One month has passed since Japan’s Earthquake. It is ironically amazing how quickly the news has disappeared from TV. Life goes on around me. As if there were nothing happened. Being a Japanese living in a foreign country has put me in a strange position that I have never felt.
The truth is that Japan’s recovery has only just begun. They have a long way to go. Still tons of worries and uncertainties. Their future path is unclear. My parents say they still have shakes every hour. I hear someone I know who works for Tokyo Electric Power, has not been back home since. I hear those who evacuated 20km from Fukushima Power Plant were told that they would not be able to return home for at least a year. I hear it takes decade to clean the radioactivity. I hear about contaminated vegetables and water. I hear Red Cross has not been able to divert the donation for the use as there are too many affected areas. I hear there are not enough land to build temporary housings for people who have lost their homes. I hear lots of things. None of them seem to be enlightening the hope.
April is supposed to be the month of new start in Japan. Children enter schools. New class mates. New uniform. Graduates start new work. It is supposed to be exciting time of year. But this year, it turned out to be a different story. Many have lost work and schools to go to. Lost friends and families to celebrate together. Many of those school children who survived from the Tsunami in Minami Sanriku (the town that was completely wiped off) for school being on higher ground, have lost their parents and homes at lower ground in front of their eyes. I cannot even begin to imagine how their life from now are going to be...
Yet, they are a humble nation. Fighting for the recovery. Trying to reach out to a tiny hope they can possibly have.
Must not forget. What they are going through.
Must not forget. Our continuous prayers.
Must not forget. This is why I am doing what I am doing now.
Here is NY times link that you could see in English. I feel the importance of not forgetting those images. I hope you would share the prayers for Japan from now on too.
My current project HELP JAPAN 1000 BIRDS PROJECT is to encourage people in Japan. I could have not done it myself but with YOUR support I have managed to foresee the hope. Thank you so much for your contribution. Crazy busy two weeks have passed since it started. My birds are still an on going process (sorry for being slow but almost the last batch!) so I only sent out 380 birds. For that, we have raised £1550. Up until yesterday, I have received 713 birds orders in total! This is absolutely amazing! 1000 birds were supposed to be a long term goal, but it may not be? Thank you so so so much for your support. We are certainly cheering the nation. I will send the donation together with the proceeds from the forth-coming fair. I will keep you posted the details.
By the way, this is SHIN SHIN 100th Post! I would like to say a big thank you for everyone who visited me here. Your feedback and suggestion to my blog are more than welcome! xm
