The room fell silent as Japanese exchange student Megumi Kaizu used a paint brush to express her feelings about war. About two dozen students, professors and other community members seemed to hang on her every brush stroke Wednesday afternoon in the International Resource Center.
The abstract painting featured a variety of colors and disorderly shapes, and it took about 20 minutes to construct.
“This specific piece is about emotions that are swelling and need to be released,” she said.
Kaizu’s presentation was a segment of the six-part series, “Global Views: The impact of war on students’ lives.” Her grandfather served in Papua New Guinea for the Japanese in World War II.
“My grandpa’s experience deeply affected my mom, and in turn it affected me,” Kaizu said. “I think about how and what am I – are we – responsible for in regards to these past wars.”
When she was 16, Kaizu visited Hiroshima, Japan, for the first time to experience the city’s culture firsthand. She attended Hiroshima’s annual peace ceremony, held on the anniversary of when the atomic bomb was dropped on the city.
“The ceremony takes place to remind everyone of what happened and to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she said.
Citizens who lived through the bombing guided Kaizu around Hiroshima and took her to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.
“It really affected me to see the names of my guides on the memorial,” she said.
Kaizu also told about a trip she took with a friend to Auschwitz, Poland, in the summer of 2005. Auschwitz was the site of the largest Nazi concentration camp.
“Being there was a powerful feeling. The sadness in the air was thick,” she said.
Kaizu touched on the issue of human trafficking. She said she felt saddened that such horrible things are going on because victims are not educated enough to defend themselves. They are exploited and deceived and it leads to a path of “never-ending violence,” she said.
Director of International Student and Scholar Services Magid Shirzadegan said the series is held to raise awareness of war atrocities and bring attention to the IRC.
“I think several things prompted this series of presentations,” he said. “The most important being the issue of war.”
“There are lots of wars – a new war starts every day – yet it has become just background noise, and we are no longer paying any attention to it,” he said.
Shirzadegan said the University’s International Resource Center has been nationally recognized as one of the best by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, but it’s overlooked on our own campus.
Chilean exchange student Roberto Arroyo will give the next presentation in the series Wednesday. His presentation, “Love Against Forgetting: In Solidarity Against Hate,” will also be held in the IRC located on the Mezzanine level of the EMU.