Disaster Response Japan Project #6443

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund

by GlobalGiving

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund

Project Report | Aug 16, 2016
Healing Japan, Together!

By Sarah Taylor | Program Fellow, GlobalGiving

Photo by Japan IsraAID Support Program

On August 15th, 2016, Japan braved another earthquake- this time of 5.6 magnitude. Although no damage has been reported, it serves as a reminder of the lives changed in past earthquakes. Beginning with donations right after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami to the present, your donations to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund have supported those impacted every step of the way. Donors like you have provided more than $9 million worth of healing in the region!

As one community therapist said in a report written by Japan IsraAID Support Program, "Just yesterday, she [a patient] finally started to talk about that day - after almost 5 years." Today, we want to share the important work of four nonprofits committed to mental healing. Thank you for standing by them!

Japan IsraAID Support Program’s mission is to build a capacity for trauma-care, PTSD prevention, coping and resilience in Japan by using foreign and local knowledge and methods. Their most recent report shared that, “in the past 4 years, more than 3,500 Japanese survivors, disaster supporters, and mental health professional have participated in HJ trainings.” Just between March and June 2016, Healing Japan worked with 72 clients and survivors.

Association for Aid and Relief, Japan (AAR Japan)’s project aims to encourage the evacuees to take new steps forward, foster community bonds and develop social networks through activities that can help improve their physical and psychological conditions. This past March they visited a community still in temporary housing in Ofunato City to give them muscle relieving massages!

This year Japan Emergency NGO focused one of their programs on the mental recovery of survivors. In a recent project report they said, “psycho-social of the recovery tends to be missed compared with the infrastructure because of its difficulty to be found out.” Today they are partnering with communities to support them as they live through hope.

On the Road, an organization with the goal to promote to exchange people all over Japan by offering lodging facilities and community space in Long Beach House that we has built- is focusing on mental care of an earthquake victims. Throughout the past few months they have improved their beach house and held many community events.

Japan continues to recover after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and most recent earthquakes, and mental healing remains a large need. Your donations not only go to support psychological healing but also to our nonprofit partners supporting education, rebuilding infrastructure, and restoring farming lands. Thank you for your generosity and steadfast support!

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Jan 15, 2016
How Youth are Rebuilding their Communities

By Jenn Bell | Program Fellow, GlobalGiving

Photo Courtesy of IsraAID

When the country of Nepal suffered not one, but two devastating earthquakes in April and May of 2015, the world responded. Immediately, relief efforts began and people across the world mobilized to support organizations on the ground. One group quick to respond was a handful of teens from Tohoku, Japan.

Following the tsunami that devastated Japan in March of 2011, these teens have been working to rebuild their communities in the Tohoku region. As a part of the Japan IsraAID Support Program (JISP), they have been participating in a youth leadership program focused on building their skills in community engagement and directing social projects as well as equipping them with the tools they will need to be successful community leaders. In understanding what recovering from disaster feels like, these youth leaders were motivated to share their skills with their peers in Nepal.

By the end of May 2015, just weeks after the earthquakes struck in Nepal, the group of JISP youth had begun collecting funds to be used for disaster relief. After raising just over $1,000 to be sent to a partner high school in Nepal, JISP's teens felt compelled to do more. Soon a Pen Pal program was started that enabled the Tohoku youth to correspond with their Nepali peers. But they didn’t stop there.

In the months since the Nepal Earthquakes, the Youth Leadership Project has developed and launched an exchange program with Nepali high school students. JISP’s Country Director, Mayumi Yoshida, pointed out that the idea of creating an exchange program originated from the teens themselves; “the concept of exchange program with the Nepalese students arose from one of our Tohoku youth, after joining our shelter building volunteer activities in Nepal and meeting one of the most inspirational female high school students.”

After arriving in Japan on December 23, 2015, the students from Nepal and Tohoku were able to learn, in-person, from each other’s experiences. With the support from JISP’s staff, the youth were able to connect through their shared experiences and discuss their plans to rebuild their respective communities.

“The 10 Tohoku/Nepalese youths spent time together whole through the 8 days program, and built such a strong bond that they now consider themselves, "a family.” They discussed potential projects to support the community in their respective situations, and confirmed the importance of education and training to cope with future disasters that repeatedly assaulted both countries over history.” - Mayumi Yoshida, Country Director JISP

Thanks to donors like you, GlobalGiving has been able to support programs working on long-term disaster recovery projects through the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. With your support, project’s like JISP’s Rebuilding 10000 lives in Japan - youth leadership can continue to develop initiatives that shape community leaders and recovery efforts, even years after a disaster.

Photo Courtesy of IsraAID

Links:

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Mar 11, 2015
Relief for Japan's Tsunami Victims

By Alex McCutcheon | GlobalGiving Program Team Assistant

Gymnastics Exercises. Courtesy of JEN

Dear GlobalGivers,

Thank you so much for your continued support for the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund! Your generous contributions have been crucial to help many communities rebuild after the earthquake and prepare for the upcoming fishing season.

The Peace Winds America team has been hard at work building fishing sheds for tsunami victims. They have already completed over 100 sheds, which give local fisherman, who are still living in temporary housing needing to generate income, a place to work and store their equipment. The recipients of the sheds had a fantastic oyster season where they caught many large, plump oysters and were able to sell them at high prices, supporting their rebuilding and recovery. Peace Winds America is currently working on building 14 new fishing shelters which will be completed in time for the upcoming seaweed harvest and spring fishing season.

On the Road has continued its construction of the Multi-Purpose Recovery Base in the Japanese city of Ishinomaki. Over the past three months, volunteers have finished the electrical work, completed the drainage system, and painted many interior rooms. Once it is completed, the base will host community events and workshops to rebuild and strengthen community ties that were broken following the tsunami.

The Japan Emergency NGO (JEN) has sponsored many community events to help the people of Ishinomaki recover. In December, they held their “Handicrafts Market” where local artisans congregated to sell their products. Each year, this fair empowers local women to become self-sustaining and to turn their hobby into lasting businesses. JEN also built two new parks to give children an outdoors space to congregate and play. The kids’ response towards these parks will help JEN tailor an additional 70 parks tailored specifically to the wants of the children and parents. In November, JEN hosted a match-making event to help men and women find partners and learn about life in the fishing village. Congratulations to the 5 happy new couples who met during the event!

None of this would have been possible without you! Thank you for your continued support for Japan’s recovering communities.

Volunteers Working Outdoors. Courtesy of JEN

A new fishing shed. Courtesy of Peace Winds

Disaster Recovery Base. Courtesy of On the Road

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GlobalGiving

Location: Washington, D.C. - USA
EIN: 30-0108263

Website: https://www.globalgiving.org
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Twitter: @GlobalGiving

About GlobalGiving’s Disaster Response

When a disaster strikes, recovery efforts led by people who live and work in affected communities are often overlooked and underfunded. GlobalGiving is changing this reality. Since 2004, we've been shifting decision-making power to crises-affected communities through trust-based grantmaking and support.

We make it easy, quick, and safe to support people on the ground who understand needs in their communities better than anyone else.

They were there long before the news cameras arrived, and they’ll be there long after the cameras leave. They know how to make their communities more resilient to future disasters, and they’re already hard at work. GlobalGiving puts donations and grants directly into their hands. Because the status quo—which gives the vast majority of funding to a few large organizations—doesn’t make sense.

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