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Japan Relief Field Report Update

April 26, 2011 - Japan

Our partner’s in Japan, JEN (Japanese Emergency NGO), have achieved the following since partnering with RMF:

Approximately 150,000 people were reached
Primary beneficiaries: Evacuees at shelters in Ishinomaki City and evacuees located in their own house without food * stocks, and elderly persons at nursery houses

Activities:

Material Distribution:

Food and non-food items such as fuel, clothing, blankets, and hygiene products were delivered to evacuation centers and homes for the elderly, i.e. 1,000 kilos of rice and 4,000 liters of kerosene.

Sludge Removal Tools and Volunteer Dispatch:

Supported by many volunteers, JEN has been helping remove rubble and sludge from the houses in the Watanoha area, where most houses and buildings are still covered with mud brought by the tsunami. 1,000 sludge removal tool kits were also distributed to local community centers.

Soup Kitchen Volunteer Dispatch:

An initial soup kitchen service was provided at Takasago Junior High School, an evacuation centre in Sendai City. In Ishinomaki City, soup kitchen services provide 100 meals for lunch and 50 for dinner daily.

Planned Future Activities:

Temporary Shelter Project:

Importing trailer homes from Europe and using them as temporary shelters for those who lost houses, until the government prepares permanent houses. Usually, such temporary shelter construction is done by the government; the number required at this time is too high for the government alone to handle.

Rubble Clearance by Local Companies as Revival of Local Business:

There are huge piles of rubble in the affected areas and clearance work has started. Heavy-duty trucks have been rented to participate in the work so companies can resume their business and keep the employees who are about to lose their jobs.

JEN will establish a few community kitchens where evacuees cook together every day. Through working together and talking about their Tsunami experience over cooking, the aim is to help reduce evacuees’ stress and share a strong tie among them.

We are continuing to raise funding for JEN’s relief efforts and we currently have two matching donation challenges that are running through the end of the month.

The first is from a group of sponsoring organizations: Rudy’s Barbershop, Ace Hotel, Bimbos Cantina, and Cha Cha Lounge who have together agreed to match up to $18,000 in donations made through our website and at their in store locations!

The second is from the folks over at Global Basecamps who have agreed to match the first $2,500 donated from their fans/clients. Both matching donation options can be found on our website through the link below.

All photos JEN Copyright