Today marks one year since the disastrous tsunami hit Sendai, Japan. I'll never forget waking up at five that morning to a multitude of missed phone calls. I finally picked up on the next ring and it was my mom telling me that a tsunami had hit the place that I had come to think of as a second home. I turned on BBC and watched in sickening horror as replay after replay showed a gigantic wave wiping out the city where I had spent a summer of high school living with an incredible host family and attending an all girls Catholic school. I contacted my family there almost immediately and about a week later they replied, notifying me in optimistic Japanese fashion that all was perfectly fine, they just didn't have any water or gas supply. Of course the news stopped covering the story several days later and I have no idea what the current state of Sendai is. I will return to Japan in about a month, and time permitting, I hope to make my way up to Sendai to visit my family and see what has become of what used to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.
I feel like not nearly the help was given to Japan as could have been. When Haiti was hit by an earthquake several years ago the relief efforts were endless. I remember countless service projects happening all over universities with all proceeds going to help Haiti. Japan is a developed country though. I feel like everyone assumed they would just take care of themselves. After the initial horror of what happened I never really heard about it again unless I actively sought out the information. I know they are an incredibly resilient, independent country, but it seems tragic that we forgot them so easily. In fact, here I am on this ship, traveling the world, about to go to Japan, and I've yet to hear a single mention of the event from any of the deans or faculty.
Remember Japan today. Remember the countless lives that were lost.
1 comment:
Yes, the tsunami in Japan was a very traumatic and tragic natural disaster. Thousands of lives were lost. I found an interesting article that described what happened, along with personal experiences from several survivors. A small excerpt from that article follows:
Various government agencies soon began relief work, as did the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses, located in Ebina, near Tokyo. By Saturday, the day after the earthquake, the branch had divided the vast area affected by the quake into three sections. On Monday, three days after the quake, representatives from the branch visited these areas.
Relief efforts continued in the weeks and months that followed. Many tons of supplies provided by the Witnesses have been distributed. At one time, 3 relief centers and 21 warehouses and relay stations were actively delivering relief supplies. During the first two months, hundreds of volunteers distributed over 250 tons of food, clothing, and other necessities. Many Witnesses have shared such supplies with their neighbors.
Members of the Rikuzentakata and the neighboring Ofunato congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses are using their reconstructed Kingdom Hall to strengthen people spiritually. This will help the local people to cope with the hardships they face in rebuilding their lives and recovering from the trauma caused by the devastating earthquake and tsunami. Of the more than 14,000 Witnesses in the disaster area, 12 are confirmed dead and 2 are still missing.
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