About
Message
PCP is a relatively new organization, established in 2018, but its humanitarian aid activities on the ground have been ongoing for over 18 years since 2003, thanks to its member, aid worker Naoko Takato. Immediately after the Iraq War, Takato witnessed the immense scale of the war's devastation firsthand and carried out various humanitarian aid activities necessary for the local people, including providing water, food, daily necessities, and housing, as well as medical missions. Once the emergency relief phase subsided, she dedicated herself to reconstruction projects alongside the local people.
However, just as it seemed that these efforts were beginning to bear fruit around the end of 2013, the rise of ISIS (Islamic State) occurred, and she says that the sheer horror of the damage caused almost led her to despair and gave her a profound sense of futility. She described that time as, "I thought I had seen hell, but I felt like there was an even deeper, bloodier hell at the bottom, and that the lid had just been opened."
In the midst of that despair, a young local staff member said, "If there's one thing we gained during the worst years of hell this country has endured, it's 'diversity'." She found a glimmer of hope in those words. This "acceptance of diversity" was, for a long time, the very concept she believed this country needed most—a concept to break the cycle of retaliation, a "bed for nurturing peace cells."
Takato believed that now, as the younger generation begins to recognize the value of diversity, it is time to build a new peace education that can break the cycle of retaliation that has been passed down through generations in Iraq. It was with this belief that he later encountered drama education in Japan. He was deeply impressed when he observed a high school in Fukushima creating a play based on the students' experiences and research regarding the earthquake and nuclear accident, and he saw great potential in drama workshops that are based on the individuality, empathy, cooperation, imagination, and communication skills of each person.
"I'd like to try this in Iraq."
In 2016, two theater professionals visited Iraq, laying the groundwork for their participation in and cooperation with Takato's activities. Then, experts in fields such as reading and environmental issues began to gather, and PCP got underway.
PCP is an organization built upon Takato's long-standing foundation of humanitarian aid in the region, bringing together people from truly "diverse" fields.
What is PCP?
Peace Cell Project (PCP) is a joint Japanese-Iraqi organization that provides peace education and ecology (environmental protection) programs for children and youth in Iraq, a country that has been in conflict for a long time.
Starting from Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, PCP conducts reading campaigns such as mobile libraries, picture book and story show productions, and the establishment of school libraries; arts education such as communication and drama workshops, music classes, and theater productions; and ecology programs such as clean-up activities, natural environment protection activities, promotion of renewable energy, and global environment protection classes. and other ecological programs.
Our Mission
Our goal is to enhance local children's creativity, expression, empathy, and awareness of human rights through a variety of educational programs in reading, education, the arts, and the global environment, to recognize diversity, and to break the "cycle of retaliation" that has been passed down from generation to generation in Iraq, by creating new and fun peace learning opportunities in Iraq It is to take place throughout the entire country.
Where is Duhok? Why Duhok?
Duhok is an autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. It hosts many Syrian refugees and the largest number of IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) in Iraq, as well as a large number of former child soldiers who are being reintegrated into society. We believe it is very significant that PCP's intended activities will begin in Duhok, where many war victims of different ethnic, religious, sectarian, and linguistic backgrounds are living. We hope to expand our activities here to all of Iraq as the "Duhok Model".
History
PCP started as a voluntary organization on September 1, 2018. Our first project was to invite the head of the Board of Education, a representative and manager of a local NGO, and the director of a juvenile prison from the Kurdish Autonomous Region in northern Iraq. We started with a project full of content, including classes on the environment in Japanese libraries, juvenile prisons, and educational settings; picture book presentations by high school students; observation and participation in drama workshops at elementary schools; and a visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and discussions with hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors).
In May 2022, as the project expanded, it became a general incorporated association, Peace Cell Project.
Who are we?
The staff consists of educators, aid workers, librarians, designers, actors, and playwrights, all with different experiences, as well as volunteer staff and support members.