Loading...
Toronto
ALPHA’s Mandate and Mission
Canada
ALPHA (Association for Learning and Preserving of
the History of WWII in Asia) was
formed in 1997 with
the mandate to foster humanity education and racial harmony with a specific
mission to promote
public awareness, learning and preserving Asian WWII history. Since 2004
the Toronto Chapter
of Canada ALPHA has been working closely with educators to integrate
this
important, but
relatively unknown, human rights history into the Ontario secondary school
curriculum.
Accomplishments
Thus Far:
1. Peace & ReconciliationStudy Tours to China
for Canadian Educators: Over
the three
summers between
2004 and 2006, more than 70 Canadian educators were sponsored to
visit and witness
first-hand evidence of the long-hidden human tragedies and atrocities
committed by the
Japanese Imperial Army during WWII in China.
2. Study Tour Educators’ Initiatives: Upon their returns, many Study Tour
educators have
been committed
personally and professionally to promote the cause. Apart from direct
teaching in class,
they initiated and produced visual and audio materials to be shared with
other teachers,
wrote papers and published articles, and made public presentations at
conferences,
school-board curriculum meetings/workshops, professional groups,
universities, and
schools – for example, on Remembrance Day.
3. Incorporation of Asian WWII history into the
Ontario Grade 10 history curriculum
documents: In January 2005, Ontario became the first
jurisdiction in the Western world
to have officially
incorporated the Asian WWII history into its Grade 10 World History
and Social Studies
curriculum. The history and events, such as the Nanjing Massacre,
have been formally
included as suggested topics in the 2005 revision of the Grade 10
history course - a
compulsory secondary-school course in Ontario.
4. Publishing the first Ontario teachers’ resource
guide on Asian WWII history: The
Search
for
Global Citizenship: The Violation of Human Rights in Asia, 1931-1945 (A
Resource
Guide
for Ontario Teachers of Canadian and World Studies, Grades 10-12), which is
also available
online at www.asia-wwii.org, provides secondary school teachers with rich
information and
easy-to-use tools for their classroom teaching.
5. Promotion and dissemination of teachers’
resource packages to all Ontario secondary
schools: In 2006, a variety of resource materials
were promoted at professional
conferences and
school-board workshops. At the same time, over 800 sets of
comprehensive resource
packages (worth $300 each) were shipped and donated to
secondary schools
across the province for their school libraries and social science
departments.
6. Production of a docu-drama “Iris Chang”: This $1.5M budget film (with funding all
from donation and
charity foundation), produced and directed by a Canadian independent
film production
house, is geared for global audiences particularly those in the western
world where the
Asian WWII history has been rarely known. This film will reveal
the inhumanity of
Nanjing Massacre through the capturing of Iris Chang’s determination
and courage to
unearth this hidden chapter of history. This film also serves to pay tribute
to Iris and to
remind the world her passion in justice and peace. Filming of this
docudrama had been
taken place in Nanjing, Japan, California and other cities in the
United States, as
well as Ontario Canada.
7. Art Contest and exhibition: This event had been kicked off on May 3,
2007 which invites
entries of visual
art creations by people from all over the world who wish to display their
feeling and emotion
about the Nanjing Massacre through visual arts. Selected entries will
be adopted and
printed for a "Nanking Massacre Commemorative Book" or similar
publication. This
"book" will also serves as a historical record and will be sent to
all
educational
institutions, libraries and Memorial Halls around the world.
8. Motion 291 ‘Comfort Women’ Campaign: Working jointly with Korean, Filipino and
Indonesian
communities, and endorsed by many other organizations and communities
including the
National Association of Japanese Canadians, a massive petition campaign
is undertaken in support of the Motion 291, which calls for
the Japanese government to
officially
apologize and compensate to the victims of the military sexual slavery during
WWII. This campaign also include the action of
collecting 50,000 supporting signatures
which will be
submitted to the Canadian Parliament. To arouse awareness and provide
more information on
the “Comfort Women” issue to the public, a full page appeal in
The Globe and Mail
was posted on May 29, 2007.
9. Resource Centre: A hub
for volunteers and resource centre for educators/students/
general public has
been set up.
Projects
under Way:
1. Appeal to
Canadian Parliament for the passing of Motion 291 through petition campaign,
public education
and live testimonies of victims.
2. 2007 China
Study Tour. Around 19 Ontario and 6 BC teachers and educators will be
sponsored to visit
four major PRC cities. The objectives are the same as the previous
study tours, i.e.
to educate the Canadian educators on WWII history by revisiting war
sites and victims.
3. Facilitating
traveling workshops for teachers across Ontario to promote awareness and
teaching
4. Development
of additional curriculum materials on history and war related subject
matter
for younger grades
5. Expansion of
the educational website, and research and collection of resource materials
6. Supporting
other educational activities - including writing contests, school clubs,
school
visits,
scholarships, etc.
7.
Making of a “Nanjing Massacre 70thh Anniversary
Commemorative Book: This
commemorative
book will widely circulated and serve dual purposes: for awareness of
the
atrocity and provide a historical archive
8. Marketing and
promotion of the docu-drama “Iris Chang”. Premieres and private
screening will be
held around North America and the world. World Premiere will be
started in Toronto
on November 11, 2007
9. A
Commemorative Concert to be conducted by Mr. Tak-Ng Lai will be held in Toronto
Performing Art
Center on December 13, 2007, the 70th
Anniversary of the Nanjing
Massacre
10. Fundraising
initiatives: In order to continue the missions and support the works of
ALPHA, active
fundraising events need to be conducted...
a. Annual Gala
Dinner to be held on October 27 and 28 of 2007 to raise fund for the
above-mentioned
educational projects in 2007, and planned projects in 2008
b. To expand
corporate sponsorship, not only to raise funds, but also provides
evidence of support from the community to the main stream corporations.
