Yuko's reflection on her visit to Ayata Community

"I went to Camachile for a week and there is Ayta community," says Yuko Yamashita.

This is a part of their community immersion program. With encountering minorities in Philippines, students learned different aspects of people's lives in Philippines.

During her week-long stay in Ayta community, Yuko observed some social issues.  "Ayta community is in the mountain" recalls Yuko. "They are living with their traditional life style. It takes only 10 minutes by car to go to downtown from Ayta community, but there are no Ayta people in downtown." She wondered why. "I consider that there are still discrimination for Ayta people." 

"I also observed that educations for Ayta people are not enough, " Yuko pointed out. "Thanks to activity of church, some people can go to university but I felt that the governments need to support the education for Ayta people." 

" I faced lots of social issues but I could not make certain answers what I can do as a future leader for them. I realized that it is important to respect others. For now, this is my answer," Yuko concluded.