The PHD Association is a public interest foundation that invites young people from villages in Asia and the South Pacific to Japan as trainees to learn farming, health and sanitation, community organizing and more. It follows up after they return home and cooperates with grassroots people in building self-reliant villages and improving livelihoods. The letters PHD stand for Peace, Health and Human Development.
It was founded in June 1981 by a physician who had worked in medical care abroad, mainly in Nepal, for about 20 years and who proposed people-to-people exchange and training that goes beyond temporary aid centered on goods and money. It invited its first trainees from Nepal and the Philippines in 1982 and welcomed its 42nd group in fiscal 2026. It was certified as a public interest foundation in fiscal 2011.
Former trainees who have returned home lead community development projects in agriculture, health and sanitation, poverty reduction and educational support. In Japan, it also accepts domestic trainees (interns), organizes study tours, and runs a consultation desk for foreign residents on securing housing and coping with difficulties in daily life (as a designated housing support corporation).
Key points
- A trainee program for young people from Asia and the South Pacific, running since 1981
- Community development projects led by returned former trainees
- Domestic trainees (interns), study tours and a consultation desk for foreign residents
Why this organization deserves attention
Its distinguishing feature is that it centers on exchange and human development without dividing people into those who give and those who receive. Because relationships continue after trainees return home, what they learn leads to village development on the ground.
It works not only overseas but also on support for foreign residents in Japan and on hosting domestic trainees. The phrase "living together" appears to run through its work both at home and abroad.
Editor's comment
The PHD Association shows us that international cooperation can begin not with "aid" to a distant country but with a relationship of learning, living and talking together in the same town. One can feel the weight of more than 40 years of accumulated work.
There are many ways in, such as donating postcards and stamps, volunteering, and applying to be a domestic trainee. Why not look for what you can do on the official website?