So tomorrow morning at 6AM a group of 7 of us are going to Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture (not Sendai as I previously blogged) to do what we can to help out for about 5 days. Apparently we will be camping out with groups of others who are already up there volunteering. I have no idea what to expect, I don't know if any of us do. But we suspect that a lot of what we will be doing is helping out the people in the shelters, due to the fact that much of the debris cleanup is handled by more qualified organizations (eg Japanese Self Defense Forces, US Army etc.) But again, no one really knows for sure.
As this area was hit very hard by the tsunami, I am sure it is going to be a very emotional experience. I have seen pictures and videos of this area, and it is absolutely heart wrenching to see the destruction that was brought upon these communities. As far as we have heard there is NOTHING there that resembles a functioning town. We are indeed headed towards the heart of this destruction but we have been assured that the necessary precautions have been taken to ensure the safety of all the volunteer workers.
I will try to take some pictures and notes so I can do a little update when I return, however I have heard that the Japanese government is discouraging cameras in order to prevent "Disaster Tourism."
Anyways, 5 days of cup of noodles and dry cereal, here we come.....
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