BAJニュース
2011.04.28
【Status Report】Tohoku Earthquake Support Activity
The Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami
・ On March 11, a massive earthquake of a magnitude of 9.0 and the following tsunami hit wide areas of northeastern regions of Japan.
・ As of April 27, the reported death toll is 14,517, missing 11,432 persons and the number of completely destroyed houses is 11,432 across 21 prefectures. This is an unprecedented scale of catastrophe in the Japanese history.
BAJ has begun emergency reconstruction support activities in the very country that we live in.
At this present time, we are carrying out support activities in collaboration with a volunteer group called "San San no Kai", at Ofunato City and Rikuzen Takata City in Iwate Prefecture.
"San San no Kai" is a volunteer group led by Mr. Jun Yamazaki, an Italian restaurant chef in Ofunato City called "Porco Rosso". The group was launched by several earthquake survivors and is now working in full throttle.
They began a soup kitchen on the next day in the area that was hard-hit by the massive earthquake. As a result of assessment at emergency shelters and hearings from the evacuees of their needs, the group decided on priority locations to support. Now they base themselves at a cultural hall in Ofunato City and prepare 1,500 meals and deliver them to several shelters every day. They also deliver food items and daily necessities on request from the evacuees.
It takes time for the public institution to reach out to and help every survivor. At such times, the biggest help comes from the local people who are working hard to rebuild their own local communities, they themselves hit by the disaster. However, there is a limit to financial means and human resources for these people working on site. Now BAJ has committed itself to supporting the survivors of the earthquake and tsunami, and help rebuild the disaster stricken areas through collaboration with "San San no Kai".
Thanks to your donation to BAJ, we were able to purchase a meal delivery vehicle, and also pay volunteers for their work who had been going unpaid. Your donation is being used to help deliver well balanced meals to the evacuees. We sincerely appreciate your support.
BAJ will continue to work with "San San no Kai" to deliver meals and hope to the survivors.
We ask for your continuous support and contribution.
Message from "San San no Kai" Yamazaki-san
Our parents' generation went through the war. Japan was burnt to the ground and the food was scarce.
Yet they managed to pass the torches of lives and had us. Furthermore, they made a brilliant achievement of bringing Japan to one of the most powerful economic nation, starting from the ashes.
Now it's our turn.
We want to do the best we can today, so that if five, ten years time from now we will be able to say to our children, "You are here today, because we worked hard through that eqrthquake which hit us on March 11, 2011" with smiles on our faces.
April Activity Report from "San San no Kai": Making 1500 meals daily and delivering to evacuation shelters
In Ofunato City, there is a sign of gradual recovery, and goods supplies are better compared to the time right after the earthquake. However, as far as people's diets are concerned, the situation is far from ideal.
The concerns of those running the evacuation shelters are on filling people's stomachs, and well balanced diets come second. The food distributed at the shelters is mainly rice balls, and vegetables are definitely lacking. Furthermore, people in these shelters seem to be feeling that they are not supposed to expect or even think about having something delicious.
Therefore, "San San no Kai" delivers side dishes mainly consisting of vegetables. We believe that "diet" is not just about filling people's stomachs nor having sufficient calories, but eating something that both tastes good and healthy gives us energy to go on with our lives, with positive spirits.
In order to help these people find rays of hope through "food", we considered that there is a need to further expand the meal delivering activities and continue for a long period of time.
For that reason, "San San no Kai" expanded the basis of operation. Preparations are still underway including staffing and securing ingredients, but we are working hard to have us organized and start expanding our meal deliveries as soon as possible.
