ashinaga 

TSUDOI Photos

Ashinaga is a Tokyo-based nonprofit that provides support for students who have lost one or both parents to sickness or death. They provide scholarships for university students from Japan and 47 Sub-saharan African countries, and offer week-long summer camps throughout the country for high school age students, known as Tsudois. As the Digital Team intern, my summer was split into two halves: working in the Tokyo office, and working in the Tsudois. At the Tsudois, I took photos of the experiences of fellow interns from all across the globe interacting with Japanese high school students, including the final night of Campfire, where students shared their dreams of the future.

Video Storyboarding & Student Interviews

I conducted long-form interviews of eight university students from the Ashinaga Africa Initiative (AAI) for the company to use for future media projects. I enjoyed talking to the students and learning about their passion for their kokorozashi, their life’s goal, to improve their home countries. At the time, Ashinaga was working on media project showcasing AAI student internships in Africa. I interviewed students who were about to go on their internships, and others who had just returned. I also conducted research and drafted storyboards of several videos that my supervisors would film in Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda while I attended Tsudoi. Below is an example of my basic storyboarding once my supervisor sent over screenshots of footage she filmed in Rwanda.