9th SWTJ Action Week: Report from first time volunteer Wako Kato

On December 11, five SWTJ members left Kyoto for Tohoku. Many people had entrusted us with presents for evacuees in the spirit of the upcoming holidays.

While heading north it got colder and colder...and in Sendai it began to snow.

Weather report for Tohoku: snow

Frozen roads

But once we arrived in Kesennuma in the early morning, skies were clear! We safely arrived at camp Tsukidate. Thank you, Uechi-san, for driving!

At noon, we joined forces with the locals of the Mori no Gakko in a soba buckwheat noodle community event at the Tsukidate school where evacuees from nearby temporary housing sites were invited

Mr.Yoshida from the Yasse Mori no Gakko prepares the noodles.

This is the former 'teachers and staff room' of the old school. It now serves as the dining hall for the soba events of the Mori no Gakko. Outside, the Tsukidate temporary housing site is visible.

Locals from the Mori no Gakko deep-fry tempura for the event.

SWTJ's Watanabe joins local ladies in making tempura.

Will everybody really come?

No worries. As soon as we opened the doors, people streamed in and the place became lively.

In the evening, a SWTJ-sponsored community event and meal for the evacuees in the Tsukidate temporary housing units was on the program

SWTJ representative Yoshikawa prepares a dish using wheat dumplings donated to SWTJ by Hanbey in Kyoto
「半兵衛麩」

Among the invited evacuees, there were some people who had just moved into Tsukidate after having moved several times from evacuation site to evacuation site. People from many backgrounds who had never met before now start living together in the temporary housing site. Fishermen, nurses, housewives...

People told us how important it was to get together, to get to know each other. And they emphasized that they were grateful to groups such as SWTJ which provide the 'glue' to build new communities.

Kazuhiro-san, a farmer from the neighborhood, sponsored today's rice from his paddies. Everybody enjoyed the delicious dinner and the delightful company.

It's time for lights out...we hand over the presents that were entrusted to us by many people in Kyoto and say goodnight..

As a first-time comer to the disaster area, I am overwhelmed by the sights

Dec 13, between Kesennuma and Rikuzen-Takata

9 months after 3/11, many places still remain untouched. 

If it wasn't for the disaster, one would believe that at Kesennuma's coast a landfill construction is taking place.

People are working toward reconstruction in the freezing wind. Destroyed buildings and cars are scattered on liquefied ground. This was a place where people used to be, live, and work.

Being a mother myself, I can't bear seeing this destroyed school. Such a sight shouldn't become an everyday sight for the local schoolchildren. I must continue thinking what I can do to alleviate the fate of the people living here.

The flag in front of this rebuilt shop says

 'We are open.' 

Proudly the shop stands, like a light in the dark. 

Slowly, one after another, the locals rebuild.

Watching the Pacific from Rikuzen-Takata

Next time, I want to come together with my child.

I really think children should have a chance to see what's happening here.

In the meantime, while being engulfed by daily chores again, I join those who keep the diaster area close at heart, trying to do what I can.

by Wako Kato, SWTJ