Team Tsukuba is a group of international and Japanese residents of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan (and their friends from other areas) who work together on various projects.
Our current project involves helping the survivors of the March 11 tsunami. As we are mainly working in the Watanoha area of Ishinomaki, we have called this activity “Project Ishinomaki”. We are a part of a larger team of people who are based at Koganehama Kaikan in the Watanoha area.
Here is our report on Trip #5.
A group of twelve volunteers went to Ishinomaki to volunteer and bring donations (fruits, vegetables, t-shirts, toys) to Watanoha, Ishinomaki. On Saturday, we dug out ditches and removed the flooring from a house. We also delivered the fruits and vegetables to the families in Watanoha. On Sunday, we cleared a field of debris so that it could be used for a festival in late August.
It was extremely hot this weekend. It is important for volunteers to bring hats and sunscreen. It is also important to have lots of drinks on hand. (Drinks can be bought at vending machines and convenience stores in Ishinomaki.)
The camp site at Ishinomaki Senshu University is still available, although there are rumours that it will close soon. Volunteers should check with the volunteer center before they come to make sure the camp site is still open.
The flies are not as bad as they were last time, so there is no need to donate fly catchers.
Alberto posted a very comprehensive report on Trip #5 on his blog in Spanish. If you can’t read Spanish, please use Google Translate to read his comments. He has also included photos and videos to illustrate his points.
Team Tsukuba is a group of international and Japanese residents of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan (and their friends from other areas) who work together on various projects.
Our current project involves helping the survivors of the March 11 tsunami. As we are mainly working in the Watanoha area of Ishinomaki, we have called this activity “Project Ishinomaki”. We are a part of a larger team of people who are helping Mr. Toshihiko Fujita. Mr. Fujita is based at the Koganehama Kaikan in the Watanoha area.
Mr. Fujita has made several videos asking people to come to Ishinomaki to help with the recovery efforts. Here are some rough translations of the videos. Please share them freely so Mr. Fujita’s message can be heard.
Hello People around the World,
Nice to meet you. I am Mr. Fujita from the Koganehama Community Center. Beside me here is Ms. Chiba, a volunteer from the local community in Ishinomaki. Beside her is Mr. Ota who has come to volunteer from Tokyo.
We have finally been able to clear the debris from this community center so we can now use it. However, there is still a lot of debris to clear. Also, we are now digging out the debris from the ditches, but we don’t have enough volunteers. People around the world, we would like to ask you to come to this community center to help. We need your power.
Hello People around the World
My name is Mr. Fujita from Ishinomaki. Thanks to all of your help and encouragement, we have been able to make some progress in our recovery efforts here in Ishinomaki. First of all, I would like to say thank you for your help. I appreciate your support.
What you see behind me here is my house. Unfortunately, a good part of my house was destroyed by the earthquake that happened at 2:46 on March 11, 2011. Then, about 20 to 30 minutes later, a giant tsunami came. My mother and the aunt that was living with us were both taken by the tsunami. Now my house is not in any kind of state to be lived in. Thanks to the people who came from Kumamoto (Tanoue-san and Fukuda Ikari-san) and their team, we were able to get all the debris out of the house. I am deeply grateful to them.
I would like to show you something over here.
The situation in Ishinomaki is still like this. The damage from the giant tsunami is still apparent. The debris is being cleared, but there is still a lot of work to be done. So, if you read in the media somewhere that recovery efforts in Ishinomaki are making good progress, that is not correct. There is still a mountain high list of things that still need to be done. People around the world, I would like to ask you to find your best volunteer spirit and come to Ishinomaki to help us with this. We need your power.
Thank you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCWPhR1LAo8
(This video seems to have been removed.)
Hello People Around the World,
I’m Mr. Fujita from Ishinomaki. Thank you for your help. Today we have a student volunteer joining us from Osaka. Please introduce yourself.
I am Yuki from Osaka. There are not enough volunteers in Ishinomaki right now. I would like to ask all of you around the world to come and volunteer with me here in Ishinomaki.
The volunteer center is on the Ishinomaki Senshu University campus. Please ask them for details about volunteering. Make sure you are enrolled in volunteer insurance before you come. Then you can sign up as a volunteer and we can borrow your power to help Ishinomaki recover. Please come to Ishinomaki to volunteer.
Thank you.
Hello People Around the World,
I’m Mr. Fujita from Ishinomaki. This is what it looks like here in Ishinomaki on Saturday, June 25, 2011. It’s still like this. The recovery efforts from Kitakamigawa to Onagawa (two places along the coast in Ishinomaki) are seriously in need of our support, and sooner rather than later. We desperately need your help. The number of volunteers coming to the volunteer center has decreased dramatically. What we need more than anything else right now is manpower. We need the help of individual volunteers. If we can increase the number of volunteers coming to Ishinomaki, we can increase the speed of Ishinomaki’s recovery. So, please let us borrow your power. Thank you!
Team Tsukuba is a group of international and Japanese residents of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan (and their friends from other areas) who work together on various projects.
Our current project involves helping the survivors of the March 11 tsunami. As we are mainly working in the Watanoha area of Ishinomaki, we have called this activity “Project Ishinomaki”. We are a part of a larger team of people who are helping Mr. Toshihiko Fujita. Mr. Fujita is based at the Koganehama Kaikan in the Watanoha area.
Here is our report on Trip #3.
We brought 6 people for five days (July 6 to 10) and an additional 11 people for the weekend (July 8-10). We mainly worked on cleaning out the drains in the neighbourhood of debris and mud. We also delivered a van load of donations (washing machines, microwaves, fans, mosquito coils, etc.) from our friends and colleagues in Tsukuba.
Here are some photos from our trip.
Team Tsukuba tents at Ishinomaki Senshu University
Mr. Fujita's house. The first floor was severely damaged by the tsunami.
Flies are a serious problem. We need to ask people to donate fly traps during the summer.
Working on blocked drainage ditch beside Yoshida Dental Clinic.
Working on blocked drainage ditch beside Yoshida Dental Clinic.
Success! Clean drainage ditch beside Yoshida Dental Clinic.
Here is a list of things that you will need to bring if you join a volunteering trip to Ishinomaki. Some of these things can be shared amongst the group members, so please ask us if you don’t have some of these items.
Organize Well in Advance of Your Trip
volunteer insurance (available at Tsukuba City Council of Social Welfare — つくば市社会福祉協議会 — at the old Oho City Hall building in Tsukuba — http://www.tsukuba-swc.or.jp/, syakyo@tsukuba-swc.or.jp, 029-879-5500)
if you don’t want to camp in a tent, you will have to make reservations well in advance at a hotel, ryokan, or minshuku — most of them are booked months in advance with volunteer groups
Disaster Victim Certificate – if you are eligible, you should apply for this certificate at your local city hall so that you will have the right to use the toll highways up north for free (被災証明書, http://www.e-nexco.co.jp/pdfs/110623.pdf)
Bring to Ishinomaki (For Use at Work Sites)
a good, positive attitude of cooperation (MOST IMPORTANT)
clothes you don’t mind getting very, very dirty (in the summer, we recommend wearing an old white t-shirt to keep cool — no black or dark t-shirts)
working boots — must have a hard sole (lots of glass, nails on ground) — an alternative is to buy protective soles for other kinds of shoes/boots
a dust mask with at least an N95 rating
helmet
safety goggles
gloves — several pairs, should be water-resistant, oil-resistant, puncture proof, should not be regular cloth “gunte”, should fit hands properly so you can do fine work if necessary
things/flip flops/jandals/sandals (to wear inside the car, or when not working — boots get too dirty to wear around)
Here is information that all Team Tsukuba volunteers going to Ishinomaki should be aware of. We will focus particularly on information that will be of help to people who are going to the Watanoha (渡波) area of Ishinomaki to help Mr. Fujita.
Disaster Email Service http://www.city.ishinomaki.lg.jp/bousai/tourokuhouhuo.jsp
At least one person from the group should register for this service. It is only in Japanese, but people who cannot read Japanese can register and then ask a Japanese person in the area what is written. Register for the City Hall one (本庁地区) by sending a blank email to is1-entry@my.e-msg.jp. You will get an immediate email. Reply to that email without changing anything and that will register you to the list.
Evacuation Sites http://www.city.ishinomaki.lg.jp/mpsdata/web/996/watanoha02.jpg
As soon as you arrive, ask your leader about evacuation sites for tsunami. If you are not given specific instructions, or you forget where you are supposed to go, do one of the following. If you are on foot and don’t have access to a vehicle, find a tall, strong building such as a public school and go to the highest floor. If you have a car, drive towards the mountains.
