Due to the traffic jam, it took 2 and half hours to get to Ishinomaki even though I took the first bus leaving Sendai at 6:47 in the morning. The bus was full of students and commuters.
Sendai-Ishinomaki Highway bus
I arrived at Ishinomaki Volunteer Center at 9:30. After the registration as a volunteer, the seal below was given and I put it around my arm.
J}^ (Kawamata in Japanese)
I was put in a Photo Clean-up group working in the old city hall. 15 volunteers, mainly female, washed and cleaned up photos and albums with brushes and wet towels collected from the disaster areas. Some became clean but some were not identifiable as they were once washed out to sea. All of us sat on the floor and kept silent taking mud off the photos and albums from 10:00 to 15:30.
In the city hall, there is a place where all those cleaned items are kept. People come to look for something related to them. When they find something, they pick it up and cross off their names in the list. I would say 20% of the names were crossed out.
Look at me in Ishinomaki! I looked funny and too heavily equipped for this job but you have to very cautious because of harmful dust. It must be awful for locals to live under such conditions...
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| at home |
in Ishinomaki |
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During the lunch time, we went up to the park. One of the female staff members told us to take photos and tell friends about Ishinomaki. They need as many volunteers as possible, she said. As of the end of May, about 370,000 people participated in volunteer; out of 120 million people in Japan, I do not know if this is "many"...
You will see the scenery as below. These areas are very well taken care of compared to the other areas. You find the bridge at the back of (1). Tsunami came up to this level and all the cars except for only a few on top of the bridge were swept into the sea. At the further left of (1), there is an area where nothing is done. I was told that the smell of rotten fish sometimes comes up to the park. At the further right of (2), there is an industrial zone, which was destroyed completely.
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| Ishinomaki, from the park (1) |
Ishinomaki, from the park (2) |
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It was such a short stay and I am not in a position to say anything. The aftershocks still continue there. (Even in Tokyo!!) Not only aftershock but also landslide and flood warnings are on. I am concerned that the rainy season probably starts soon in Tohoku and comes Summer. I was told that the risk of tetanus will increase. Even for the photo-album work, we were instructed to put on rubber gloves not to be infected by molds and bacteria. Still it might be much more difficult in winter since it gets very cold out there.
Last but not least, we really appreciate the support from all over the world. Life is still very difficult in the disaster areas and we have to really really really work hard on restoration.
