Hello I am Akio Sakakibara and a board member since Global Bridge Network (GBN) has been founded.
I met Ms Ohnishi in Washington DC in 2003. It was a short time to spend time with her there but I noticed that she was different from other Japanese friends such as beyond the boundaries of conventional thinking of typical Japanese. Therefore I believed that she will act all over the world in the future.
After I had returned to Japan, she remained in the US and went on to the graduate school on her Master program of International Development. Her new path has been started though, we have still kept in touch.
In 2016, it was a very surprising moment for me to hear that she decided to start a new NPO. She was so serious and passionate about it. I agreed on her point of view and became a board member because I was also interested in what she wanted to do.
I am engaged in nursing-care for elderly people as my current job where I support them to live their way of life. My field is targeting domestic people which is a bit different from GBN’s intentions but there are also some similarities like supporting vulnerable people. This also made me sympathize with what she wanted to do, and got the devotion to be willing to do anything that I can do in helping her with her initiative.
Unlike, other GBN members, I am not able to travel abroad to support directly local people, but I am happy to cooperate even indirectly for making a better environment for people and also for children who bear our future. In other words, as a member of GBN I am willing to cooperate in my way aiming for a better achievement.
Therefore I would like others to also understand that there are many ways on how to cooperate in supporting the people in developing countries even if it’s done indirectly just like me.
I appreciate your support. Thank you.