一般財団法人　連帯　東北・西南　RENTAI　TOHOKU-SEINAN

On Thursday September 10, 2015, the levees of Kinugawa River collapsed due to heavy rain, causing devastating floods in the area alongside the river. On September 16th and 17th, Rentai Tohoku and Seinan provided free meals (Tomodachi Curry) to evacuees who were forced out from their homes to stay at the Joso City Community Center.

From our experience at shelters in Tohoku immediately after the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, we could easily imagine the confused and chaotic state in the disaster-stricken area. At the direction of the board chairman, Taher of the foundation drove to Joso City with required equipment and foodstuff. First he visited the city hall and discovered that the city community center was functioning as the shelter as well as the distribution station of relief goods. He headed for the center and immediately got on with the relief work.

The community center is called by its nickname "Toyota Castle" by local people. Apparently, the Toyota clan, a branch of the Heike clan descended from Emperor Kanmu, used to control the surrounding lands and it was said that they built a castle called "Toyota Castle" on the Kokaigawa River in the east part of their territory. The nickname was taken from this castle.

The new Toyota Castle was opened in 1992, complete with a 1,100 capacity hall, a library and an exhibition room aimed to introduce the history of Ishige.

We were allowed to use the platform which functioned as the receiving dock for relief goods. We made fire outside the building to cook curry but prepared ingredients in the sitting area for volunteers. Some of the volunteers kindly helped us chopping vegetables. We made fire outside the building to cook curry but prepared ingredients in the sitting area for volunteers. Some of the volunteers kindly helped us chopping vegetables.

On the first day, we made thorough arrangements with the staff from the city hall and the foundation's staff members did all the hard work once the pot was put on fire.

On the second day, as none of the foundation staff could join the meal service, local women volunteered to cook and serve curry. Ms. Hasegawa from Moriya City, who helped us on both days, became the leader of the volunteer group and made sure that the cooking went smoothly.

Tomodachi curry® was ready just in time for lunch and was first served to evacuees at the evacuation center. After that, the meal was served to fire fighters and volunteers who were working at the shelter. Initially, we planned to serve bread delivered as relief food to accompany curry. However, when we were cooking it, an elderly man came to us and asked if it was possible to have some warm cooked rice. Apparently, the evacuees had had nothing but cold rice balls and bread for the past few days.

We turned to some local volunteers for help. Despite such a short notice, they happily complied with our request and brought some cooked rice. People at the shelter were overjoyed when they saw steaming hot rice. As the following day was cold and wet, the volunteers prepared a lot of rice to keep the evacuees warm. They seemed to enjoy the hot meal greatly.

In Tohoku, Rentai Tohoku and Seinan has been active to promote and encourage communication among those who suffered from the earthquake and are forced to live in temporary houses. This time in Ibaraki, though, as we provided hot meals to evacuees, we felt as if we returned to our starting line as a disaster relief organization.

We regret that there were no tables or chairs available at the shelter to serve meals properly. However, we were happy to see people enjoying our Tomodachi curry® and felt proud that we could make our little contribution to cheer up people who were exhausted under unaccustomed circumstances.

We wish the best of health and happiness to the people who we met at the evacuation centre at Joso City Community Centre.

On July 12^th, we cooked and served "Tomodachi Curry®" and spent some wonderful time with the residents of Simowano Housing Complex, Rikuzentakata, Iwate. 84 households live at the complex.

We had a group of residents help us prepare the ingredients early in the morning. As usual, with the purpose to break the ice among the participants by friendly conversation during preparation, Mr and Mrs Sugawara, who are our constant supporters, encouraged the residents to join in. Mothers and some young daughters seemed to have fun chopping and pealing vegetables together just like in a cooking class.

Once lighting the cooker, our staff members and some junior high school teachers who came to give us a hand took charge of the pot.

We put a large table and chairs in the parking lot so that everyone could join the meal. It was a pleasant surprise that Dr Ishiki, former director of Rikuzentakata Hospital, popped in the party. He is living in a temporary house nearby. Dr Ishiki explained that turmeric in curry was good to reduce the risk of dementia and his mini lecture on the spice attracted everyone's attention. The doctor became even more popular than Tahir, who is usually the centre of attention at curry parties.

We were devastated realising the fact that on top of a number of orphans due to the Earthquake, there are so many lonely children who are victims of domestic violence. We find it appalling that such tragedies still exist in a developed, wealthy country like Japan. To explore a way to remedy the situation, we held a meeting with local people to exchange opinions.

Nine guest participants joined us Rentai Tohoku staff at the meeting, including　Mr and Mrs Hatakeyama, Mr Atsushi Sekiguchi (Uniadex Co., Ltd. His mother is a Pakistani.), Ms Yuka Shimizu, Master Daigo Fujinami (Buddhist monk), Ms Masae Kimura (Junior high school teacher), Mr Akiyoshi Kosaka (Junior high school teacher), Ms Etsuko Nitta (Junior high school teacher) and Kentaro Koyama(Junior high school teacher).

Current situation of Children's Nursing Homes in Japan

Currently, there are 599 children's nursing homes in Japan (59 in Tokyo, 38 in Osaka, 6 in Iwate) and 30,000 children are living there. Age distribution of the children is as follows: 0-3 years (n=1,406), 4-6 years (n=4,082), 7-9 years (n=5,005), 10-12 years (n=5,961), 13-15 years (n=6,852) and 16-18 years (n=4,888). The number of reports of child abuse cases is growing from 1,101 in 1990 to 17,725 in 2000, 56,000 in 2010 and even as many as 73,765 in 2015.

We discussed the situations and problems which may lead to domestic violence and the possible solutions. The lack of communication was the most critical issue pointed out by many of the participants. In order to keep up with the fast-paced society, people cannot afford to care about or communicate with others, eventually falling into the individualism. As a result, the weakest in society, children in this case, often become victims of abuse.

Though it is difficult to transform the current social structure altogether, we found it meaningful to share with the participants our concern about domestic violence. We hope that our attempts will make a small difference in the future.

On May 31^st, we organised a "Tomodachi Curry®" event at Fuji-no-Sono, a foster home in Ichinoseki and spent some good time with the children staying there.

It was a warm sunny day and we all got sweaty preparing for the event outside. Once our staff members showed children how to prepare the ingredients, some girls took the lead to help us in cooking. Children soon became friends with our staff, even starting to call them by first names. Cooking curry in such a friendly atmosphere was a great fun.

Mr Sata and other staff members became very popular and had a wonderful time surrounded by the children during the lunch. It was thanks to Mr Watanabe, vice director of the foster home, that we were able to hold the event at the institution. According to Mr Watanabe, the children enjoyed the rare occasion a great deal. We would be pleased if our event could contribute to the enlivenment of the institution in some way or other.

On May 30^th, we invited Dr Yuichi Sakai, our old friend, to the Senmaya International Club. We organised a lecture and a dinner party to provide an opportunity to exchange with local people.

Dr Sakai is the vice director of the National Center for Child Health and Development, the largest and most prestigious paediatric medical centre in Asia. The centre newly set up a project to support children who require medical care at home after completing acute treatment. Dr Sakai was appointed as the director of the project in April this year and has been working hard on it ever since. Presently, he is involved in the establishment of the first ever hospice facility for children in Japan, which is planned to open in spring 2016.

Unfortunately, due to a physicians' meeting at the local medical association, the number of doctors who joined the symposium was fewer than expected. However, those participated in the event including some local medical professionals and tsunami victims seemed to appreciate the opportunity.

Dr Sakai talked about his experiences with children in Toronto who were bravely battling against severe respiratory diseases and their families who endured the great challenge. He also introduced his efforts to set up the hospice care centre for children, which we listened to with great interest.