一般財団法人　連帯　東北・西南　RENTAI　TOHOKU-SEINAN

  Rentai Tohoku Staff, Liu and Tahir here.

  On Sunday 11th December we held a Pakistan Curry Party at a temporary housing estate built on a tennis court in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.

• Background
   The temporary housing at the Kesennuma tennis court is located at the border of Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures, and is in an isolated location. At this time of year when the weather is becoming truly winter-like, and people tend to stay indoors, it is most vital to rejuvenate communication. At the request of the Coordinator, Temporary Housing Residents' Association, we decided to hold this event.

• Preparation
   For this event we received support from the Rotary Club, who arranged for all the equipment and ingredients. We prepared the ingredients to some extent the day before at the Center in Senmayacho, and departed for Kesennuma. Although it was snowing when we left Senmayacho, Kesennuma was blessed with good weather, just right for this event.

   The ladies gathered in the assembly hall and helped prepare the vegetables. Everyone was so skilled that there seemed to be no need of Tahir's instructions.

Men helped preparing the meat outside, in spite of the cold.

When the preparation of ingredients was complete, the curry-making began with Tahir.

When they finished their part of the preparation, the ladies team watched the curry making from the window while listening to Tahir's explanations.

• The curry is ready
   Piping hot curry was ready and the dishes were handed through the window.

• The meal begins
   The residents of the temporary housing, the volunteers, and Rentai Tohoku staff spent an enjoyable time talking to each other as though they were one big family. Eating the curry that was made by everyone warmed not only our bodies but also our hearts.

• After the meal
   While having Pakistani tea (chai) following the meal, we had a great time talking about the customs and culture of our countries, as well as about the recovery effort.

  At the end of the party, the residents of the temporary housing expressed their thanks and shook hands and we promised to come again.

We at Rentai Tohoku will continue to help, though little by little, deepen the bonds together with the disaster victims, while receiving their enthusiasm towards the recovery effort.

  The seminar on self-supporting reconstruction: "Toward the Light", held on 29 October, included victims from Rikuzentakata, Ofunato, Kessenuma, and Ishinomaki, with 90 people from Miyagi and Iwate Preferctures taking part and exchanging opinions.

  Here are some of the opinions that were exchanged during the panel discussion.

The seminar on self-supporting reconstruction: "Toward the Light", held on 29 October, included victims from Rikuzentakata, Ofunato, Kessenuma, and Ishinomaki, with 90 people from Miyagi and Iwate Preferctures taking part and exchanging opinions.

In this regard, Coordinator, Mr Yoshinaga suggested that the qualities possessed by volunteers (e.g. working for free, working for the benefit of the public, working on their own initiative) is the best sort of energy. The seminar was concluded with the following words: 'Because volunteers work on their own initiative, if they spread themselves at the grassroots level, they will become a system that unifies the volunteers and be able to become a new democratic movement with ideas which are different from those of the conventional system.'

Rentai Tohoku will continue to support and corporate to enable self-reliance and recovery of the disaster-stricken areas.

The article on Rentai Tohoku's seminar on self-supporting reconstruction: "Toward the Light" held in Kawasaki Public Hall, Ichinoseki on the 29th October (Sat) appeared in the morning edition of the 30th of Iwate Nichinichi Shimbun.

The details of the seminar will be reported separately.

 (This article was posted on this site with permission from Iwate Nichinichi Shimbun.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 30^th, 2011 (Sun) Iwate Nichinichi Shimbun

In Quest of Light: For Rebuilding Flood Devastated Areas

 

Supports Called for in Employment and Mental Healthcare

Seminar Held in Kawasaki, Ichinoseki

 

　"Rentai Tohoku", an Ichinoseki-based public foundation which offers aid for victims of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, held a seminar on self-supporting efforts to rebuild life after the disaster, titled "Toward the Light", at Kawasaki Public Hall, Usuginu on the 29^th October. A panel discussion was held with those who have been actively involved in recovery efforts in areas afflicted by the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake. About 70 seminar participants shared the views on the current status of afflicted areas and issues to be solved for restoration.

 

The panellists included Haruo Yoneya, Representative Director of Maiya Co., Ltd., a supermarket in Ofunato, Keitatsu Kurosawa, Representative Director of Hakku Co., Ltd., a nursing care company in Kesennuma, Miyagi, Ryoki Sato, head priest of Togen-ji Temple in Fujisawa, Ichinoseki, Shinichi Endo, Ishinomaki resident, and Tahel Sayed of Rentai Tohoku. The panel discussion was chaired by Prof. Hiroyuki Yoshinaga, the Faculty of Policy Management, Tohoku Bunka Gakuen University, who is also a councillor of Rentai Tohoku.

 

Panellists talked about their experiences at the time of the earthquake and relief activities they had since been engaged in and shared their views on the efforts to recover from the earthquake.

 

"Right after the earthquake, our staff took the initiative and opened a temporary market at the parking lot to support the livelihood of Kesennuma citizens. One gets energised by discovering one's role in society and carrying it out", Yoneya emphasized. Kurosawa said "The priority should be given to supporting business entities. Without recovery of stricken companies, no jobs will be generated nor the economy activated. The government should propose its policy as soon as possible."

 

Sato, the Chief Priest of Togen-ji Temple, narrowly escaped the tsunami in Kamaishi he happened to stay at the time, and is now offering mental support to people in affected areas. He pointed out that there were many people who had lost their loved ones and were not fit for keeping up with the reconstruction process. He said "It is important not to leave them behind." Endo from Higashimatsushima, who lost three children and home, said "I was saved by people's kind thoughts. Though the tough reality is still overwhelming, I would like to show that I am trying to people who are supporting me". And he added, "I could somehow manage to restart my work, but so many people cannot even come close to that. Some kind of assistance is definitely needed."

 

Tahel, originally from Pakistan, now lives in Nagoya and has been working as a volunteer in Tohoku since the earthquake occurred. He expressed enthusiasm for future volunteer activities and said "I wasn't affected by the earthquake myself. But my thoughts have been always with you people. For now, there seems to be little communication among residents of temporary housings. I would like to focus my volunteer activities on this particular problem."

 

The panel discussion was followed by the opinion exchange among the general participants.

 

Mr. Shiraishi, a farmer in Senmaya, offered fresh vegetables for ingredients and not only the residents and Rentai Tohoku staff but also volunteers from Nippon International Cooperation for Community Development and Otsuchi Social Welfare Council worked together to prepare curry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is important for us volunteers to co-operate each other for the progress of reconstruction of the area.

 

 

 

Reported by Ryu and Tahel, Staff of Rentai Tohoku
We held a Pakistani Curry Party at the temporary house in Saito, Otomo-cho Rikuzentakata on the 2nd October (Sun).

 

○Temporary house in Saito, Otomo-cho, Rikuzentakata-city, Iwate
As almost the entire Rikuzentakata-city was destroyed by tsunami, most temporary houses were built on elevated lands and are extremely inconvenient for residents to go out. At the request from Social Welfare Council of Rikuzentakata-city, we held a curry party to encourage communication among the residents.
42 families (140 people) are currently living in this temporary house. Most of them are farmers or fishermen.

 

○Preparing curry
As requested by Mr. Kanazawa, chairman of the community council, we had residents provide all the ingredients except meat.
The preparation started with peeling/chopping various vegetables. It was a great fun to work together. Everyone laughed and cried chopping 100 or more onions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What on earth is Pakistani curry like? People started getting excited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ladies finished chopping a massive amount of vegetables and took a break watching the pot from the window.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a rich aroma of spices wafted out, the star of the temporary house showed up to investigate what was going on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some residents kindly helped us clean the huge pot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

○After-meal relaxation
After the meal, Tahel made Pakistani spiced tea for those who helped clearing up.
We sat around the table in the meeting room and talked about the current situation of life and future plans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the tea party was in full swing, some residents sang songs and danced a local dance in return for curry and tea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the party, we were happy to receive thanks from the residents. We shook hands and promised to meet again.
Rentai Tohoku will always stand by the tsunami/earthquake victims and provide what we can to bring cheer to them and help them move forward.