"I want to work in a world where no one is defined by the environment they were born into!" Turning a childhood wish into reality! | Misato Kakitani

◆ Self-Introduction

Nice to meet you! My name is Misato Kakitani, and I have been working as an intern at PLAS since December. I am currently a fourth-year student in the liberal arts department of a technical college, where I study English and Korean, as well as general business subjects such as management, law, and marketing. Last year, I spent 10 months studying abroad in Canada, and through various experiences, I have been exploring my path as I hope to work in international cooperation in the future.

◆ Introduction to My Responsibilities

I work as a Public Relations and Communications intern, primarily responsible for email distribution, updating our website and X (formerly Twitter), and promoting our charity auctions. I carry out my work by thinking about how to help more people learn about and support PLAS's activities!

◆ Why I Applied to PLAS

When I was in elementary school, I went on a family trip to Thailand and saw children around my own age living on the streets. It was a shock that made me realize how blessed I was to have been born in Japan. Since then, I have become interested in international cooperation, and I began to wish that I could work in a world where no one is defined by the environment they were born into.

When I started thinking about my career path, I knew I wanted to be involved in international cooperation, but I felt I couldn't do that without knowing how it was actually carried out. So, I looked for an internship that I could do even while living in a rural area. That is when I found PLAS. They provide "empowerment" support to children in Africa who face difficulties like poverty and HIV/AIDS and have limited access to aid, as well as to women living in harsh conditions. This was exactly the form of international cooperation I had envisioned. I thought, "I absolutely want to work here!" so I signed up for an internship information session and applied for the internship immediately after it ended.

- About the Internship -

◆ What is fun and what is challenging about the internship

When I post on social media or introduce PLAS's activities via email, I feel a sense of accomplishment and am glad I worked hard when the articles and posts I put effort into creating get a lot of reactions or are read by many people. There is nothing that makes me happier than seeing someone, even just one person, empathize with PLAS's philosophy and offer their support after seeing the PR materials I have shared!

What is challenging about the work is using various online tools that I never had to use in my school life, and performing tasks with a sense of tension and responsibility. There are many things I don't know, but the staff and senior interns teach me carefully, so I am able to grow every day.

◆ What I have felt and learned through my activities

I started with no knowledge of international cooperation or NGOs, and every day is a series of discoveries and growth. What I have felt most strongly is that invisible connections between people create great power.

As a Public Relations and Communications intern, my job is to convey PLAS's activities. For example, with our X posts about charity auctions, fans of celebrities have liked and reposted them, helping to spread the word about PLAS's activities even further. When I think about how people who learned about PLAS because of those celebrities then check our social media or website, become interested in our activities and vision, and gather to provide support—and that this support connects to the lives of people far away in Africa—I feel an indescribable sense of emotion.

Also, since most of PLAS's work is done remotely, we rarely work face-to-face. Because I live in a rural area, it is difficult for me to go to Tokyo easily, and I don't know if I will have the chance to meet the staff or other interns in person in the future. However, I feel a connection of hearts as we gather under the philosophy of PLAS, united in our desire to make the future better for children in Africa.

I feel that valuing these connections between people that go beyond face-to-face interaction is what PLAS is all about, and perhaps that is a major characteristic of PLAS's activities.

◆ Future Career

My career path after graduating from technical college is not yet decided, but I want to be involved in international cooperation.
Like the PLAS policy, my big dream is to engage in activities that expand the circle of "creating" support rather than "giving" support, and to realize a world where anyone, regardless of the region they were born and raised in, can pursue their dreams without unreasonable restrictions, to the point where the job of international cooperation is no longer needed!

◆ What I love about PLAS!

The staff and interns at PLAS all have diverse backgrounds, and their career histories and work locations are all different. There are several people who work while living overseas. That is precisely why their ways of thinking and feeling are diverse, and even casual remarks hold new discoveries for me.
In particular, in the short notes added to the morning and evening emails that also serve as work reports, we write about trivial things like what happened that day or what we ate, but those notes are packed with worlds I don't know, and I always read them with excitement.
I think the appeal of PLAS is that it brings together people who can enjoy the blending of various values!

Why don't you also try being active as a PLAS intern?
PLAS is always recruiting interns!
Internship application guidelines can be found here: