Rewarding opportunity to go to listen to the tsunami suvivors.

Please click one of the images to start the slide show. The photos were taken by Kaori Koizumi, Kurumi Tamura, Miwa Nishi, and me.

It came a long way since the initiation of assessment of people who remain in their own houses in and around Ishinomaki City.

Mr. Ito, the director of Team Ohkan, felt it necessary to go to listen to each household. As the emergency stage had been passed, he wanted to value the locals’ input in order to offer truly-needed assists. The government had no ear for that, and he recruited volunteer nurses, who could go out into the tsunami-stricken regions for him. I joined the project shortly after the initiation and had begun to lead the assessment team. Meanwhile, Mr. Ito formed an association with Dr. Muto and Mr. Narukawa, who desired to find elders who might not be able to receive necessary medical care because of the isolation.

The assessment would be meaningless unless adequate follow-ups were carried out. Little by little, other professions were integrated into our project, and Health and Living Revitalization Council was established. In order to promote the health of each household, we had to assist them individually and holistically, so that each could return to the pre-earthquake living as quickly as possible. The city and town officials finally begun to show interest in our project. It will be so ideal if governmental and private agencies work together for the same purpose. This seemingly unrealistic vision might become possible in Miyagi Prefecture.