Princely Activities
Thursday 22 November 2018

HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa Visits a School in Tokyo

HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa Visits a School in Tokyo

HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa, Chairwoman of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environment Protection, visited the Omori school on Thursday in Tokyo.

The Omori school, located in Ota City, one of Tokyo's 23 municipalities, has 398 students aged 12 to 15 and 21 teachers. It is a brilliant UNESCO Associated School since 2011.

Last year, the school concluded a twinning agreement with the Green Belt Eco-School of Rabat following the visit of the president of the Goi Peace Foundation to the capital and since then the Japanese school has incorporated environmental conservation practices into its activities, drawing inspiration from the activities and practices carried out by teachers of ecological schools in Morocco in cooperation with the Department of National Education.

HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa was greeted into the gymnasium by the students of the Omori school who presented before Her Royal Highness, as a welcome mark, an anthology of Japanese culture: martial arts, calligraphy, dance.

Afterwards, HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa learned with open curiosity and attention about the activities they are carrying out as part of their education for sustainable development.

Her Royal Highness has learned that Omori students are involved in the maintenance of the green spaces at Okayama station located across their school, and that, with adult volunteers, they clean weeds, water and maintain flower beds. Her Royal Highness took an interest in the climbing plants they grow as green curtains above the school's windows to protect them naturally from the sun.

HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa was also briefed on their involvement in the conservation of the nearby Senzoku-Ike Park, where they are helping fireflies, a small insect whose population had disappeared from the region, to settle in and develop. Every day from October to June, high school students travel to the park with the Yokohama Firefly Association to take care of this element of biodiversity.

Her Royal Highness also appreciated the way they learn to reduce food losses, and receive an education to fight the effects of disasters and to understand the world in which they live, and thus contribute to peace.

HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa was moved by the song of peace, an original song written by the students and composed by the teachers, which they sang before her, before offering Her Royal Highness a gift as a sign of gratitude for her coming.

The Omori school in Tokyo has received several awards: the prize for the best UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development project (2012), the prize for sustainable establishment by the Japanese ministry of National Education (2016), and the prize for the school involved in UNESCO's global institutional approach (2016).

MAP 22 November 2018