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Thanks to Mitsui Coal Holdings and Bengalla, local girl Piper Tye was the recipient of a scholarship that saw her spend 4 weeks in Japan.

Every year Mitsui Coal Holdings offers fully funded scholarships for two lucky students to spend 4 weeks in Japan learning the Japanese language and living with a local Japanese family. Valued at $7,500 each, these scholarships are an opportunity of a lifetime.

When Bengalla operator Richelle Tye heard about the program through work, she knew straight away it would be something her daughter Piper could benefit from.

“Because I work for Bengalla, this meant that Piper was eligible to apply for the scholarship. I am so grateful for Bengalla for providing this opportunity. When I heard Piper had got it, it was like a dream come true,” Richelle said.

Bengalla CEO Cam Halfpenny said we are proud to be involved in the program and be able to extend the opportunity to the families of our employees.

“Bengalla were really excited that Piper was successful in winning the scholarship and we are truly grateful to Mitsui for the wonderful opportunity,” Cam said.

Piper told us that the experience was life changing. “The language barrier was tricky at times, but it was a very valuable learning experience. I’ve been studying Japanese for 5 years and I love the culture and the language. The highlight of the trip was going to Tokyo. I loved it. We took a tour of Mitsui’s headquarters which was great, and we even got to visit Disneyland.”

Piper said that she couldn’t thank Bengalla and Mitsui enough for allowing her the opportunity.

“Everyone at Bengalla has been so supportive, they ‘ve been great. They even organised gifts to take over to give to the host family. It’s a huge deal to have someone local selected out of the whole of Australia. I have made life long relationships that I am forever grateful for. I recommend to anyone who’s thinking about an exchange program to go for it. It’s the most rewarding and enjoyable experience.”

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