Overview
I have been in a town called "Minami-Sanriku (Meaning: Southern Three-Lands)" for a week up until yesterday. Today, after arriving home via the nightbus, many thoughts and ideas are still whirling around in my memory. I'll hopefully get them out here one by one. I hope that you anonymous readers find this information useful and insightful.
This series will be the sum of the following entries:
1. List of general tasks performed by the Tokyo Disaster Relief Network (the NGO I worked with.)
2. List of specific tasks performed by my group in our location (Shizukawa High School in Minami-Sanriku.)
3. Analysis of the current imbalance between needs and supply based on what I heard from the local people
4. Analysis of the relation between various other organizations and the high school
5. Personal reflections on the week
6. Anticipation of future needs and what we need to do from here on
That's six in total, but this plan might change as I go on. Today's entry will deal with theme number one.
1. About the Tasks of the Tokyo Disaster Relief Network
The Tokyo Disaster Relief Network (TDRN) is a very small organization. Before the "golden week" (a week of holidays in Japan around late April to early May) there were about 15 to 25 people going to Miyagi from TDRN every week. For the golden week, there were an astonishing 33 people from TDRN. However, in my week (right after the golden week) there were only 11 people in total. This week, there are 13 people working after us. This trend of the decline of volunteers after the golden week is shared by all organizations. However, contrary to the general sentiment, the disaster relief efforts are still ongoing. The local people need motivation to continue their efforts. For them, it means a lot that people from far away make the effort to come and support them. It's a real spiritual boost. It's a pity that the number of volunteers is declining. I hope that this trend will change...
But there are more important things to reflect upon than the number of people on our team. TDRN is in charge of three locations in Minami-Sanriku. Just for those who do not know where Minami-Sanriku is, well, look it up on Google. It's by the ocean in Tome city, and it is one of the worst locations in terms of the amount of damage done. Within Minami-Sanriku, TDRN sends people to the "Bayside Arena," "Shizugawa Secondary School," and "Shizugawa High School." Each place has its own specific needs, and it is our job to flexibly move everyday and meet those needs appropriately.
In the Bayside Arena, there used to be more than 1,800 victims living. However, the place closed down as a victims' location just two days ago. All of the 1,800 people moved out to different locations. The main task at the Bayside Arena is the cleaning of precious goods. The tsunami has washed away more than 6,000 houses. The aftermath is a big heap of garbage. However, for the residents, this pile is a pile of their own lives. In the midst of real garbage and mud, many precious items are hidden, waiting to be reclaimed by their owners. For the people, these items are traces of what used to be a closely knit local community life. Currently, the self-defense army of Japan is patiently examining the heap of mud and garbage bit by bit in order to retrieve as many items as possible before bulldozing the whole place for cleaning.
Once retrieved, these items are sent to the Bayside Arena. At the Arena, a group of "cleaners" continue to clean the mud and dirt off the items. This is a very delicate task. The ink of a photograph can be easily removed with the mud, etc. Thus, it takes time. The main task of the TDRN members at the Arena is to join the "cleaners."
In addition, the Arena functions as a storehouse for all the goods coming into Minami-Sanriku. The TDRN team also helps with tasks such as unloading and moving boxes of goods and sorting goods into usable and unusable piles.
That's about it for the Arena team. Of course, when the local people want somebody to keep company with, the TDRN members must always be willing to go to them and spend time. Spiritual support is very important.
Next, Shizugawa Secondary School. Here, currently about 150 victims are living in the gymnasium. Each "house" is comprised of two to three futons and a cardboard "wall" of about knee height. Shizugawa Secondary School is one of those locations where self-governance did not take off smoothly. There is still a lot of organizational work to be done (who will take care of the goods? who will be in charge of water? etc.)
Basic tasks for the TDRN team include supplying water for the toilets and washing machines, supplying fuel for the room heaters, and cleaning the gymnasium. Since self-governance is not yet on track, there is not much routine work from here on. For last week, three TDRN members helped the volunteers at the school organize a basic self-government system. Also, since the goods were taken care of by only one person, TDRN helped others organize a team of people to look over the goods. TDRN also helped sort edible good from rotten ones. In addition, there was a re-entry exam for the local high schools last weekend, so the students in the TDRN team tutored the local students for preparation. Moreover, one last important task of the TDRN team is to walk around and visit the "houses" of the victims and listen to their concerns and fears. In a broad sense this is a therapeutic task, but it's more complicated than just active listening. We learn a lot from this as well, so the benefit is mutual.
Finally, there is the Shizugawa High School. I was one of the three TDRN members in charge of this location. About 60 to 70 victims live here. Routine tasks include supplying water for the toilets, helping the laundry of the victims, and playing with the kids. Playing with the kids is probably what we did most. This really helps, since many of the parents play leading roles in each section of the high school. For example, one woman had a five-years old kid. She is also the leader of the cooking team. The cooking team needs to cook food for more than 100 people everyday, so she has no time playing with her kid. Thus, we play with her kid instead.
We did many things with the kids. We went into the mountains, we lifted them onto our backs and shoulders, we taught them "ken-dama," we did music, we played soccer, we just ran around, we resolved fights, we helped them with their schoolwork...
In addition, just like the Secondary School, the High School team also visited the victims everyday and listened to their stories. We also had lunch together. For last week, I delivered about 15 letters from a school in Los Angeles. 3 people wrote replies to these kids. The local people were all very appreciative about the fact that people from across the ocean care about them.
That's about it for the general tasks. Next up, I will go into the details of each day at the Shizugawa High School. Until then!
