SARI speaks to Mr. Patrick Behuhuma, a Congolese scholar currently residing in Japan
Mr. Patrick Behuhuma, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo and a graduate of the Master's Program in Public Policy at Tokyo-based Meiji University, spoke to SARI today about his experience studying, living, and working in Japan.
About Patrick:
Patrick M. Behuhuma is a national from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R. Congo) located in Central Africa. After obtaining his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Protestant University in Congo in 2007, he started his professional career as Parliamentary Assistant to the Chairman of External Relations Commission of the Senate, for 3 years. He also carried out an internship on legal practice as Trainee-Lawyer for 1 year in a Congolese law firm in Kinshasa.
After being granted MEXT Scholarship by Japanese Government, he then decided to come to Japan in April 2011. He completed a research program on Social & Economic Law and gained a Master’s Degree in Public Policy (MPP) from Meiji University’s Professional Graduate School of Governance Studies in September 2014.
In January 2016, he joined DMM.com/DMM.Africa (a general IT firm based in Tokyo), as Business Development Analyst and Public Relations Officer. Most of his work involved PR strategy and appearance on media to help his teammates find potential business opportunities & partners in Africa.
In February 2019, he was offered a position to work as PR Officer at Africa Forum Executive Committee (AFEC) and collaborate with Africa 4.0 Foundation, in order to enhance Africa-Japan relationships through different cross-cultural, educational and socio-economic activities.
Subsequently, he joined KARTZ MEDIA WORKS in November 2019, as PR Director in the Digital Marketing Division. His main role involved supporting Global PR Wire Team that was carrying out several projects mainly in the areas of Public Relations, Content Marketing and Social Media Strategy.
Being in involved in entertainment, Patrick is now an upcoming “International Actor on Screen & on Stage”. His childhood dream has always been acting. So, he is working to be able to positively impact lives across planet earth through storytelling. In fact, he regularly appeared mainly on “NHK Cool Japan” (a global cross-cultural TV show) where he represented his home-country for 8 years (2012-2020). Later on, he started joining other TV programs such as reenactment dramas, and other film projects.
As a freelancer who is passionate about education, he sometimes joins English skill up seminars at japanese schools and universities to teach students how to make presentations in English, and also teach them about his home country and continent. Finally, he also takes part in business coaching workshops for Japanese employees as global facilitator to challenge their communication skills and help them think more globally.
For the interview, please see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtAoOZ5V_84