The handwritten note practically cries out: “Living here! Please help us!”
The volunteers from Tokyo Baptist Church almost missed the dirty scrap of paper, attached to the battered door. It blends in with the rubble and debris left behind by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Major parts of the house are gone, washed away a month ago by the crushing tsunami waves. Not really believing anyone will answer, volunteer Satomi Ono calls out to see if anyone is there.
A young mother cautiously pokes her head around the corner. When she sees the volunteers’ warm smiles, relief rushes over her and she excitedly yells to her father. They are the only two left in their family. Her two children were swept out of her arms in the tsunami wave. Her mother and husband also died on that fateful day.
The young woman invites the team inside. Despite broken dishes standing up in the mud-caked floor, Ono can see that the pair had worked hard, cleaning their disaster-stricken home. Piles of papers, toys, rotting clothes and splintered wood are ready to be deposited on the street for garbage crews.
Ono explains that her church has a distribution site not more than a 20-minute walk down the road. The church’s goal is to help people not living in the government-sponsored evacuation centers.
As Ono empties her bag of relief supplies, the young woman and her father stare, overwhelmed, at the bounty — some instant noodles, candles, batteries and underwear.
“There is a God!” the woman exclaims. “Yes,” Ono replies, tears now streaming down her face. “I believe He brought us to your house. He has not forgotten you.”
Residents of Ishinomaki who still have a house standing are expected to “tough it out” or “make the best of it” in true Japanese fashion, persevering in homes wrecked by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
The first few weeks after the disaster were the worst. More than 5 million homes were without electricity and nearly 1.5 million had no access to water. Kerosene was nonexistent, making it impossible to stay warm when a snowstorm hit hours after the tsunami. Grocery stores had no food, only empty shelves. Due to the nuclear crisis in Fukushima, supplies didn’t reach the evacuation centers for days. Weeks after the quake, rationed goods finally reached those camped out in their homes. Relief organizations and churches like Tokyo Baptist had a hard time mounting a quick response because special government permits were required to enter the disaster zone and gas to make the trip from Tokyo was almost impossible to come by.
Once the church’s assessment team arrived in Ishinomaki, the initial team pulled into a restaurant parking lot to unload supplies to cook a hot meal. Before they could even open the back of the truck, a line had formed.
Local men helped the volunteers unload and older women offered their services in cooking soup over wood-fires. Not only was this the first hot meal in two weeks, most had not eaten in five days.
To donate to relief efforts, visit www.alsbom.org/japan. (BP)
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