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ZWC_yamada Excerpt from the Asahi Shimbun, March 31, 2011.
[Photo] Mr. Vitalik preparing coconut curry at an evacuation center in Ofunato City (Photo by Hayashi)
At the evacuation center at Suezakicho Elementary School in Ofunato City, Iwate Prefecture, Hassan Baitariq (46), a Bangladeshi man who has been in Japan for 20 years, recently served authentic curry. He said he came because, "I'm also a person who lives in Japan. It's only natural that I do something," and the children happily gobbled up the coconut curry with large pieces of chicken.
Vitalik, who runs an Italian restaurant, is a director of APFS (Itabashi Ward, Tokyo), a non-profit organization that supports foreigners. The organization has about 3,400 foreign members, and during the 2004 Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake, they worked on house repairs and other tasks while living on-site.
After learning of the plight of disaster victims huddled in cold shelters following the earthquake, he consulted with the representative director, Jotaro Kato (29), and was introduced to Suezaki Elementary School by an acquaintance who was a prefectural employee, leading to the decision to provide meals there.
The two men, along with five other friends, boarded a van loaded with 300 liters of water and 75 kilograms of rice, and traveled for about 12 hours from Tokyo to their destination. They prepared 500 servings of curry for two evacuation centers. The distinctive aroma of spices and tomatoes rose from the large pot, and the evacuees rejoiced, saying, "This is the first time we've eaten curry since the earthquake." Some even polished off two and a half bowls.
To a child who said, "My whole family is safe, but our house was swept away," Mr. Vitalik said, "When you grow up, you can build a house for yourself. As long as you're alive, you can do anything," and handed him a warm bowl of curry.
Toshio Niinuma (59), the deputy head of the evacuation center, said, "It's been a long time since I've eaten this much. I'm grateful." Kato said, "I want to stay here for a long time and do activities to meet the needs of the disaster victims, such as sorting clothes." (Toshiyuki Hayashi)