I spent most of the afternoon today in presentations and meetings about my trip to volunteer for the disaster relief this upcoming Friday. 5 days away!!!
Dan and I headed out to the JICA cultural center in Shibuya. there wasn’t a real direct route to get there, so we ended up taking 4 trains.
Dan and I at Sasazuka Station
Of course I wanted to put my best foot forward, so I wore my new sparkly pink Toms!
We arrived and I found Yuki, whom I’d been emailing with over the past week. She set me up with an earpiece so I could hear the presentation in English. Dan and I took our seats in a giant room filled with mostly Japanese people. There were 2 ways to volunteer- in Tokyo fundraising on weekends, and in Ishinomaki for a one week period. Most the people there were Tokyo volunteers.
Where the days’ events were held
At first it was difficult getting used to listening to a man speaking Japanese on a microphone in one ear, and a woman translating into the earpiece in my right ear. But eventually I tuned out the Japanese, and the first hour and 45 min were dedicated to recapping what has happened, what has been done, and what work still needs to happen.
As people spoke, a slideshow played with images of Ishinomaki’s condition
Here are some images I took from the slide show
Cleaning toxic sludge
A street cleared, with the rubble pushed to the side
So sad
There was a quick recess, and all the Tokyo weekend volunteers left. Many more Ishinomaki volunteers showed up for the 4pm presentation, including many international volunteers.
We sat through another presentation more focused on the volunteer work and living conditions in Ishinomaki, then divided into 2 groups- Japanese and international volunteers. There were people from the US, France, Australia and other places. It was so great to see! We did a quick roll call then all sat down together in a circle. Yuki then told us we’d be broken into 3 international teams, all with a bilingual leader. I was put on Aska’s team, and my team mates are Joji, Calum and Wesley. We signed a bunch of waivers, declared and paid for insurance and then introduced ourselves a bit. Then we got to talking and everyone seems really friendly and just looking to be part of a worthy cause. We even started planning group potluck dinners together! Somewhat challenging with no stove or hot water, we may look into acquiring a small camping stove.
Once we discussed everything on the agenda and then some, we parted ways til Friday! All the volunteer groups meet at Shinjuku Park, and we leave by bus at 9:15pm. It’s about a 6 hour drive to Ishinomaki, and that’s if there’s no traffic! Needless to say it’ll be a late first night. Tomorrow Dan and I are going shopping for all the gear I need and food I’ll bring. If I enjoy myself enough, perhaps I’ll do this a few more times and get some real use out of the sleeping bag, steel sole boots and hazmat gear I need to bring!
After all our meetings we rode a stop over to Roppongi for dinner. In the distance I saw Tokyo Tower
I’ve got the same Tom’s! Pink for the cancer ribbon 🙂