News
Notice of cancellation of volunteer activities during Obon period
July 28, 2011
The affected areas will soon observe the first Obon holiday period since the March 11 disaster. (Obon is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honour the deceased spirits of one’s ancestors.)
In respect of the feelings of the local community, Peace Boat has decide not to organise volunteer activities during the August 13 – 16 Obon period.
The schedule of weekly and short-term volunteers during the mid-August period will accordingly also be shifted.
We apologise for the inconvenience for those who were planning to volunteer during their own Obon holidays, however thank you very much for your understanding and cooperation at this important time for the people of Tohoku.
TAGS: Disaster Relief • international volunteers • Ishinomaki • Japan • Kanto-Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami • obon • Peace Boat • Volunteer • volunteering • VolunteersNew poetry book raises funds for relief efforts
July 25, 2011
march and after
- poems from tsunami country -
march and after – poems from tsunami country – chronicles life in Japan following the 3.11 earthquake. From the terror of hourly aftershocks and scenes of hardened yakuza fleeing Tokyo, Jon Mitchell takes the reader through Tohoku’s devastation to the 400-year old shrine once believed to prevent such catastrophes.
Among this untold destruction, these poems also explore a side to the disaster rarely seen. As radiation scares and rolling black-outs buffeted the nation, a remarkable sense of solidarity emerged that propelled tens of thousands of ordinary people to volunteer in the heart of the hardest-hit areas.
Without a doubt, the March 11th earthquake was one of the worst moments in Japanese history. But, as the poems in march and after show, it was also a time that brought out the very best in many people.
Paperback / 40 pages / 1000yen
100% sales Peace Boat’s ongoing relief efforts in Tohoku
Click here to order or purchase the e-book on Amazon here
Read a review of the book in the Japan Times here.
Peace Boat Launches Fukushima Youth Project
July 22, 2011
Fukushima Youth Voyage:
“Widened Horizons: Opening the World’s Door for Fukushima’s Youth”
BACKGROUND AND NEEDS:
The young people of Minamisoma in Fukushima are facing a grim summer. They have already endured one of the world’s largest-ever earthquakes, a devastating tsunami and the terror of the nuclear accident at the Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, just 10-40 km away. Minamisoma Mayor Sakurai Katsunobu was recently named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world for his outspoken plea for help from the media and the international community in the wake of the March 11 disaster.
The southern half of Minamisoma was designated as an evacuation or control zone, and residents in other parts of the city also face severely heightened levels of radiation and are advised to remain indoors. This is an untenable situation for anybody, but especially cruel for children and for their worried parents. As the summer holidays approach, the parents of the city are desperate for a safe alternative to their children remaining isolated indoors or being exposed to high levels of radiation.
PROGRAMME:
There is an alternative. Peace Boat, a Japan-based NGO, in cooperation with the Minamisoma Parents and Teachers Association (PTA), has developed a program that would support the youth and parents of the town in their desire to keep their children safe over the summer holiday period. The Fukushima Youth Voyage is a two-week global voyage of discovery and empowerment — an opportunity for 49 Junior High School students from six different schools in Minamisoma to spend the summer in a healthy, dynamic and creative environment, where they can learn new skills, enjoy new experiences and gain a fresh perspective on the future, while enabling their parents to focus on rebuilding their community.
Travel dates: July 23 – August 4
Education and instruction: The program schedule includes onshore exchange meetings and public speaking engagements designed to put the students’ experiences in a global context. While at sea, there will be lessons and workshops, including an intensive English conversation training course, sports, music and the arts.
First port of call: Viet Nam, where students will participate in an exchange program with young victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin.
In Singapore, students will experience the unique and diverse mix of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Arab cultures.
Finally, they will stop in Sri Lanka to put their experiences in context, and participate in an exchange program with young people who survived the 2004 earthquake and tsunami. At each port, students will learn empowerment through public speaking, by hosting a photo exhibition about the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster, thanking the host country and international community for their support and raising awareness about the importance of ongoing global cooperation.
They will also be accompanied by survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima Mr Nakamura Hiroshi, who will share his experiences and information about the dangers of radiation with the students, other participants onboard, and people met in ports of call.
The world needs to understand the human truth of the disaster. Media coverage has focused on the nuclear crisis in Fukushima, while the voices of survivors go unheard. We have a duty to make sure that their stories of bravery in the face of unimaginable trauma are told. This trip will give these students an opportunity not only to bear witness to their own suffering but also to see how others have coped with tragedy and hardship and managed their own recovery.
ITINERARY:
July 23: Depart Minamisoma, stay overnight near Narita Airport
July 24: Depart Japan for Da Nang, Viet Nam (via airplane)
July 25: Exchange with Agent Orange/Dioxin victims in Da Nang; Embark Peace Boat
July 26 – 27: at sea
July 28: Visit Singapore, participate in intercultural exchange programme
July 29 – Aug 1: at sea
Aug 2: Visit Colombo, Sri Lanka; exchange with young survivors of 2004 tsunami
Aug 3: Depart for Japan (via airplane)
Aug 4: Arrive Narita Airport, return to Minamisoma
BENEFITS OF THIS PROGRAM TO MINAMISOMA
The Fukushima Youth Voyage offers an extraordinary opportunity for both individual and community recovery and growth, and supports the people of Minamisoma on many levels. Children will be evacuated, even briefly, to safety and will have a life-changing experience. Parents will have their burden of worry lifted. This program also brings a powerful message to the world. For young people who have lost everything they expected in their lives, this program opens the door to a wider world of possibilities.
ABOUT PEACE BOAT
Peace Boat is a Japan-based NGO providing dedicated disaster relief and long-term support for the recovery of several cities in Miyagi prefecture following the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 11. This is one of many projects Peace Boat has undertaken to help survivors rebuild their lives. Peace Boat has also long been committed to efforts for a nuclear-free world, carrying out education and advocacy activities, such as inviting atomic bomb survivors to join global voyages and share the reality of the damage caused by radiation and the need for a nuclear-free world.
MORE INFORMATION
Peace Boat’s relief activities: http://peaceboat.org/relief
More information about voyages and Peace Boat’s longstanding advocacy of social issues, humanitarian causes and nuclear abolition: http://peaceboat.org/english
Japanese information available here: http://www.peaceboat.org/info/news/2011/110713.shtml
A blog of the Fukushima youth’s voyage will be online here in Japanese: http://ameblo.jp/pbfukushimayouth
For more information contact pbglobal @ peaceboat.gr.jp or telephone +81-3-3363-8047.
Download this document as a PDF here: Peace Boat Fukushima Youth Project.
Gambarou Tohoku: International Volunteer launches fundraising project
July 21, 2011
Scott Western Asahina, originally from the UK, volunteered at Ishinomaki with Peace Boat twice – first between April 2-9, and then once again during Golden Week.
During his first time there, Scott’s team of international volunteers – including people from France, Mexico, Germany, the US and Ireland – visited Minato Primary School in Ishinomaki. Through the cooperation of the teachers, the team spent some time with the children teaching English, playing games and drawing pictures.
The situation of the children living in the affected areas, many of whom have no home to return to, have lost many family and friends, and have no safe place to play, is very serious. However, in their drawings, the children showed signs of hope and warmth.
Scott, moved by the meeting with the children and the energy and inspiration they provided, decided to continue to support the children of Minato Primary School through a fundraising project – selling tshirts made with the children’s drawings and the message of “Gambarou, Tohoku” (of the children themselves.
On Children’s Day – May 5 – Scott once again visited Minato Primary School, presenting each of the children with a tshirt featuring their own design. As well as delighting the children, parents and teachers were also moved by this gesture of support.
These tshirts are now available for purchase online, with all funds going to Peace Boat’s relief activities in Ishinomaki. To see a video about the project and Minato Primary School, as well as to buy a tshirt, visit Scott’s web site here: Gambarou Tohoku
July 24 event: Nigerian Community in Japan Supports Disaster Recovery Efforts through Peace Boat
Nigerian Community in Japan Supports Disaster Recovery Efforts through Peace Boat
－ July 24: Report on volunteer activities and presentation of 2 million JPY donation －
International NGO Peace Boat has been carrying out disaster relief and recovery activities, centred around Ishinomaki and Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture. To date, Peace Boat has dispatched over 4,000 volunteers to the affected areas (20,000 days of volunteer work), providing hot meals, clearing mud and distributing relief goods. Of these volunteers, 400 were non-Japanese, coming from more than 35 different countries. Peace Boat has also supported the work of many Embassies and Governments in distributing relief goods, carrying out its support beyond borders.
The Nigerian Community living in Japan has recently also become involved in disaster relief support. Around 15,000 Nigerians live in Japan, and through their activities to raise funds throughout the country over 2 million yen in donations was raised. Although members of this community are by no means all financially well off, in June they contacted Peace Boat with their wish to send their donations and also message of solidarity to Tohoku. This is the first time for the Nigerian community to come together in such a way for disaster relief, and the funds are designated to be sent via Peace Boat to support the purchase of necessary items for temporary housing in Onagawa, Miyagi.
Furthermore, within the Nigerian community there are also many people who have concerns or feelings of isolation as a result of not being able to access sufficient information about the damage caused by the tsunami or the relief efforts due to language barriers. Thus, on July 24 at the Peace Boat Disaster Relief Volunteer Centre in Tokyo’s Takadanobaba staff and volunteers involved in the relief efforts will gather and report about the activities, as well as present the donations, to 10 representatives of the Nigerian community.
As shown in this case, international support is crucial for the relief and recovery efforts following the March 11 disaster. Through this experience, a new form of international exchange and cooperation is being developed both in the affected areas and in Tokyo. This is an important opportunity for Japan to overcome the disaster and create a new, diverse and better society.
We invite all members of the press to attend this report session and learn more about the Nigerian Community’s activities and intercultural exchange in the post-disaster environment.
● Nigerian Community in Japan & Peace Boat: Joint Report on Volunteer Activities and Presentation of Donation
Date: July 24, 2011 (Sun); 11:00 – 12:00
Venue: Peace Boat Disaster Relief Volunteer Centre
B1-3-13-1 Takadanobaba, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
※ 6 min from Waseda Exit, Takadanobaba Station, JR Yamanote / Metro Tozai Lines
Speakers: Okeke Kevin Christian (Representative of Nigerian Community in Japan) and 10 others
Goda Shigehiro (Administration Officer, Peace Boat Disaster Relief Volunteer Centre)
Volunteers in Ishinomaki etc
Contents: Report of Peace Boat disaster relief and recovery activities in Ishinomaki, Onagawa etc
Live telephone report from disaster affected areas
Speech and presentation of donation by Nigerian Community in Japan
Intercultural exchange session
● Contact:
Goda Shigehiro, TEL：03-3363-7967 Mobile：090-6553-6395 FAX:03-3363-7562 E-mail：relief@peaceboat.gr.jp