Looks like the winning vote goes to soap and lotions and nice smelling stuffs for people at the shelters. I think that is a great idea. Second place goes to movies. I think it's possible to do both. Renting a DVD costs next to nothing here- in Japan just one dollar for 24 hrs. In the US I have paid 35 dollars to rent a DVD. Unless the poll results change in the next few days the plan will be LOTS of mini soaps and mini lotions in some kind of fresh scent and mini shave foams PLUS money for movies. Sound good? : )
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Remainder of shelter fund.
I think I should make a poll on Facebook and people can choose where the remaining 450 dollars should go. Then, I will visit the outreach place and present it as a plan. After that it will take some more time to get processed. I'll keep everyone informed. It takes longer than I expected to get money donations organized and some ideas will get rejected.
1096 after shock quakes since March 11...that is10 quakes since I last posted yesterday..
1096 after shock quakes since March 11...that is10 quakes since I last posted yesterday..
Monday, 25 April 2011
In the shadow of fear
Walking the dog today I noticed everyone is looking down at their feet. It's like we are all living in fear of the ground opening up and swallowing us in to it. It has happened after all. We have seen pictures and heard stories or seen it with our own eyes. Fear is just behind our shoulder waiting to tap.
It's this kind of prolonged continued tension that gets to you. It brings you down, it demotivates you, it eats you up if you will let it. On the one hand I so want to get back to work, which is postponed till May, and on the other hand I don't know if I can teach anymore without having a panic attack in the middle of class. I don't suppose I will but if the building starts to shake I think a lot of students and myself will be far more scared than we would have been this time last year before having experienced such a monumental shaking.
It really seems on some days like we are just surviving from one aftershock to the next and after each ..breathing a sigh of relief that it wasn't a bigger one. As of today 1084 aftershocks since March 11 and most of them have been bigger than any quakes we ever felt before the 9.
Quake map :
http://www.japanquakemap.com/
Here's a few pics from today's dogwalk..we use to walk in through this park every day but it has completely collapsed and is off limits to the public, still unsafe. The poor central house you can see has completely fallen forward as if it was crushed by an enormous vice on either end..which, in a way, it was.
It's this kind of prolonged continued tension that gets to you. It brings you down, it demotivates you, it eats you up if you will let it. On the one hand I so want to get back to work, which is postponed till May, and on the other hand I don't know if I can teach anymore without having a panic attack in the middle of class. I don't suppose I will but if the building starts to shake I think a lot of students and myself will be far more scared than we would have been this time last year before having experienced such a monumental shaking.
It really seems on some days like we are just surviving from one aftershock to the next and after each ..breathing a sigh of relief that it wasn't a bigger one. As of today 1084 aftershocks since March 11 and most of them have been bigger than any quakes we ever felt before the 9.
Quake map :
http://www.japanquakemap.com/
Here's a few pics from today's dogwalk..we use to walk in through this park every day but it has completely collapsed and is off limits to the public, still unsafe. The poor central house you can see has completely fallen forward as if it was crushed by an enormous vice on either end..which, in a way, it was.
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Bringing smiles : part two. Store to door care packages delivery: with pictures.
So what can we do to bring smiles and ease the general tension? There have been lots of great ideas. One friend bought teddy bears at Narita and will distribute them to children. Volunteers all over Japan are organizing events and free services for people. The utility companies have given every citizen 3 months leeway with paying their bills. Schools delayed their entry ceremonies and starting dates, Universities delayed these by over one month.All these were done in a spirit of understanding the need to mourn, repair and relax a little in the face of so much adversity.
Our charity Sendairect was developed out of conversations really, onFacebook . People wanted to help but were frustrated that they could not donate and see those smiles their donations would bring. Charities can be so huge and impersonal, yet of course they are needed and wonderful and serve the larger community better.
We wanted to help in a smaller way. People wanted to contribute with food items and things like batteries and vitamins that very were hard to find in Sendai for the first 3 weeks and still are not plentiful! So we organized a care package delivery service "store to door" for 14 people locally. I shopped in the US and brought the items back and distributed them to people in my neighborhood.
These were not people who were in desperate need of a roof over their heads or starving, but they were and are people who had their nerves shattered by the dramatic happenings of the last month. They were hard working citizens whose lives were suddenly spun into turmoil and unease and worry.
The packages brought smiles! This was their sole purpose and the message behind each was simple :
The world is thinking of you and sending love your way.
I think that is worth a lot. And the smiles in the pics I think prove it.
Our charity Sendairect was developed out of conversations really, on
We wanted to help in a smaller way. People wanted to contribute with food items and things like batteries and vitamins that very were hard to find in Sendai for the first 3 weeks and still are not plentiful! So we organized a care package delivery service "store to door" for 14 people locally. I shopped in the US and brought the items back and distributed them to people in my neighborhood.
These were not people who were in desperate need of a roof over their heads or starving, but they were and are people who had their nerves shattered by the dramatic happenings of the last month. They were hard working citizens whose lives were suddenly spun into turmoil and unease and worry.
The packages brought smiles! This was their sole purpose and the message behind each was simple :
The world is thinking of you and sending love your way.
I think that is worth a lot. And the smiles in the pics I think prove it.
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