Two years after the devastating 9.0 Tohoku Earthquake and subsequent tsunami and nuclear disaster struck northern Japan, taking the lives of more than 16,000 people and leaving an estimated 3,000 missing, Direct Relief continues to support long-term recovery efforts to restore health and hope to the people affected. Immediately following the disaster, Direct Relief and the Japanese American Citizens League
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Santa Barbara, CA (March 9, 2012): Direct Relief and the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) today released an online, interactive map detailing the expenditure of $3.9 million on more than 250 projects that have been supported with the Japan Relief and Recovery Fund established by the organizations immediately following the devastating earthquake and tsunami 12 months ago with a commitment
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Submitted by Natsuho Shoji, Program Coordinator for AAR JAPAN “Before the Great East Japan Earthquake, 22 employees, including 6 persons with mental disorder and 5 persons with intellectual disabilities, had been working at “Nakata Sun Farm,” growing various kinds of herbs, making marketable products from the herbs, and selling them. The persons with disabilities (PWDs) were able to foster a
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by “Mr. H,” disaster victim and IVY employee (edited for understanding) “Before the earthquake, I worked for a fisheries processing company delivering styrofoam packages and cardboard cases. On March 11, it was good weather, and I was busy working as usual. At about 2:45 in the afternoon, I felt the earth shake strongly. I told with my boss, “It will
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Direct Relief and the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) awarded this week $82,000 to the Shanti Volunteer Association (SVA) to support the remodeling of a mobile library vehicle. The current mobile library, which serves 150 households in Iwate Prefecture on the tsunami-affected coast, is a small truck with bookshelves. To continue operating and expand services to additional temporary housing establishments,
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By Carl Williams, Direct Relief Japan Recovery Coordinator While on a return trip through the broken and washed away city of Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture to meet with two nongovernmental organizations Direct Relief supports, I saw a familiar house on the other side of a huge ship grounded among immense piles of debris. It was a two-story house, which I remembered
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