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<\/a>\nWe would be working close to the harbor, at a house that hadn’t been touched in over a hundred days, since 3\/11. We would be shoveling the front of a house clear of debris. This house was by a paper factory, so everything was covered in molding paper. <\/p>\n
Madeleine and I ready to work! This job was also a 8-10 min car ride away, and we would be working with group 10. So we loaded the truck up with our equipment, then group 10 got in a van and took off. Everyone else had left for their jobs, so group 11 had all of base camp to ourselves! We sat around out front chatting. Ted, the assistant director, came out and joined us, and we took a picture of us with him.<\/p>\n Calum (London), Joji (France), Aska (Japan), Ted (Japan), me and Wesley (Virginia). Finally the van returned and we hopped in. Aska and Calum rode shotgun Saw a lot of devastation on the way We arrived at the house, where team 10 was already assessing the work load. We got started, shoveling rubbled mud into wheelbarrows, and dumping them into bags. We had people shoveling, people manning the peach bags to keep them filled evenly, and then “runners”, who would take full barrows, give out empty ones to be filled, then dump the full barrows into a peach.<\/p>\n Before When getting full, peach bags can be about 3-4 feet high, so Chris got creative and built a ramp, and took a run at it in order to dump rubble into the peach We met this 80 year-old man who shared his tsunami story with us “I heard the tsunami warning sirens and got my family to high grounds- my children, their children, my wife. I then ran back down to the house but ran out of time, the tsunami as coming. With no time to get to high land, I climbed up a car onto the roof of a nearby house” “The tsunami hit and I was safe. A car became wedged between 2 houses and I stepped on it to get to another roof. At this point it was snowing and night was coming. I stayed on the roof all night, surrounded by water, as it snowed on and off. The next morning, a house floated by, and I jumped on it and made it to my own roof, where later in the day I was able to signal help and was rescued”.<\/p>\n That’s quite a story from an 80 year old man!<\/p>\n We all got to introduce ourselves as he thanked us for his hard work It was really hot out, so we took many breaks. Here is Joji, me and Aska being silly in our hazmat getups We powered through the last hour of work. I was definitely feeling it- I was drenched in sweat, it was so hot out. I also felt a little lightheaded- when you’re working hard and panting the masks don’t let in a lot of air, but you can’t take it off to breathe because it smells so bad with all the mold and debris outside. <\/p>\n But alas, we finished! Our final mission accomplished! After picture We headed back to camp with bittersweet feelings. Yes! No more sweaty boots and breathing masks and dirty everything! But we were going home the next day. It was too sad. We gathered our tools and the home owners gave us cleansing towelettes and energy drinks. We thanked them and boarded the bus, excited to get cleaned up, have lunch, and explore downtown.<\/p>\n As we returned to camp we began washing all our gear. Calum and Wesley remembered there was a second power washer, so they went aorund the building to plug it in. About 40 seconds later they came back, blood spilling down poor Calum’s face. He bent over to plug in the power washer, and upon standing up hit his head on a metal corner of a window sill with all his force. He went to the hospital and needed his head stapled. Not a good way to end our last mission! Needless to say, he skipped out on our field trip for the afternoon. We cleaned up and made pasta for lunch, then boarded the bus.<\/p>\n We rode into town and got let off downtown. We walked down a few streets and came across a table where 2 people were making crepes and shaved ice to earn money. There was also a little shop where you could buy trinkets- bowls, towels, photographs, drawings, snacks, tees. I bought a tee shirt and then I stood in line with Joji, Mariko and Reiko to get a shaved ice, but we ran out of time, as our group moved along to climb a big hill to view the harbor from a lookout point.<\/p>\n The table selling yummy eats This hill was huge- steep and never ending. Halfway up we got a view of an island area. It’s known as Ishinomaki’s little Manhattan, complete with a statue of liberty. Statue of liberty Taking a break to pose for a picture with Aska, with Ishinomaki in the background Eventually we made it to the lookout point! Me at the top in front of a torii gate We were warned it’s not a pretty sight over the edge, and when some people looked over they stood and cried.<\/p>\n In memorium The water that caused all the trouble. The mound to the right is mostly paper form the paper factory, completely decomposed Once all houses and businesses. All gone. After some time we headed back down. Joji and I got crepes and waited for the bus. The bus took us back to camp along the waterfront, and I shot this brief video of closeup devastation. Apologies for the poor quality, I was on a bumpy bus reaching over people!
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\nThe roof he climbed onto with the help of a car
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\nTeam 11
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