【APFS “Disaster Aid Project” Vol. 3 Outline】
Objective To contribute to the disaster area as foreign resident having been lived in Japan for a long time
Date May 26th (Thu) 2011 – May 30th (Mon)
Content Recovery support at citizens’ homes (sweeping out mud, removing debris etc.)
・Removing garbage from citizens’ homes
・Dismantling walls at citizens’ homes
・Sweeping out mud from side ditches in the community area
・Providing support material
Participants 6 people (from 5 countries; Iran, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Philippines, Japan)
Project Area Citizens’ homes in the town of Takata, Rikuzen Takata City, Iwate Prefecture
With the strong feeling that “I want to contribute to Japan, my second home”, the participants devoted themselves to work. All of them had experiences of physical labor, so it happened that they managed to end three days professional construction work in one. Disaster survivors were very pleased.
This time’s project area was in walking distance from the ocean, so police search for the missing still continued in the vicinity. In such a dangerous place, foreign residents did their work to the end. Our counterpart this time was Mr. Shigeki TADA of Tada Workshop. He said that “First I was worried whether I can communicate with people of foreign origin, but actually they were really reliable”. We can say that this time’s support at the disaster area has shown that foreign residents in Japanese society are surely changing from people who are “supported” to people who “live with us”.
