UNITE FOR CHILDREN

Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Emergency Relief

Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Emergency Relief (93rd report)
Phase 3 of the Tegami Project!
Letters from Iceland are delivered to children at Kamaishi Preschool, Iwate Prefecture

[TOKYO, JAPAN, 29 July 2011]

Under the Tegami Project (“tegemi” is Japanese for “letter”) messages from children around the world are being delivered to children in the Tohoku region. For Phase 3 of the project, letters from children in Iceland were delivered to Kamaishi Preschool in Iwate Prefecture.

On this occasion, Iceland native Mr. Arnar Jensson, who assisted in the delivery of the letters from Iceland to Japan, was kind enough to volunteer to personally deliver the letters to the preschool. Kamaishi Preschool’s school building was damaged in the tsunami, and classes have now been restarted using the former Kamaishi-Minami Preschool building. When we arrived at the preschool the children were all playing energetically.

Mr. Jensson singing with the children.

Upon entering the classroom, the 24 upper-class children welcomed Mr. Jensson with a warm greeting. When Mr. Jensson asked the students whether they knew about Iceland, some of the children said, “Is it a country with lots of ice cream?” Soon after, however, the children immediately became immersed in Mr. Jensson’s stories as he told them about the distant country. They were very surprised to hear that while Iceland is far away from Japan, the two countries share many similarities; Iceland is also an island country, people eat a lot of fish and there are onsen hot springs. The children listened carefully to Mr. Jensson as he told stories and even did some magic tricks, and they were on the edge of their seats as he showed pictures of the landscapes and animals from his home country. The children even sang and danced to Icelandic version of “Head, shoulders, knees and toes”.

After everyone was finished learning about Iceland, it was time to give the children the letters. Everyone watched excitedly as two children opened the box of letters for the rest of the class. One by one the students began to pull out beautifully colored letters from the box. The children found letters painted in a rainbow of colors, letters with smiles drawn on them, and a message board with pictures and messages. After receiving the letters the older classmates read the message aloud as everyone listened with big smiles on their faces.

 
Children smiling as they read the letters that arrived from Iceland.   A message board that arrived from Iceland.

Next, all of the students gathered to write a reply to the children in Iceland. Some children drew Icelandic flags, some made origami animals and others wrote “takk” (“Thank you” in Icelandic). The children then took turns dropping their completed letters into the postbox. Moreover, the students folded helmets out of newspaper to give to the Icelandic children as presents.

The children then formed a chorus and sang the Japanese children’s song “Sekaiju no Kodomotachi ga” (Children Around the World). Next, the children took a group photo to include with their letters and folded helmets. The children smiled as they told us, “I was so happy to get the letters” and “I want to go to the hot springs in Iceland someday.” An invisible bridge had been formed between these children and their friends so far away in Iceland.

   
A boy writing “thank you” in Icelandic.   A boy proudly putting a picture he drew into the postbox.   The children wore their paper helmets in a group photo.

All photo credits: © Japan Committee for UNICEF/2011/K.Goto

Tegami Project Website »
Tegami project

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 Children’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 6-7 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
Miyagi Minicar 8 Apr. 3 cars
Miyagi Nutritional supplements From early April 4,000 bottles
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 Preschool-size chairs, tables and low tables 14 Apr. 75 chairs; 11 tables; 9 low tables Donated to preschools, primary schools, junior high schools and high schools in the disaster area as well as their new locations
Miyagi Mopeds 15 Apr. 5
Iwate Notebooks and stationery sets for primary and junior high school students 15. Apr. 16,700 sets
Miyagi 183 computers; 57 copiers and fax machines; 61 printers 18-21 Apr. Distributed to preschools, primary schools, junior high schools and high schools in the disaster area as well as their new locations
Fukushima Movable blackboards 21 Apr. 10
Fukushima Temporary toilets 22 Apr. 20
Iwate Geiger counters 28 Apr. 14 For schools in Soma City
Iwate Dressing room/ breastfeeding partition system 28 Apr. 21 sets
Saitama* Milk From late April Shelter in Futabamachi, Kazo City
Saitama* Yogurt From early May Danone Japan Shelter in Futabamachi, Kazo City
Iwate Color pencils (120 sets) and paint (240 sets) 13 May
Iwate Student lamps 14 May 15
Iwate Stationery sets 16 May 840 sets
Fukushima Lockers 16 May 22 sets For the Board of Education of Minamisoma City
Fukushima Computers 16 May 1 Ishikawa Town Board of Education
Miyagi 2 copiers; 2 computers; 2 printers May For Higashi-Matsushima Day-Care Center and Watari Day-Care Center
Iwate Water receiving tank, water purifier tank, water supply tank May construction May construction
Miyagi Solar-powered vaccine refrigerator 18 May
Fukushima Fans 30 May 112 Minamisoma City Board of Education
Fukushima Masks 30 May 100,000 Minamisoma City Board of Education
Iwate 1 copy machine 2 June
Saitama* Shoes 15 June 460 pairs Converse Footwear Co., Ltd.

-Number of UNICEF Children’s Mini Libraries distributed: Approximately 150,000 books to over 900 locations (as of 20 June 2011).
-Number of children that have participated in the UNICEF “Let’s Play! The Outdoors Playtime Project” in Fukushima Prefecture: Approximately 5,600 (as of 26 May)

*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 17 June 2011 (compiled by the Information and Public Affairs Division).