Monthly Archives: June 2016

Quotes from Papers

Round 2 of thyroid examinations of Fukushima children determined 30 children had cancer — 14 more from Round 1

Original Japanese written by  staffer
The English below written and arranged by Heeday, based on the original Japanese
The English edited by Rev. Dr. Henry French, ELCA

Below: Article from the June 7th, 2016 edition of the Fukushima Minpo newspaper2016年6月7日民報

The Round 2 results
Following the meltdown of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), thyroid examinations of children of Fukushima have been conducted. The second round of the examinations (full checkups) began in April 2014, and by the end of March 2016, it had been determined that 30 of the children examined had thyroid cancer. This number has grown larger—by 14—than the 16 children found to have cancer in the first round, whose results were officially announced at the end of December 2015.

The chairperson of the “Kenmin Chosa Kento” Committee (Committee to Survey Fukushima Citizens and Consider Rebuilding Measures) repeated the Committee’s official statement that, “At this moment it is hard to discern influences from the radioactivity,” on the ground that, among other reasons, not many cases of thyroid cancer have been found in younger children, who are more sensitive to radioactivity than older children.

Can we trust the “experts”?
Here, we need to look closer at the examination results, as shown in Table 1 below. There, you can easily see that the “rate of malignant and suspected malignant cases” is higher in districts with higher radioactivity, such as those municipalities around Fukushima Daiichi currently specified as evacuation zones, as well as in the cities of Fukushima, Koriyama, etc. It is reasonable to suspect some cause-effect relationship between the meltdown and the thyroid cancer cases. Still, some experts deny such a cause-effect relationship.

(Table 1)
Results of the thyroid examinations, Round 2
(As of March 31st, 2016)

FY2014 No. of subjects, Round 1 No. of subjects to be covered by Round 2 % of Round 2 subjects No. of subjects who received Round 2 Malignant and suspected malignant cases % of malignant and suspected malignant cases
Kawamatamachi
Namiemachi
Idatemura
Minamisoumashi
Dateshi
Tamurashi
HIronomachi
Narahamachi
Tomiokamachi
Kawauchimura
Okumamachi
Futabamachi
Kuzuomura
Fukusimashi
Nihonmatsushi
Motomiyashi
Otamamura
Koriyamashi
Korimachi
Kunimimachi
Teneimura
Shirakawashi
Nishigoumura
Izumizakimura
Miharumachi		 1,763
2,500
759
8,882
9,100
5,005
679
999
1,994
213
1,752
684
150
42,653
7,872
4,804
1,262
47,773
1,632
1,237
790
9,652
3,172
996
2,375		 23
27
14
81
84
51
9
5
24
2
14
2
2
344
58
31
5
351
14
9
11
63
27
3
23		 1.3
1.1
1.8
0.9
0.9
1.0
1.3
0.5
1.2
0.9
0.8
0.3
1.3
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.4
0.7
0.9
0.7
1.4
0.7
0.9
0.3
1.0		 19
22
11
68
76
42
7
4
20
1
12
1
2
286
50
26
5
269
10
8
6
46
19
2
13		 0
2
0
4
7
2
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
8
1
3
0
17
1
0
0
1
0
0
0		 0.00
0.08
0.00
0.05
0.08
0.04
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.11
0.00
0.00
0.02
0.01
0.06
0.00
0.04
0.06
0.00
0.00
0.01
0.00
0.00
0.00
 Subtotal  158,698 1,277 0.8 1,025 48 0.03
FY2015 No. of subjects, Round 1 No. of subjects to be covered by Round 2 % of Round 2 subjects No. of subjects who received Round 2 Malignant and suspected malignant cases % of malignant and suspected malignant cases
Iwakishi
Sukagawashi
Soumashi
Kagamiishimachi
Shinchimachi
Nakajimamura
Yabukimachi
Isikawamachi
Yamatsurimachi
Asawakamachi
Hiratamura
Tanaguramachi
Hanawamachi
Samegawamura
Onomachi
Tamakawamura
Furudonomachi
Hinoematamura
Minamiaizumachi
Keneyamamachi
Showamura
Mishimamachi
Shimogoumachi
Kitakatashi
Nishiaizumachi
Tadamimachi
Inawashiromachi
Bandaimachi
Kitasiobaramura
Aizumisatomachi
Aizubangemachi
Yanaizumachi
Aizuwakamatsushi
Yugawamura		  44,143
11,382
4,697
1,971
1,028
751
2,386
2,009
732
1,016
848
2,136
1,161
485
1,250
961
784
66
1,757
120
93
120
611
5,558
643
456
1,710
398
376
2,484
2,026
385
14,025
503		 322
99
30
15
13
5
15
13
4
8
6
16
8
6
10
9
3
0
16
0
0
1
4
37
4
6
12
3
2
13
10
0
91
3		 0.7
0.9
0.6
0.8
1.3
0.7
0.6
0.6
0.5
0.8
0.7
0.7
0.7
1.2
0.8
0.9
0.4
0.0
0.9
0.0
0.0
0.8
0.7
0.7
0.6
1.3
0.7
0.8
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.0
0.6
0.6		 105
72
24
13
10
2
10
8
3
6
4
6
7
2
4
4
2
0
11
0
0
1
2
2
2
3
8
2
2
0
2
0
3
0		 4
1
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0		 0.01
0.01
0.02
0.05
0.00
0.13
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.01
0.00
 Subtotal  109,071 784 0.7 320 9 0.01

The Japanese author’s concerns
Here in Fukushima, some 130 children, diagnosed to have thyroid cancer, have already undergone surgery. Metastasis to a lymph node has been detected in more than 70% of these children. Some 70% of those children whose cancer has metastasized have a tumor 1cm (0.4”) or larger in size. In some children, the cancer has metastasized to a lung. These facts show that these children are suffering from fast-developing cancer. No one can claim that these children had surgery too soon.

Some experts fear that some children can be over-diagnosed, and that some of them might undergo unnecessary surgery after such an over-diagnosis. If such a case occurs, then good compensation and long-term care should be provided to the affected child and his/her family.

Also, we have to keep in mind that all those children who go through cancer checkups, as well as their parents, live every day with worry and stress.

We have to keep searching for the truth. Otherwise, many children might be forced to live at the mercy of some adults who turn their eyes away from these grave issues. Some adults are even trying to cover up these issues.

 

※Note on the thyroid examinations in Fukushima
The pilot examinations, Round 1, covered those Fukushima children who were 18 years in age or younger, some 370,000 in number, when the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown began. Round 2, the full examinations, covered some 380,000 children in all, including those born within a year of when the meltdown began. Round 1 inspected a “lumps” within the thyroid with an ultrasonic device, to discover their shape, size, etc., and ranked each lump as “A1,” “A2,” “B,” or “C,” in the order of seriousness. (“A1” is the easiest to treat.) If a child is found to have a lump of a certain size or larger that falls under either “B” or “C,” then Round 2 examinations look in more detail into his/her blood, cells, etc.

Voices

Features of Support Center Shinchi

More than five years have passed since the earthquake and tsunami devastated much of eastern Japan in March 2011. Looking back on the past half-decade, we are listening to some stories and recollections from those we have been “walking together with,” one by one, since the devastation.

Below is a story from our fifth speaker in this series, Ms. Keiko Kitagawa, a voluntary staffer at “Support Center Shinchi-Gangoya,” serving those affected by the March 2011 disaster. The center is located within a temporary housing complex in Shinchi, Soma County, Fukushima.

Soon after the 2011 disaster, Ms. Kitagawa visited Minamisoma City to help as part of a team of medics. Today, the support center holds a Wednesday café, which features, among other things, “Comfy Time for Kids and Parents.” In this comfy time, Ms. Kitagawa (known as “Dr. Keiko”), a medical doctor in the fields of psychiatry and pediatrics, and another pediatrician, Dr. Kazuko Meijo (“Dr. Kako-chan”) take turns discussing and consulting on many issues.

 

“Features of Support Center Shinchi”

Dr. Keiko Kitagawa,
Volunteer at Support Center Shinchi-Gangoya

(The English below written and arranged by Heeday, based on the original Japanese The English edited by Rev. Dr. Henry French, ELCA)

In April, soon after the March 2011 disaster, I began to visit Kamaishi, Iwate, every month as a psychiatrist to help those affected. Then, in August of the same year, I began to visit the City of Fukushima for the same purpose.

I have been listening to those affected by the disaster and providing medical consultations to them at clinics, at the dorms of evacuee children, at consultation meetings for parents, at local schools, and at temporary housing facilities. The evacuees find my service through religious organizations, both Christian and Buddhist, other non-profits, and local medical organizations.

I began my service at Support Center Shinchi (in “Shinchi Base”), a center to help those affected by the 2011 disaster located in Shinchi, Soma County, Fukushima, in 2012. It used to stand beside National Route No. 6, but now it is within Shinchi Base, in the Gangoya Temporary Housing Complex. There, I spend time together with those locals who were affected by the disaster. I listen to those who want to talk to me at tea parties held at Shinchi Base and the housing complex, and I visit households in the complex. I visit neighborhood elementary schools, upon their request, to advise them on helping children there. I have also met with many other volunteers who give the residents massages, haircuts, home visits, etc.

I have been working with many support organizations and their staffers, as well as with temporary housing residents and other locals. Support Center Shinchi-Gangoya has some unique features.

First, Mr. Hiroshi Matsumoto, a staffer at the support center, came to Shinchi soon after the 2011 tragedies to help locals and, ever since Shinchi Base was developed, he has been living as one of the locals. With him, I see no “unilateral help” from helpers to locals, or a sort of “hierarchy” that, though unintended, can emerge before we know it.

In 2015, Mr. Matsumoto took me to a place called Yamakoshi, which once was a municipality in Niigata, Japan. Now, it is part of Nagaoka, Niigata. This is where another major earthquake hit back in October 2004, Following that disaster, Mr. Matsumoto resided in Yamakoshi for several years to help those affected. I saw that the way he helped those affected by the disaster in Shinchi, Fukushima, was a development of what he had learned in Yamakoshi.

Another staffer who regularly comes to serve at Shinchi Base, Ms. Eiko Takagi, is also “one of the locals” now. She is a very good friend of Ms. Kazuko Kato and Ms. Tomoko Miyake, mentioned below.

Ms. Kato and Ms. Miyake lost their beloved families, neighbors, and homes to the tsunami of March 2011. After residing in temporary houses for some time, now they are in their new homes. Ms. Kato hosts tea parties (for the victims), while Ms. Miyake visits the residents of temporary houses. Thus, once victims themselves, they are now helping others affected by the disaster. Once in a while the two women share their bitter experiences as “affected.” I have never seen anything like this in any other support organizations.

Today, Support Center Shinchi-Gangoya holds tea parties for those affected. The current participants are mostly elderly people who have been taking part in the parties since the center launched them. Some lost their houses to the tsunami of 2011, while others are unable to return to their homes due to the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown. They have escaped to Shinchi, where some of them live in temporary housing while some others live in new houses recently built here in Shinchi. Many of them used to live in old houses where three to four generations spent their lifetimes. When the 2011 disaster destroyed their old houses, the families were torn apart; they lost mutual confidence within the family, while losing many other things. They now live within different networks of people. After describing stories like this, they look down and seem to be lost in reflection.

True, five years have passed since the 2011 disaster. Still, no matter how many times we volunteers have spoken to them, those affected still suffer from deep agonies for which we have found no solution. We have yet to see their mental wounds healed. I think all we helpers can do is to share their grief.

The other day, I left Fukushima for a brief period of time and visited the coasts of Miyagi and Iwate, two prefectures in Tohoku, Japan. Over the last several years I have chiefly been involved in the situation in Fukushima where current residents in temporary housing are unable to return to their hometowns thanks to the nuclear power plant meltdown. I am surprised to see so many victims from the tsunami five years ago still living with the inconveniences of temporary houses. One reason is that the work to raise the ground level (to prevent another tsunami disaster) takes a long time and is still in progress. Also, the preparatory work for the coming Tokyo Olympics employs countless construction workers, leaving just a few for the rebuilding work in Tohoku. Also, the demand for construction materials for the Olympics has inflated prices. Therefore, it is very difficult for many tsunami and other victims to build new homes. Thus, the rebuilding is lagging behind schedule.

Yet another serious issue is that, in Fukushima, once an official ban is lifted from a no-go zone, no matter how high the actual level of radiation is, evacuees from the zone are asked to return and the compensation they have been receiving from public funds is cut off. This forces many evacuees to return to what had been no-go zones.

I think Shinchi Base is determined to accompany each one affected by the disaster, sharing their pain and carrying the burdens together. The base is not interested in spreading shallow, easy help. This way, the base, I believe, points out contradictions in our reality with its own actions, but without screaming aloud.

The base’s actions remind me of a Jewish saying: “whoever saves one life, it is as if he /she has saved the whole world.”

Voices

Driving Tours to Stay Aware of Fukushima

More than five years have passed since the earthquake and tsunami devastated much of eastern Japan in March 2011. Looking back on the past half-decade, we are listening to some stories and recollections from those we have been “walking together with,” one by one, since the devastation.
Following is a story from our fourth speaker in this series, Mr. Masayuki Ogawa, who has been leading “Driving Tours to Stay Aware of Fukushima”—pilgrimages to the areas devastated by the 2011 disaster. The automobile pilgrimages have taken participants to hard-hit areas like Tomioka, Okuma, Futaba, and Namie and they learned how things are now, following the disaster. In addition, they have joined in tea parties at Gangoya Temporary Housing, located at Shinchi, Minamisoma, Fukushima, to have fellowship with the housing’s residents. While in society at large the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown, which is still in progress, is becoming “an incident to remember” in the minds of many, Mr. Ogawa’s automobile pilgrimages and kind visits to the hard-hit areas provide people there with great comfort and joy. Also, those pilgrimages help society in general to be aware of a tragedy still in progress.

 

 “Driving Tours to Stay Aware of Fukushima”

Masayuki Ogawa,
Tsukishima Anglican Church, Tokyo Diocese

Ever since the March 2011 disaster, I have been organizing a pilgrimage titled “Driving Tours to Stay Aware of Fukushima” twice each month. It is a two-day driving tour over some 800km (500 miles) in a van. Each participant is asked to pay JPY20,000.

We visit the support centers in Koriyama, Shinchi, and Onahama, and listen to their staffers. Also, we join in tea parties at temporary housing facilities to have fellowship with the residents. We also visit hard-hit areas to see how terrible the devastation was and how much rebuilding is in progress, hoping to learn what the earthquake and the (Fukushima Daiichi) meltdown truly were/are. In Soma and Futaba, two districts neighboring Fukushima Daiichi, we take measurements of radiation as well.

So far, some people from the Tokyo, Yokohama, and Chubu Dioceses of the Anglican-Episcopal Church in Japan have joined me on the pilgrimages. I found exchanges of information with them in the van, across churches and Dioceses, quite meaningful.

Some say, “What sense is there for those affected in you visiting the hard-hit places? Nothing more than complacency.” Still, our pilgrimages have been going on. Maybe, the criticism of complacency describes part of the truth. Still, my “complacency” thinks of others as well, not just myself.

Now, when someone in Fukushima who I’m visiting says to me, “Please come again. Show us your warm smile again,” I find a 500-mile drive to be no problem at all. As long as my health stands, and God’s blessings abide with us, I will continue as the voluntary driver of the “Driving Tours to Stay Aware of Fukushima.”

etc

Here in a Comfy Café

More than five years have passed since the earthquake and tsunami devastated much of eastern Japan in March 2011. Looking back on the past half-decade, we are listening to some of the stories and recollections of those we have been “walking together with,” one by one, since the devastation.
Below is a story from our third speaker in this series, Ms. Chikako Nishihara, a resident of the Izumi-Tamatsuyu Emergency Temporary Housing Complex. St. Timothy’s Support Center, located in Onahama, Iwaki, Fukushima, has been providing help to this complex, and Ms. Nishihara has been working with the support center as a volunteer.

“Here in a Comfy Café”

Chikako Nishihara,
Resident of the Izumi-TamatsuyuEmergency Temporary Housing Complex Member of a group of volunteers
named “Hokkori (comfy)”

“Comfy cafes”
Five years and two months have passed since the tragedies of March 2011. Following the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 11th and the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown, we, the citizens of the little town of Tomioka, without any significant information as to what was going on, were forced to evacuate on the following day, without any known destination. Some of us had to travel between different shelters, living separately from our families, and enduring days and days of bitterness and anxiety.

Then, in September 2011, some of us began to settle down here, at the temporary housing of Izumi-Tamatsuyu. By then, we were exhausted physically and worn out mentally. We had endured months of life in shelters, where anxieties and inconveniences were the keynote day in and day out. Once we were resident in this temporary housing complex, St. Timothy’s Volunteer Center, Onahama, of the Anglican-Episcopal Church in Japan, launched a comfy café for us, a regular event of comfort and consolation. Carrying cups of fragrant coffee, the church’s volunteers spoke to us with gentle words of comfort, such as: “You’ve gotten over so many rainy days. Now, please rest.” They certainly relieved me of the emotional tensions I had untill then, and I almost shed tears.

The comfy café became a good place where neighbors and ex-residents of Tomioka came together. Since the little town consisted of different districts, some people met each other for the first time here. “Nice to meet you” was often followed by a conversation like: “Where were ya livin’ before the disaster? Oh, there? Mah former neighborhood! Great to see you!” Tomioka had its own dialect, and hearing it made me nostalgic.

Thus, the café became so cheerful and noisy that we often had a hard time understanding each other. Among all those cheerful voices, the church’s volunteers went around serving coffee and sweets. While being very thankful to all those volunteers, I knew, since it was something good for us, that some of us should also be helping. When you know you should help, just get into the action! So I asked the volunteer center if could help, and joined the café volunteers.

I am very thankful that they welcomed my offer to volunteer. Since then, helping two comfy cafes every week has been part of my life. I also asked for more of my neighbors to volunteer. Now, we have two groups of volunteers to keep the cafes running.

 

“A comfy day”
9:30 in the morning. Someone says, “May we come in?” Two come in hand-in-hand. “Here, you take off your shoes. Hold on to my arm.” The two are both aged, yet take good care of each other, bringing a smile to our faces and kicking off the comfy café of the day. By now, they are excellent coffee connoisseurs. “You serve good coffee here. Tastes great!” Also, many churches all over the nation send us sweets which bring lovely smiles to their faces. Often, they do not eat these sweets at the comfy café—they take them home when sweets are hard to find here in Fukushima. Also, when a neighbor does not show up at the café, those who do worry about them and later pay them a visit. They are nice people. Sometimes they teach us lessons as well, out of their experiences—how to make pickles, how to prepare good boiled foods, etc. Talking with people at a comfy cafe gives them some peace of mind and happiness, they say. Many who attend the cafes are now helping each other like a big family, though they used to be strangers in Tomioka.

Also, at the comfies, some people will describe their experiences from the 2011 disaster to a visiting volunteer, who listens to them with a warm heart of acceptance. Today, the comfy cafes are an event they cannot do without. We, the volunteers, are ever striving to make those cafes even more comfortable, happier occasions for the guests, and we find great joy in that.

“Tomioka Town song”
“♪ Cherries in blossom, azaleas too, now the Forest of Night (*) is in full blossom — -“ Sogoes a song sung at the café amid the fragrance of coffee. Each one present hums along.This is the “Tomioka Town song,” led by its Social Welfare Council. The lyrics describe scenes from the town—the hometown that they can never return to due to the radioactive contamination.
** “The Forest of Night” is a forest belt between the towns of Tomioka and Okuma, both in Fukushima. Since the zone consists of no-return areas and restricted habitation areas, both of which accommodate high radioactivity, some roads into the forest are still barricaded. It used to be a renowned place of azaleas, cherries, etc., cherished by most citizens of Tomioka and thus stood for the town.

Earlier, many of the ex-Tomioka residents at the café wept, hearing this song, and were unable to sing it. Some even left the café, unable to stand just hearing it. Back in Tomioka, they broadcast this song every day at noon. Now, its citizens will never be able to return to that cherished town of theirs. Thus, the song can make them despair. Still, they sing it together, to keep their hometown alive in their memories. Recently, they have become able to sing it without weeping. Still, they can sing only verse 1. Some say, “I can sing it only here, at this café.” Maybe all of us share that feeling.

“Moms are great!”
Our comfy cafes are also where mothers make friends. In addition to the café volunteers, many other mothers voluntarily come to help the café, from site preparation to cooking to dish washing, as well as other activities such as rice cake making parties, outdoor lunch parties, cherry blossom parties, etc. Some events are organized by a neighborhood community, some by the café, yet that does not matter to those moms. No one tells them what to do; each mother does what she enjoys doing while respecting the others. Mothers are great! Also great are their husbands, who help them in all these events.

We met each other for the first time here at the cafe. During the several years that followed, we have become close friends. Once the cafes became so heavily crowded and noisy, we had a hard time having a conversation. Today, after many former neighbors have moved into permanent houses for refugees, some 20 people enjoy themselves at each café.

Some residents of temporary housing have built their own houses, and some others have moved into public-run houses. These are good things, and yet we miss those ex-residents and they miss the cafes. So, some of them come all the way to our cafes from their new houses for conversation, coffee and sweets. Our cafes have provided coffee and words of welcome and warmth, and now happy memories. The comfy cafes have been so precious to so many, and we are all thankful to St. Timothy’s Volunteer Center for all the happy memories.

A new song – “Cherry petals are dancing in our town”
“Cherry petals are dancing in our town” is a new song, written to cheer up those hoping for the town’s rebuilding. It is sung by many citizens of Tomioka today.

Each flower knows when to blossom, and it gracefully follows the right timing. Today, no one is in the town to watch the cherry trees blossom. Still, they clad themselves in lovely blossoms as if they were saying, “Don’t worry, we are waiting for you to come back here.” If—if ever—comes a day when we can return to Tomioka, why not hold a comfy café under full-blossoming cherry trees in the town??

Voices

Volunteering in Year 5 since the 2011 Disaster

More than five years have passed since the earthquake and tsunami devastated much of eastern Japan in March 2011. Looking back on the past half-decade, we are listening to some stories and recollections from those we have been “walking together with,” one by one, since the devastation.
The following is a story from our second speaker in this series, Ms. Yoshiko Nakahara, who has been working as a volunteer at St. Timothy’s Support Center Onahama. Located in Onahama, Iwaki, Fukushima. The support center has been providing help to evacuees from the areas adjacent to Fukushima Daiichi who are still living in temporary housing.

“Volunteering in Year 5 since the 2011 Disaster”

Yoshiko Elisabeth Nakahara,
St. Timothy’s Church, Onahama

Soon after the 2011 earthquake, I was totally desperate and did not know what to do. Then, God opened up a new way of living for me—serving those affected by the earthquake as a volunteer. This was the first time I ever worked as a volunteer and at first I did not know how to serve people. Even after joining in the group of volunteers, I was still at a loss as to what to do and how to serve. Then, many clergy and laypeople of the three Anglican Dioceses of Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe) in the group kindly comforted me, though this was the first time I had ever talked to people from the three Dioceses in person. I was so nervous when I began to work as a volunteer.

I watched volunteers from the three Dioceses and, over time, learned how to serve. At “comfy cafés” in temporary housing, I delivered a cup of coffee to each person present, speaking to him or her sincerely, and introducing myself. Gradually, more residents of the temporary housing spoke with me. And each one of them gradually spoke to me in a confident voice. I was overjoyed, and often chatted with some residents of the housing so cheerfully that I was often mistaken for a resident. A certain lady always took my hand and said “Thank you, thank you,” yet I am the one filled with gratitude for what she said. She made me so very happy that I volunteered.

Then, some residents of the temporary housing formed their own group of volunteers— evidence that they were determined to take care of their own affairs and help others as well. As you know, they have experienced tremendous tragedies and have had a very difficult life since then. Still, they are willing to help others—a great attitude that moves me deeply.

Needless to say, over my five years of service as a volunteer, I have experienced grief.  When a friend and co-volunteer of mine passed away I was heartbroken. Whenever I was at a loss, she spoke warmly to me. I do believe that she is still with us, like a guardian angel.

At the temporary housing of Izumi-Tamatsuyu, “comfy café” meets twice every week, on Mondays and Fridays. A similar café at Hiruno, Watanabe Town, also meets twice weekly, on Thursdays and Saturdays. In all, I have the joy of serving people at four cafes every week. Today, I think I am the one encouraged by the temporary housing residents. I owe what I am today to my experiences as a volunteer. Without it, I might still be lost in feelings of hopelessness.

I have made many friends at the temporary housing where I serve. Who knows, they and I might need each other again someday, somewhere. They have survived unbearable griefs and tragedies. Together, we will spread the message of how valuable life is. As you live on, happiness can come to you. One day, a certain woman wept and wept with tears of thanks, saying, “Oh my, I am so happy and relieved to have you at this comfy, Ms. Nakahara.” Actually, I have had some unbearable experiences serving at the comfy cafes, but then her word of gratitude come back to me to remind me how thankful she was to me. Then, I thank God that I have been able to serve the comfy cafes as a volunteer.

I am certain that most residents of temporary housing are still worried over their future. Some have moved into new houses built for those affected by the 2011 disaster, yet no house can eliminate all their worries. No matter what kind of houses they live in, they need to share with others and face their worries in close friendships of trust.

Also, though we do see new houses and buildings constructed after the 2011 devastation, we have yet to see “rebuilding” of the minds and emotions of those affected. As time passes by, their sense of solitude grows deeper. I sure hope they will try to make more friends. During my years as a volunteer, I have made new friends who have been of precious help to me. Especially, I owe many thanks to the people of St. Andrew’s Church, Hitachi. Without their help, I would not have continued my service as a volunteer this long. Also, I owe much to the people of the three Dioceses of Kansai, who always help others with a lovely smile. Today, they sent some nice sweets and messages to my comfy cafes. My years as a volunteer will continue, and I certainly hope to “walk together” with all the people I serve.