Letters from HUAP (until 2024)

Dr. Walter Muleya

Lecturer/Researcher, Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, Appointed as a Hokkaido University Partner in November 2016

It was an honor to be considered a partner for such a prestigious university.

I was born in Kitwe town, Copperbelt province, Zambia. I am the second last born in a family of seven. I have two brothers and four sisters. I am married and have three children. After my undergraduate studies at the University of Zambia, I joined the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University in 2009, and I graduated with a PhD in September 2013. Prior to commencing my PhD studies, I also took a certificate course in Zoonosis control at HU.

I came to Japan mainly due to curiosity. I thought Europe would not be so different from my country especially in terms of some culture because Zambia was previously a British colony and have a lot of influence from Europeans. In short, I wanted to have a different experience. Japan was kind of mysterious for me and I was particularly interested in Japanese culture. On top of that, I had always been interested in the Japanese martial arts karate. Before coming to Japan, I had some prior training in karate in Zambia. However the school was different from kyokushin karate which is my current style of preference after I came to Japan.

After graduation, I have been involved in several collaborative projects with HU particularly with the Research Center for Zoonosis Control such as the SATREPS project and JICA project. I have closely collaborated with Prof. H. Sawa, who was my PhD supervisor. I had been to Nagasaki University’s School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health (TMGH) for three months attending a course in public health and global epidemiology. My most recent stay in HU was in 2019 for 3 months. I appreciate the support by the JTS and JICA for all of my visits to Japan.

I think HU is a very nice and prestigious university with very wide spaces and very beautiful in spring. Japan is a nice and neat place overall but it required me a bit of time to get used to the cool weather, customs, etc. But, after you get used to Japan and its culture, it becomes a kind of addictive place to live in because we don’t have to worry so much about things like crime due to its high safety records.

I would like to continue promoting HU in my country so that many Zambian people may also have the chance to experience what I did while studying at HU. HU produces cutting edge research and is a very attractive place for everyone to study new innovative things.

Sapporo and Lusaka (my current city of residence) are totally different. Lusaka has no snow during winter and only experiences two weather patterns namely; hot and rainy (Oct to April) and cold and dry (May to September). In terms of size and population, Lusaka and Sapporo have similar population sizes however Sapporo, with an area of 1,212 km2 is larger than Lusaka, whose area is only 418 km2.

Greetings from Zambia and it is a pleasure to be part of this diverse community. Continue doing what you do best and best regards.

* Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development. It is a Japanese government program that promotes international joint research which based on the needs of developing countries. The program aims to address global issues and lead to research outcomes of practical benefit to both local and global society.