On a more positive note

On a more positive note, All Hands in Ofunato (which incidentally is not us, we are HANDS serving mostly Kamaishi/Rikuzentakata) is rebuilding a park.

http://hands.org/2011/10/05/japan-rebuilding-a-community-park/

How great would that be, to build a park? I`m really looking forward to doing something like that, hopefully sooner than later.

November approacheth! HANDS has at least one foreign volunteer besides myself scheduled to participate every weekend. One foreign group scheduled and possibly two or three others in the works. In the meantime, though, I feel like I haven`t been getting as many new inquiries about volunteering.

I`m not sure if the same is true for Japanese participants as well, or if as a group we`re holding steady. Are there enough volunteers or not? I don`t even know that for sure.

I`ve been looking at this graph http://tasukeaijapan.jp/?page_id=11509&prarea_id=10

and it looks bad, but I can`t be sure what exactly it means. For non-Japanese speakers, that blue graph on the right is the number of volunteers coming to Kamaishi weekly.

Rikuzentakata is here

http://tasukeaijapan.jp/?page_id=11509&prarea_id=10

What`s up with October? Maybe it just looks bad compared to the big peak during August. I`m trying not to worry about it because it`s a waste of time. Anyway: go November go! Come on up and volunteer! The more people come, the sooner we can get to things like building parks.

Everything is Much Better Now

We are still taking volunteers every day in November except November 6th.

It`s the last week in October and HANDS is still dispatching volunteers daily: today we dispatched to Kamaishi. The group includes a college student from the JSP exchange program at Tokyo International University, accompanied by our fair site leader Futo-san and a number of other volunteers. Looks like maybe 6 people in total?
I, of course, am at work, though would rather be with them.

It`s been a long time since I started working with HANDS, about five months now. My first time was during the last week in May, when Kamaishi was covered in piles of rubble, and there were these crumpled-up cars scattered everywhere, and boats and cars balanced precariously on the tops of buildings. Slowly, gradually, the town has improved. Compared to “before” pictures, everything looks better. People who haven`t been here for a while sometimes comment on how clean it is compared to before.

But clean isn`t a relative term. Clean is a word for a regular town, where you can dig in a flower bed and you won`t find handfuls of glass and twisted plastic things and rotting books. Clean is a word for a place without rubble--rubble that has now been sitting, untouched, for about seven months--in the first floor of so many buildings. Clean is a word for a place that doesn`t need masks and gloves, for buildings that don`t need to be hosed down with water and disinfected so the smell doesn`t start again.

Even now, volunteers who have never seen the area before sometimes comment that it looks like a war zone. But once these places don`t look as impressive, as catastrophic as they did earlier on, will more and more people forget about Tohoku because it looks better now? Will they forget what they might have heard on the news, that better is supposed to take ten years?
When will people start believing that living conditions on the coast are “good enough?” But we don`t have the right to assume anything is “good enough” for other people until it fits our own expectations for living. Kamaishi is not “better” or “clean” or “good enough” until it meets the conditions of being a regular city again.

All Hands makes all of its long term volunteers take a break for at least three days a month for mental health reasons. Peace Boat usually limits participation time to one week. Interesting to think about the residents themselves, who have been in a disaster area--and not just any disaster area, their own home--for seven months solid. It`s too bad those people can`t get a break from what they have lived with and what they are still living with every day for mental health reasons.

The last weekend I came to Kamaishi I saw a line of elementary school students, maybe waiting for a bus, and three or four of the boys were laughing and slapping another boy in the face. I was in a van, watching this happen, and the van happened to stop right next to the group of boys. The other boys were slapping this one boy in the face, over and over again, while the boy yelled at them, while right next to them stood an adult man who was probably a teacher. The man wasn`t doing anything. Maybe he was tired of breaking up fights. The boys were still slapping him, over and over, when we finally drove away.

What do you think happens to children who are going through an experience like this? Do you think those kids feel better that their dangerous, scary war zone town with broken glass in the flowerbeds is less of a scary, dangerous war zone town than a few months ago? Maybe they`ll feel better when you remind them there are no more cars on tops of buildings anymore. That the enormous ship that has been left with its tip stuck in the side of a road has finally been removed, and it only took seven months.

Who would have the nerve to tell these people that this month, that next month or the month after that is good enough? I certainly don`t, and I`m sure HANDS doesn`t.
Not until they tell us they don`t need us anymore. Not until Kamaishi is a place I would want to live in. Not until the beach is a place to take a vacation.

Documents (Volunteer Application, etc)

Volunteer Application

If you would like to participate with us, please download and fill out volunteer application above, then send to Anna Thomas at thomasanna85@gmail.com

IMPORTANT: We will stop dispatching volunteers daily on March 10, 2012, but we will continue to go most weekends and you're welcome to join. Please see this announcement.

Manual

Vocabulary Sheet

For people who speak some Japanese but might not know some of the special vocabulary we use while volunteering.

Communication Sheet

A translation sheet for communicating with Japanese volunteers and site leaders

FAQ

What is HANDS?

HANDS is a nonprofit based in Kitakami dedicated to recovery on the coast. Originally, we were affililated with JCI (Junior Chamber International) Kitakami, but we became our own nonprofit last August. 

Currently our trips to the coast are run on an all-volunteer basis. This means we basically carpool to the coast when there are volunteer drivers.

What kind of volunteer work can I do?

That depends on what kind of work requests are brought to the volunteer centers, but you can usually expect one of the following:

• Distributing goods
• Removing tsunami mud
• Cleaning up rubble
• Cleaning pavement and houses with a high pressure washer (a kind of big water gun)
• Cutting grass and weeding, other landscaping
• Helping to remove household items that residents no longer need
• Helping people move (for example, to a temporary housing unit, etc)
• Rarely, cleaning photographs

Where does HANDS meet? Where does HANDS go?

We meet in Kitakami station at 7:00 am. Please see manual for more details.

We usually go on weekends, but please email for more information. 

We used to dispatch daily, but that changed last March. Please see explanation here.

What do I need to bring?

Usually boots with safety insoles, work gloves, masks, a lunch, clothes that can get dirty, clothes that can get wet, warm clothes. (Some of these things, you can borrow if you come with HANDS.)

With other groups, you might also need a sleeping bag or a tent, depending on the kind of accommodation. Be careful and make sure to bring everything your chosen volunteer org asks you to! 

What other organizations could I volunteer with?

Some organizations may or may not still be taking volunteers, but try the following:

Peace Boat

All Hands (update: All Hands will no longer be taking volunteers after November 12, see this link)

It’s Not Just Mud

Intrepid Model Adventures

Toono Magokoro Net

Team Heal Japan

Nadia

JEARS (Animal rescue and support)

What do I need to do to participate with HANDS?

You need to fill out our registration form, ideally at least three days before the first day you want to participate, then send to thomasanna85@gmail.com. After you fill out the registration form once, all you have to do is tell us (email or otherwise) additional dates you want to participate.

You also need to bring the proper equipment, arrange a way to get up to Kitakami, and find a place to stay. Don’t worry: we can help advise you to do all of these things.

How can I get to Kitakami?

You could use the shinkansen: Kitakami, where we are based, is a shinkansen stop about three hours away from Tokyo.

Another cheaper option is the night bus. Being a bus that runs in the night, the night bus is uncomfortable according to some people, but definitely doable.

Sample schedule: Board in Ikebukuro 22:40. Arrive Kitakami 6:20 the next day (if you want to volunteer that day, basically get off the bus and volunteer!). Depart Kitakami 10:35, arrive Ikebukuro 6:13 am the next day.

See http://www.bushikaku.net/ or http://travel.rakuten.co.jp/bus/ (reservations in Japanese, use Google translate or ask a Japanese friend for help if needed)

How long can I volunteer? Is one day too short? Is three weeks too long?

If you want to volunteer longer than a couple of days, I can point you towards other NPOs taking long-term volunteers. Since we`re on a weekends basis only, you could only volunteer with us a couple of days.

I want to volunteer two months from now. Will you still be taking volunteers?

We`ll be taking volunteers, and if we aren`t, I can find you someone who is.  

Who are you?

My name is Anna Thomas, and I'm a foreigner and HANDS volunteer who lives in Kitakami. I can help foreigners, or anybody else interested, volunteer on the coast. Contact me at thomasanna85@gmail.com any time if you have any questions.

Do I have to speak Japanese?

This also depends on the organization. HANDS is run by Japanese speakers, but everyone has been very flexible about English-only volunteers. Some HANDS participants can speak some English, and often someone who can translate can participate with you at the same time.

Can I take pictures?

There have been problems in disaster areas with disrespectful photography. It’s OK to take photos, especially before/after photos of work sites and pictures of participants at the volunteer center, but please be careful. No pictures of people without their permission, and avoid taking pictures in front of locals.

Anything else I should know?

Remember to respect the communities and houses you enter and people you meet on the coast. Volunteering, like lots of things, is a privilege, not a right. Try to interfere in other people’s daily lives as minimally as possible—if you’re working on a sidewalk, don’t put tools in the middle of the sidewalk.

Try to spend money in the communities you go to whenever possible. They need your business, not just your service.

Don’t forget what you see on the coast, and don’t let others forget. Recovery is going to take a long time.

I want to find out more. Where can I ask questions?

Ask me questions at thomasanna85@gmail.com

You can also join the Facebook group Foreign Volunteers Japan and ask questions on the wall there, someone should be able to help you.

Volunteer Manual

HANDS Volunteer Manual

Volunteer locations：Kamaishi・Rikuzentakada（Oofunato・Ootsuchi）

What to Bring (Items in bold, please do your best to bring. Other items, recommended but not required.)

・Work gloves

・ Masks

・Boots

・Cold weather clothing (Coats etc.)

・Drink (Such as water, sports drinks)

・Lunch

・Rubber gloves

・Towels

・Safety insoles（For protection against stepping on nails）

・Parkas or raincoats（Sometimes we work with large water guns for cleaning.)

・Caramels and other candies (For quick energy)

・（Helmet）

・（Eye guard）

It is possible to borrow some items at the volunteer center, such as gloves, boots, and safety insoles, but there is a limit to the sizes available. Please do your best to bring what you can.

Schedule

Meet at Kitakami station, east entrance, by 7:40 am. (For volunteers coming by car, we do have a parking lot available. Please contact HANDS for more information.)

? Depart Kitakami after role call.

? Arrive at volunteer center. Leader receives details of volunteer activities for that day and explains to group. Volunteers load tools onto vehicle(s).

? Depart volunteer center.

9:30 Start work. (We take regular breaks during volunteer work.)

12:00 Lunch.

1:00 Start work again.

2:45 Clean volunteer site and load tools onto vehicle(s).

3:00 Depart for volunteer center. At volunteer center, wash and return tools.

4:00 Start drive to Kitakami.

6:00 Arrive in Kitakami.

A Final Note

Please deal with residents carefully and thoughtfully. Try to put yourself in their shoes and act appropriately to the situation.

It’s not common for volunteers to enter dangerous areas, but there are some risks to the activities we perform. Please be careful while volunteering to prevent injuries or accidents.

Also please note that while the disaster area may look to a volunteer as if it’s filled with rubble and trash, to the residents it’s a place where their most precious belongings have been buried, with the possiblity that at least some of those items could be recovered. We ask that you please keep this in mind and treat the items you handle with respect, even if they happen to to be covered in mud.

HANDS、NPO

〒024-0061 Iwate Kitakami Oodori, 2-11-25-101

Volunteer work may be canceled depending on weather. In the case of bad weather, please confirm with HANDS that volunteering will be held that day.