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17
May 2011

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Peace Boat Volunteer Torii Kenta

Volunteer interview – Torii Kenta

Torii Kenta joined the Peace Boat group dispatched to Ishinomaki on April 8. He initially stayed for 3 weeks and found that the area around Ishinomaki train station showed a marked improvement over that time. His faith in volunteerism and the relevance of working there was reaffirmed. He deduces that the factors contributing to this are the increasing number of volunteers and also the fact that many volunteers are staying for longer periods and gaining mastery over the content of their tasks. The whole effort is speeding up and increasing in scope. “I thought the power of human strength is not be laughed at,” he says optimistically.

12
May 2011

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Volunteer information sessions and orientations in Kobe, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Osaka

Volunteer information sessions and orientations in Kobe, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Osaka

The situation in the affected areas remains extremely serious. In Ishinomaki alone, there is a need of provision of 20,000 meals each day, and even at the current rate it will take two years to fully clear the homes of mud brought by the tsunami. Peace Boat will therefore be holding information sessions to call for disaster relief volunteers not only in Tokyo but nationwide throughout Japan. See this post for details.

12
May 2011

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Mr Kitamura

One day as a volunteer – relief goods storage

Peace Boat stores all donated relief goods at the indoor baseball training hall on the Ishinomaki Senshu University campus. Relief goods include food, sanitary goods, household items for everyday use as well as equipment required for sludge and debris removal. Volunteers working at the storage area keep tabs on all items incoming and outgoing. They are also responsible for keeping items stored and separated according to category.

“Sometimes you will find letters addressed to the survivors of the quake in boxes of donated relief goods. Whomever sent the items express their solidarity with the survivors…really, it made me well up with tears when I came across that letter.” says a storage area volunteer.

11
May 2011

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One day as a volunteer – deliveries

The distribution of hot meals by Peace Boat is carried out in coordination with a number of other organizations conducting the same service. Meetings are held between the groups to determine how many meals need to be distributed to which area.
The ‘delivery team’ is then responsible for the safe distribution of the prepared food.

On the day of this post, 1000 meals prepared by the Kitchen team were to be distributed throughout 8 areas in the region, along with other relief goods.

10
May 2011

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Fish Retrieval Project

The tsunami which followed the earthquake of March 11 demolished a large fish processing factory located in Iharatsu, a mainly residential seaside town located about 1 km from Ishinomaki. Along with mountains of debris and toxic sludge, huge numbers of fish were strewn about all over town.
Now that over a month has passed, the rotting remains of fish hidden in the debris and sludge are now posing a serious health risk, as well as being the source of an unbearable smell which permeates the area. In order to alleviate this problem, the Peace Boat Disaster Relief Team established the ‘Fish Retrieval Project’.

09
May 2011

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One day as a volunteer – kitchen

Peace Boat volunteers in Ishinomaki are undertaking many other jobs as well as the mud and debris clearance previously introduced here.
The Kitchen teams are responsible for preparing meals, Delivery teams for bringing these throughout the region, Store teams for managing and distributing the relief goods donated from around the word, and other groups helping at evacuation centres such as that at the Minato Primary School.
This report introduces the work of the Kitchen teams.

05
May 2011

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One day as a volunteer – mud removal

One month after the earthquake and tsunami hit, Peace Boat launched a programme together with four other organisations as the local needs moved from emergency relief to support for recovery of the city of Ishinomaki. Together with the local Social Welfare Council, ap bank, and Megumi Japan, the “Smile Project” was launched. Since its beginnings one and a half months ago, mud and debris have been cleaned from more than 200 individually owned residences and businesses.

02
May 2011

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Reopening of classes at Minato Primary School

In Ishinomaki, the harsh winter is slowly turning into spring. Until now there has often been sudden and heavy snow, rain and wind, flooding the town and toppling the tents in which volunteers are staying. However the weather is becoming warmer, and cherry blossoms have bloomed, marking the beginning of the new year. Many of the schools throughout Ishinomaki which Peace Boat has been supporting are opening for classes, and at the end of April entrance ceremonies were held for the new students.

01
May 2011

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660 volunteers during Golden Week break – creating a new base for volunteers

It is now Golden Week, with several public holidays in a row in Japan. Many people are using their vacation time to travel to affected areas and volunteer.
During this time, Peace Boat is coordinating 480 people in Ishinomaki for the week – the most at one time until date. As well as this weekly group, Peace Boat has also organised a shorter programme for 180 volunteers to travel from Tokyo from May 2 and spend three nights / five days volunteering in Ishinomaki. The maximum number of volunteers Peace Boat has coordinated at one time in Ishinomaki has been 380 people. As a result, there will be 660 volunteers working in Miyagi with Peace Boat during Golden Week.

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