From September 1, 2000 to July 5, 2001, I had been in training in Japan as a trainee of the Leadership Training in Japan, A Program for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific. My purposes of the training were to learn Japanese, to study diagnoses and medical treatments of cerebral paralysis as a pediatrician, to visit hospitals and welfare facilities for children with disabilities, and to meet with lots of doctors by attending an international symposium held in Japan.

When I just arrived in Japan, I could not communicate at all because it was very difficult to understand Japanese. However, as the Japanese course started, I studied hard so that I would become able to talk in Japanese. All the teachers were Japanese and used only Japanese in classes, so we had to speak in Japanese, too. I was afraid that I would be in trouble if I didn’t understand Japanese when I went out after class. Besides I had to learn Japanese as soon as I could since I was not going to use an interpreter during an individual training. Another reason that I studied hard was that in Japan there are lots of exchange students from Mongolia who speak Japanese well, and I wanted to be like them. In December we had to give a presentation in Japanese that we had studied for three months. It was a very difficult work but somehow I managed to give a speech and after that I studied Japanese in my daily life.

Before starting an individual training, I attended a symposium on pediatric neurology in Japan and Germany last October held in Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture. In February this year I also attended an international symposium on pediatric rehabilitation in Asia held in Tokyo. I met and had a talk with a lot of doctors and therapists and obtained new information on rehabilitation.

The hospitals where I received training are special facilities for children with disabilities. The doctors make diagnoses and give medical treatments and rehabilitation trainings. I studied at Seishi Ryougoen (Institute for Physically Handicapped Children) in Tokyo for four months and at Kitakyusyu Rehabilitation Center for Children with Disabilities for one month. I observed medical examinations, operations, rehabilitation trainings and many others and learned a lot from the doctors.

1. When diagnosing and treating people with disabilities, it is the most important thing to always make a team of pediatricians, orthopedists and rehabilitation therapists.
2. Before coming to Japan, I had not clearly understood what the real pediatric rehabilitation is like. After the training, I learned what the doctors and therapists actually do in this field.
3. I had an opportunity to observe an operation for cerebral paralysis for the first time.
4. I am glad that I could see how to make a delicate diagnosis by using highly technological machines.
5. I got acquainted with lots of great doctors and now I can cooperate with them.
6. I could get new medical information by meeting with doctors from many countries at an international symposium.
7. I visited National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Japan and its wonderful institutes.

• I learned the basic know-how to make a home page and opened my own. I enjoyed it very much because I had never done such a thing before and I did everything by myself with “my own hands” during an individual training.
• I was glad to know about the great system called DAISY (Digital Audio-based Information System) designed for the people with disabilities. I hear that DAISY is expanding more and more in the world and its techniques are also improving. I hope this system will be introduced to Mongolia, too.
• From June 11, we had a group training for two weeks, in which I liked the leadership training best. We discussed what leadership is, what is necessary to be a good leader, what we should do as a leader if there are problems in the activites, and so on. I learned a lot during the four days of training.

I had many good experiences and did lots of enjoyable activities while I was training in Japan. I was very happy that I could visit Hiroshima, a town of peace, where I most wanted to go. I am really grateful to the DUSKIN AINOWA Foundation and my host family (Ueno family), for I could not only visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park but also could enjoy home stay. I had a very nice time sightseeing and having delicious foods in Hiroshima with my host family. I also tried skiing and diving for the first time in my life during a ski training last year and diving experience in June this year with other trainees. When I go back, I would be able to ski if I wish because it is very cold and it snows a lot in Mongolia. However there are no equipments to dive in Mongolia. Wearing a diving suit and carrying an oxygen cylinder, I was a little scared to dive into the water. But as the time went by, my fear gradually disappeared. The time I spent in a diving pool is another nice memory. I will not forget about the delightful time I spent in many towns and facilities, especially Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studio. I was really glad to be able to visit Universal Studio, an amazing place, which opened during my stay.

When I arrived in Japan, I had a very hard time, because prices are high, there are too many people and too many train routes and I could not understand Japanese. However since all of these were the problems in daily life, as time passed I gradually got used to them. What I like in Japan, especially in Tokyo, are that everything is convenient, it is clean in city, trains are punctual and Japanese people work hard and always keep time and promises. On the other hand, seeing Japanese people everyday, what I feel sorry is that they spend a long time in trains to get to their offices so they cannot afford the time to spend with their families. Besides as they work so hard from morning till night, I am afraid that they are very tired and have lots of stress.

When I go back, I would like to make the best use of what I learned in Japan for the children with disabilities. In addition to my work in hospital, I hope I will be able to start activities for people with disabilities in Mongolia as a trainee of the Leadership Training program. Of course there will be many problems when we start new activities. I will not be able to solve them alone, so first I would like to gather like-minded people and make a team, and then think what we can do together. I will do my best by cooperating with people in Japan.

I have got great results by attending this training program. I obtained various information on pediatric paralysis and others. I got acquainted with lots of people and visited many places. Thus I could broaden my outlook and mind. I will never forget everything I did in Japan last year.