Community Life Support Center’s “Tohoku Kanto Earthquake Support Network”

Dispatching Medical Volunteers and Aid Materials for Senior Citizens and People With Disabilities

Since March 2011, Community Life Support Center has dispatched volunteer care workers and nurses to shelters, medical facilities, senior institutions, and disability welfare facilities located in the coastal areas of Miyagi Prefecture, as well as delivered aid materials to those who are taking shelter at home due to lack of mobility. The ¥500,000 grant was spent on transporting volunteers and delivering aid materials.

Project 1:

Transporting volunteers (1,728 volunteers registered) to Miyagi (29 locations in 11 cities and towns), Fukushima (1 location in 1 city), and Tochigi (2 locations in 2 cities) Prefectures.

Project 2:

Aid material deliveries to shelters, welfare facilities, temporary houses, and at-home evacuees in 9 cities and towns in Miyagi Prefecture and Minamisoma-city in Fukushima Prefecture (3 to 5 times a week from March until August 2011, once a week from September until December 2011; approximately 10,000 households)

Hotline “Chamae”/Trans-Pacific Research and Action Institute for the Hisabetsu Nikkei (TRAI)

Assessment on Damage, Loss and Conditions of the non-ethnic Japanese Survivors and Planning/Preparing for the Multi-lingual/cultural Hotline Service

The ¥500,000 grant was used to investigate the damage and loss experienced by the non-ethnic Japanese residents in the disaster struck regions in Fukushima, Miyagi, Ibaraki and Iwate Prefectures. The grant was also used to assess current economic, physical and psychological conditions of the non-ethnic Japanese survivors, such as Koreans, Chinese, Filipina/os and Thai people by researchers and counselors.

Project 1:

Investigating the damage and loss experienced by the non-ethnic Japanese residents

Project 2:

Planning and preparing for the multi-lingual/cultural hotline service for the non-ethnic Japanese survivors

Network Orange

Assisting People with Disabilities

In Kesennuma-city, Miyagi Prefecture, Network Orange has been coordinating various empowerment programs for the people with disabilities from rehabilitation and farming to employment, in hopes that people with disabilities and people without disabilities can coexist meaningfully in one community. However, the earthquake and tsunami destroyed the main office. With the ¥500,000 grant, Network Orange was able to rent a temporary office to provide people with disabilities with water, food and other life necessities, as well as advertise their programs and re-establish internet connection. In order to better facilitate the recovery process, Network Orange and other groups in Kesennuma-city started a network called, “Kesennuma Mirai Sozo-jyuku” (“Kessennuma Club to Create Future”).

Project 1:

Opening the temporary office to operate the support programs for people with disabilities in Kessennuma-city

Project 2:

Advertising the routinized distribution of food and supplies to the survivors (12 times from June 2011 to February 2012)

Project 3:

Web outreach for “Kesennuma Mirai Sozo-jyuku” (“Kessennuma Club to Create Future”)

NPO Woori Hakkyo

Support in Reopening Korean Schools

NPO Woori Hakkyo purchased various schools supplies to reopen Tohoku Korean Elementary and Middle School. It has also been assisting radioactive decontamination at Fukushima Korean Elementary and Middle School for 5 times since July 24, 2011. The ¥500,000 grant was used to purchase 3 personal computers for Tohoku Korean Elementary and Middle school and radioactive decontamination tools and geiger counters for Fukushima Korean Elementary and Middle Schools.

Project 1:

Purchasing school supplies at Tohoku Korean Elementary and Middle School

Project 2:

Radioactivity decontamination at Fukushima Korean Elementary and Middle Schools

Single Mother Forum Fukushima

Providing Informational Support, Radiation Measurement, and Securing a Temporary Shelter for Single Mother Households

In Fukushima and the greater Tohoku area, Single Mother Forum Fukushima has been conducting research and providing information for single mother households, creating spaces for education and socializing, and making policy recommendations. In response to the Tohoku earthquakes and nuclear disaster, they surveyed and gave advice to those who are taking shelter, supported the survivors of domestic violence, and offered a temporary shelter program for children to avoid internal exposure to radiation. The ¥500,000 grant was used for hotline service, house-visits for the survivors, purchase of geiger counters for measuring radiation, and the accommodation of 27 children at a temporary shelter.

Project 1:

Hotline service, individual house-visits for women survivors, and radiation measurement; Provided hotline service for survivor women on radiation concerns (twice a week, from 10am to 3pm) between June 2011 and September 2011; and Visited 25 households to measure the local radiation levels

Project 2:

Securing a shelter for 27 children from households that were unable to evacuate in order to avoid internal radiation exposure

Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan (SMJ)

Creating Network with and Investigating Foreign Residents and Immigrant Communities/ Distribution of Food in the Devastated Area

In Minamsanriku-town, Miyagi Prefecture, relief supplies for 300 people were conveyed and food has been distributed to communities affected by the disaster. Also, food was given to the elders and ethnic minorities living at evacuation centers and temporary housings 23 times (150 to 250 meals each times). In addition, meetings were held with 30 Filipinas, 50 Chinese Technical Intern Trainees and other ethnic minority residents to discuss the situation they were in. SMJ also helped connecting the network of nationwide Filipino Communities. The ¥500,000 grant was used for gasoline and food supplies for these activities.

Project 1:

Transportation of relief supplies to Minamisanriku-town

Project 2:

Conveying food to Minamisanriku town

Project 3:

Collecting information on minority communities and having meetings to connect with different communities

Zainichi no Ianfu Saiban wo Sasaeru Kai

Supporting Ms. SONG, Shindo, a Survivor of Sexual Slavery by the Japanese Military

From April, 2011 to February, 2012, the group supported Ms. SONG, Shindo (88 years old) in Tokyo after she suffered from the earthquake in Miyagi Prefecture. Ms. Song is the only Korean woman in Japan who bravely stood up to and sued the Japanese government for the seven year long sexual enslavement by the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII, and she had lived in Miyagi after the war. The ¥500,000 grant was used for food, medical treatment, and other things, as well as for transportation and daily allowance for a caretaker.

Project 1:

Preparation for meals, shopping, water, power and electricity bills; arranging incoming mails; correspondence with the welfare service; and attending Ms. Song at the hospital