Lost in a Gaijin's Translation: Life-Changing Experience

I just want to start off this blog post by expressing how much admiration I have for all of those effected by the earthquake and tsunami. The past week that I spent with them has been an eye opening and humbling experience. Ganbare (Fight on!) people of Northeastern Japan.

We took an 8 hour bus ride from Tokyo to Sendai then finally to Ishinomaki. Our HQ was at an elementary school transformed into a "Refugee" center/Volunteer headquarters. This place was truly a site to see. There were many sections around the school that looked like a junkyard with cars, bikes, boats etc. strewn about. It would be impossible to describe all of the destruction so I will post some pictures. (Also, I will post more pictures on my Facebook page. I will make the album "public" so you all can see it.)

As I said earlier last week, we had no idea what kind of work we were going to be doing. As it turns out, they put us out in the field armed with shovels and wheelbarrows helping the local residents clean up their homes a bit. Our groups (anywhere from 8-15 people) would work 2 shifts a day from 8:30am-5:30pm with a lunch break. We were working our butts off all day, and the crazy thing was that at the end of the day it hardly looked like we did anything. Sure, we would clear tons of mud out of people's bedrooms, living rooms, and kitchens, but we would move them out onto the streets where it looked like a wasteland. The rebuilding process is going to take years, even with all of the help they are getting. However, it was such a rewarding feeling to be able to help these people out. The gratitude on their faces and in their words was remarkable. There were times where we would be shoveling through the mud in their homes and we would find pictures and various possessions. We would bring it to them and ask them if it was trash or if they wanted to keep it, and there were times where they would be so thrilled that we were able to retrieve these items. These were memories that they had thought were lost forever, yet we were able to bring them back to them.

The elementary school that housed us was unlike anything I had ever seen. Classrooms had been converted into bedrooms housing anywhere from 20-25 people, the gym was converted into a cafeteria for the residents, and a portion of the baseball field had an Ofuro (public bath) built where everyone could get cleaned up. Overall there were probably around 500 people living at this school. I was so impressed with the cleanliness of the school, as many of the residents/volunteers took it upon themselves to make sure it was a suitable place to live.

Back at the elementary school that housed us, many of us were able to develop some really great relationships with the displaced people living there. In fact, some of the children came to hang out with us every day. We would come back from our shifts and they would be in our rooms waiting for us with baseball gloves and soccer balls ready to play ball! One of my friends, an avid yo yo enthusiast, brought 30 yo yo's up as gifts, and was giving some of the kids lessons. I brought my friend's guitar up and we would have jam sessions with the kids, and sometimes with the Oji-san's (Uncles, or middle aged guys). The residents stories of their experiences with the tsunami/earthquake were so sad, it was impossible to imagine what they went through. In future blog posts, I will go into further detail of some of the residents stories.

Overall, the trip was one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life, and I feel like I have changed for the better because of it. I think we all have. The positivity at this place was something to behold, especially given the circumstances of their living situation. I will continue to post stories of my experiences, but I doubt I will be able to document everything. If any of you have specific questions, leave it in the comments box and I will try to answer them!