UNITE FOR CHILDREN

Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Emergency Relief

Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Emergency Relief (37th report)
JCU Representative Director/Vice-Chairman visits the disaster area

[TOKYO, Japan, 19 April 2011]

On 18 April, Representative Director and Vice-Chairman for the Japanese Committee for UNICEF (JCU) Yoshihisa Togo visited Kama Primary School in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, where JCU has been conducting assistance activities. There, Mr. Togo heard directly from the disaster victims.

Child Friendly Spaces

At Kama Primary School there are still approximately 200 people, including children, staying in the shelter. Since the earthquake JCU has been operating Child Friendly Spaces at 10 different shelters in Miyagi Prefecture, including Kama Primary School.

  
© Japan Committee for UNICEF    © Japan Committee for UNICEF
A poster advertising Child Friendly Spaces.    JCU Representative Director/Vice-Chairman Yoshihisa Togo standing in front of a damaged primary school.
© Japan Committee for UNICEF
A damaged school in Yuriage, Natori City.

On the day of Mr. Togo’s visit, a Child Friendly Space was opened in the schoolyard and children staying at Kama Primary School gathered around to play. The space was filled with student volunteers wearing blue UNICEF t-shirts who played with children using flags from the UNICEF recreation kits, built blocks and ran around the schoolyard.

Nevertheless, the schoolyard is still covered with cars and rubble that were flushed into the area as a result of the disaster, so the children are not able to play as freely as they normally would. For children, playing is the most important part of life. Due to these circumstances, since the earthquake JCU has been working hard to establish a Child Friendly Space in Kama Primary School’s gymnasium and provide a place where children can play freely and comfortably in order to relive the stress caused by the earthquake and extend psychological assistance to the children.

Discussing with disaster victims

© Japan Committee for UNICEF
(From left) Principal Tsuda, JCU Representative Director/Vice-Chairman Togo and Dr. Kunii.

Kama Primary School is scheduled to reopen on 21 April, but there are still people staying in the gymnasium that will be forced to continue doing so because their homes have been flooded, destroyed or are unusable for other reasons. There were even some disaster victims that spoke with Mr. Togo that told him about how they had lost their entire families.

Mitsugu Akiyama’s home was located in Tsukiyama, Ishinomaki City, and was completely destroyed by the earthquake disaster. It took two entire weeks for Mr. Akiyama, who is a staff member on a tanker ship, to reconnect and confirm the safety of his wife Mika and two sons, Shoya (12) and Koki (10). “I like funny comics,” says Shoya, who will start his first year in junior high school from this spring. He says he hopes to see his friends soon, showing how excited he is for his school to reopen.

Working towards the reopening of the school on 21 April, Hiroshi Tsuda, the school principal, says that, “The school and shelter will work together as they operate in concert on the same school grounds.” Electricity has yet to be restored at Kama Primary School, so the dual operations will require innovative responses to such issues, such as switching electricity use back and forth between the shelter and school.

Mr. Togo says that he will never forget Mr. Akiyama’s enthusiastic handshake. “As long as you are alive, you can build a tomorrow for yourself. I plan to help in creating a future for children like Shoya and Koki,” he says.

JCU will continue working together with the boards of education, municipal governments and other partner organizations to promote assistance activities in all cities in Miyagi Prefecture so that children can return to school as soon as possible.

Current arrival status of relief supplies

Receiving
Prefecture
Type of Emergency
Supplies
Arrival
Date
Quantity Donating
Company
Comments
Miyagi Water 19 Mar. 12,288
bottles
VanaH Co., Ltd. Two-liter plastic bottles
Fukushima Water 22 Mar. 12,672
bottles
VanaH Co., Ltd. Two-liter plastic bottles
Miyagi Underwear for boys and girls 22 Mar. 200,000    
Iwate Underwear for boys and girls 23 Mar. 30,000    
Fukushima Water 23 Mar. 4,680
bottles
KIRIN MC DANONE WATERS Co., Ltd. Two-liter plastic bottles
Miyagi Children’s shoes 23 Mar. 10,000
pairs
   
Miyagi RChildren’s diapers 24 Mar. 80 packs P&G Japan  
Iwate Children’s underwear 24 Mar. 9,700    
Fukushima Water 24 Mar. 12,288
bottles
VanaH Co., Ltd. Two-liter plastic bottles
Iwate Shoes 26 Mar 1,404 pairs Achilles Corporation  
Iwate Underwear for boys and girls 27 Mar. 28,266  
Iwate Boots 27 Mar. 7,462 pairs  
Iwate Wipes 28 Mar. 1,200 P&G Japan For babies
Miyagi Recreation kits
Early Childhood Development kits
2 Apr. 50 of each Procured from the UNICEF Supply Division
Iwate Recreation kits
Early Childhood Development kits
2 Apr. 50 of each Procured from the UNICEF Supply Division
Miyagi Book bags 6 Apr. 70 Nihon New Bag Chain
Iwate Book bags 6 Apr. 340 Seiban
Miyagi Schoolbags 8 Apr. 18,000 Procured from the UNICEF Supply Division
Iwate Schoolbags 8 Apr. 18,000 Procured from the UNICEF Supply Division
Miyagi Personal security buzzers (for crime prevention purposes) 8 Apr. 5,000
Iwate Personal security buzzers (for crime prevention purposes) 8 Apr. 5,000
Fukushima Water 11 Apr. 1,536 bottles VanaH Co., Ltd. Two-liter plastic bottles
Miyagi Replenishments for recreation kits 12 Apr. 60 sets
Miyagi Miniature toy cars 12 Apr. Approx. 1,200 TAKARA TOMY
Sagamihara* Water 12 Apr. 12,288 bottles VanaH Co., Ltd. Two-liter plastic bottles
Miyagi Play mats 13 Apr. Two types; 80 of each type IKEA
Miyagi Drawing sets 13 Apr. 60 sets IKEA
Iwate Chairs (for 3-5 year olds) 14 Apr. 75
Iwate Tables (for 6 people) 14 Apr. 11
Iwate Low tables 14 Apr. 9

*Areas receiving disaster victims.

*In certain cases some supplies may be taken from prefectural supply storage warehouses and distributed to shelters and disaster sites in other prefectures.
As of 9:00 a.m. on 15 April 2011 (compiled by the Information and Public Affairs Division).