes within Oita Prefecture. As these students visit these nursing homes, they begin by introducing their countries and cultures to the elderly. Afterwards, the students are given the opportunity to converse and connect with the residents more personally. Afterwards, the recruited students receive a guided tour around the facility.
When asked about how he came up with this project, Ajnas paused for a moment and then began to explain the project's background: “When I was in my 5th semester, I got a chance to do an internship at [a] nursing home in Oita. After spending some quality time with the elderly, it was an eye-opening experience. I actually have quite a close relationship with [my] grandparents and saw how the nursing home residents felt isolated from the outside world. After the internship, the [elderly] were like telling me: ‘Please come again..we want to see you again. " That's when the idea about connecting APU students and nursing homes came to be…”
Inspired by this, he returned back to APU where he started working on a rough concept of connecting APU students and nursing homes. At the time, he did not even know that Project B existed as an incentive. “I initially started this project as its own thing and then when I came to know about Project B, I was like why not [make it a] Project B.” As the project grew he recruited 3 other members and applied for the Project B selection process.
Since receiving the Student Office’s support, Genect has been able to expand its operations to conduct events at two different nursing homes, one in Beppu City and another in Oita City. They recently held events in April and are planning to host more in the following months until July.
Ajnas has also begun sharing Genect’s story and expanded its reach beyond APU. He recently spoke at TED x Tokyo about his experiences running Genect. Furthermore, the organization was signed up for the One Beppu Dream Award, a local competition to boost startups. Genect reached the final round of the competition and has since begun receiving advisory support from Oita Mirai Shinkin Ginkou.
Secondly, there is Imam Hossain, an 8th-semester APM student from Bangladesh. He is the leader of the APU Debaters Circle, which is registered as the Green Commons Conclave for Project B. APU Debaters originally started as a circle where APU students would have weekly mock debates, do workshops for new students, and join debate competitions. As the circle grew, they began looking for ways to expand a debate platform not only for circle members exclusively, but also for the APU Community in general.
As the time for Project B applications rolled around, the APU Debaters members thought it would be the perfect opportunity for them to use the platform to launch their circle. “Actually, we wanted to start this project around the start of my 3rd year. We thought amongst us leaders [of APU Debaters]. We thought that Project B would be a good avenue to extend the stage of debating to not only club members but also all the APU students.”
They took inspiration from the Oxford Union, an international forum held by Oxford University where high-profile individuals engage in debate regarding various outstanding topics. To mimic this style, the APU Debaters came up with the idea of holding an open debate forum near the J building stairs. Within this area, they wanted to create an open layout in which judges, debate members, and the audience can actively participate in discussions regarding APU-related issues. As the forum is open to all APU students, they can choose to join as debaters or audience members. The audience members may even chime in to ask questions or give their own remarks to add onto the discussion.
After receiving approval, the Green Commons Conclave’s inaugural event was held in January 2024, and featured a debate regarding Article 9 of the Japan Constitution. A second rendition of the event is planned to be held on June 7th and a follow-up event. As GCC continues to grow in attendees and popularity, Imam hopes to see not just APU students but also professors get more involved in the discussions. “For the second event, we are planning to have professors as debaters… You always see professors just discussing topics in class but never really see them address their own opinions.” The circle also plans to host a 2-day workshop with local Japanese high school students and help teach them the art of English debating.
Imam believes that having a debate platform is important for the longevity of having healthy discussions among different people. It is unclear whether GCC will last beyond Imam’s time as its leader, but he believes that as new leaders rise up, these debate forums will continue to exist and thrive.
Both Ajnas and Imam have been able to put forth their visions into reality through Project B support and they hope to see more APU students follow their path. Ajnas’ and Imams’ words of advice for creating a successful Project B are:
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