Welcome to what I think is a very special edition of KTW. In this edition, you will see just how deeply our KIFL students care about people of the world and our diminishing resources.

Our feature articles are on a Desert Greening Project in Xinjiang, Northwest China. Seventeen KIFL students accompanied by the school president, Mr Itsuyuki Mizuno, Mr Wataru Takei, our KIFL travel consultant and Ms Masae Oyama from the Student Center, took the long trip during the summer holidays of 2007 in order to plant trees as part of group efforts to reclaim the desert. Read the first article by Masae Oyama for more information about the expedition and check out the comments from students who took part in this project last year. It was in a very interesting area of China that has a fascinating culture of different ethnic groups. We have also featured two articles adapted from speeches on the China trip that Miki Koike and Yuko Demise wrote for the KIFL Speech Contest.

Risa Ishizuka has provided us with her research on what she has described as “Eco Friendly Sweden” and our guest writer, Ai Uchida writes about fossil fuel damage to the earth.

As you will see, our students are motivated to make changes in their lifestyles and are passionate about leaving a cleaner, healthier world behind them for future generations. They also continue to show concern for a healthy mind and good human relationships. Nobuyuki Nakajima worries about the negative affects of the media, Kentaro Tokura and Mami Yokusuka have written about family and society and Yasunori Suzuki has written an in-depth article about the increasing problem of suicide in Japan. Kazuki Tadokoro reminds us that 15 yen can buy a tree and that means that we can all help the environment.

Environmental destruction not only affects the land and wildlife but also the people. According to media reports, depression and suicide have increased in recent years and we are aware that many of our student readers sometimes feel overwhelmed with the demands of daily life but feel that they cannot talk about their confusion. To help you find some solutions or appropriate support, KIFL has a full time counseling center. Check for more details in the Bulletin Board section.

A big congratulatory round of applause for Ms Sandra Abe! Ms. Abe won the first prize of a study trip to Europe for her design title, Luxuriant Moon at the 2007 Scholarship Challenge. You can read more about this at, http://www.eflm.net/event/scholarship2007_rpt/works/02.html

Her design class continues to be very popular during the WIT term but you need to sign up early as space is limited. You can see examples of student work in the Bulletin Board section.

Before you read on, we need to wave another farewell to our departing students on their graduation. We wish them every success in their new jobs, their studies if they are university transfer students and for those that are taking a year off on working holidays. Congratulations to all from the teachers and administration staff.

Editor