Disaster Recovery Volunteer Project

  Thank you very much for your continued generous support which makes it possible for us to continue bringing volunteers to Tohoku and, in doing so during the hot summer months, to continue reassuring the local residents who are still trying to rebuild their lives that they have not been forgotten.  None of this would be possible without your generous support.

  Labor shortages continue to make it very hard for local farmers in Tohoku to further rebuild their lives, run their farms and grow their businesses. They cannot do all the labor-intensive work by themselves. They need the continued support of volunteers. With your generous contributions, Hands On Tokyo volunteers have been able to continue to support local farmers, Saito-san and his wife, and the New Rice Center in Yamamoto-cho in Miyagi Prefecture -- which is an agricultural association of local farmers who produce and promote local rice, strawberries and apples.

  In June, 8 Hands On Tokyo volunteers, including teenagers who live in a children’s home in the Greater Tokyo Area, helped Saito-san and his wife by staking eggplant seedlings and by clearing potato and broccoli fields in further preparation for this year’s growing season.  In August, 23 Hands On Tokyo volunteers, including children who live in a children’s home in the Great Tokyo Area and their teachers, helped Saito-san and his wife by weeding a large negi field. Negi are a type of Japanese leek and are a very popular ingredient used in Japanese cooking.  Saito-san hopes to harvest these negi plants in December just in time for people to enjoy them in various hot pot dishes which are very popular during the winter months.  We hope Saito-san’s negi plants grow strong over the next few months so that he can have a good harvest in December.

  We will continue to organize volunteer trips to further support Saito-san and his wife, the New Rice Center and others in Tohoku. As they continue to work hard to further rebuild their lives and relaunch the businesses that they enjoyed operating before the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

  In June, Hands On Tokyo volunteers held a café at a temporary housing site in Yamamoto-cho and made yakisoba (a popular nostalgic comfort food in Japan) and French toast, grilled sausages and served hot drinks and sweets. The volunteers also set up a popular summer game for the young boys and girls who have lived all their lives so far in temporary housing with their families. The game involves scooping small bouncing balls out of a small pool of water using a plastic scoop with a very thin paper lining. It was wonderful hearing so much laughter and seeing the young at heart – a few of the older temporary housing residents – playing the game as well. Afterwards the children enjoyed the pool of water on a hot summer afternoon.

  After lunch, Hands On Tokyo volunteers and the temporary housing residents made tanabata matsuri/star crossing festival decorations. They wrote wishes on colorful sheets of paper, tied the decorations and wishes to bamboo branches. The tanabata matsuri celebrates the crossing of two stars (Vega and Altair) carrying separated lovers – making it possible for the two lovers to see each other once a year. It is considered to be a time of year when wishes can come true and many people write down their wishes and tie them to bamboo branches.  It was wonderful seeing multiple generations enjoying time together making decorations and creating new memories. Thank you for helping us bring smiles to the faces of so many temporary housing residents. Please join us in hoping that all the tanabata wishes of the temporary housing residents come true.

  We will continue to hold cafes and other events at temporary housing sites in Tohoku so long as people are still living in temporary housing.

  In August, Hands On Tokyo volunteers helped weed a special flower and herb garden located at the entrance to Ogatsu-cho. The garden was started by Tokumizu-san who grew up and lived in Ogatsu-cho until the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. She wants to give hope to the former residents while they are still waiting to rebuild their homes in Ogatsu-cho. The garden is a symbol of regrowth and promise. Former residents living in temporary housing also use dried flowers and leaves from the garden to make floral postcards which are sold in a small information booth at the garden.  

  After gardening, the volunteers were led through a simulation of how the nursery and elementary school children in Ogatsu-cho barely escaped the rapidly rising water from the tsunami.  We hope this experience will help the volunteers react quickly when and if they experience a natural disaster in the future. The volunteers all said that this was a very powerful experience.

  We will continue to organize volunteer trips to Ogatsu-cho and other communities devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.  There is still so much to be done and there are still so many people in need of support and encouragement.

  Thank you in advance for your continued support and for touching the hearts and souls of so many people in Tohoku. We are looking for more ways for those living in the Greater Tokyo Area to participate in our Tohoku projects and for new ways for Hands On Tokyo volunteers to provide support to local Tohoku families and businesses.