June 1: A busy day for SWTJ and the Kyoto Caravan

Wake-up time at the former (old) Tsukidate Elementary School is 6am. Next to the school, a camp site has been set up for the volunteers streaming into the region from all parts of Japan.
Today, we delivered bags of popped rice to the nearby school as promised earlier, and then came back to the volunteer camp to help with morning cleaning and to make coffee for all. Early morning is the time when volunteers can exchange precious information, and tell each other about their experiences. 

Then, we SWTJ members started to work. Once the popped rice had been delivered, two members drove off to do the shopping of the day, while the remaining members started cooking for dinner. In the afternoon, we were scheduled to stage the Kyoto Caravan with popped rice, takoyaki dumplings and cotton candy at the Furumachi Child Welfare Center, and in the evening, we would provide meals at the Karakuwa Elementary School shelter. It would be a busy day!

After the event at Furumachi, we hurried back to the campsite, prepared and packed the meals, and then drove to the shelter. The menu was rich in protein and vegetables, which are usually scarce at shelters.

The people taking shelter in the Karakuwa Elementary School evacuation center are mostly from Kesennuma's Mone-district, where more than half of the residential areas have been swept away by the 3/11 tsunami. These people have a strong sense of community, and it is their strong wish to remain together, and to eventually relocate as a community to higher and safer ground. They are now trying to discuss the issue with the Kesennuma local government. Of course, the plan will take time, and most evacuees at the shelter will first have to move into one of the makeshift homes that are now under construction all over the disaster area. They won't be able to stay together during that time, since the lottery decides who can move where and when into a makeshift home. The community will be scattered during at least two years.. The road to the dream of a new small community on higher ground is tough. But the will of the local people to move together on higher ground is strong. They stress that having a plan for the future and fighting for it is the only way for them not to lose hope.

Text: Shuto Naoya@SWTJ
(translated and edited for the English version by B.Y.)