Although dictators, oppression and even war continue to cause enormous suffering in their home countries, a number of foreigners remain focused on helping survivors of the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake.
Although dictators, oppression and even war continue to cause enormous suffering in their home countries, a number of foreigners remain focused on helping survivors of the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake.
Some have been leaders in demonstrations and other activities to promote democracy in their homelands. But after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami devastated coastal areas of northeastern Japan, they shifted their attention to the victims of the disaster.
Adel Suliman, 23, a Libyan and a member of Tokyo-based nongovernmental organization Peace Boat, is working with other staff in Senshu University's branch campus in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, a stronghold of volunteer work.
Suliman assigns various jobs to about 200 volunteers and is also in charge of vehicle allocation. He holds meetings with other groups several times a day, and his mobile phone frequently rings.
"What is needed now are futon, pillows and umbrellas. I have to ask someone to bring them here," said Suliman, who has slept only four hours a day since arriving on April 5.
Suliman is also constantly worried about his Libyan father and Japanese mother who live in the northern African country stricken by civil war.
In late February, Suliman and 80 others held a rally in Tokyo to protest the government led by Moammar Gadhafi.
Prices are rising in Libya, and shortages of vegetables and bread are more serious than those in Ishinomaki.
If the March 11 earthquake did not occur, Suliman would have started a fund-raising campaign to support medical services in Libya.
"Although I am worried about my mother country, I will not be able to enter the country. But here in Ishinomaki, I feel that I can be useful," he said.
Born in Japan, Suliman lived in Libya from the age of 6 to his graduation from senior high school. Hoping to study abroad, he returned to Japan in 2006 and is now enrolled at Keio University's Faculty of Policy Management.
When he first visited the quake-devastated area, the weather was colder than he had expected. He also found some areas that were still not receiving sufficient aid.
"He understands Japanese customs and traits and pays sufficient consideration to other people. He is trusted by the volunteers," said Masumi Matsumura, another Peace Boat member working in Ishinomaki.
But Suliman says he is often at a loss on what to say to survivors who have lost so much in the disaster. But he continues to urge others in Japan to help the survivors, such as visiting affected areas, sending goods and making donations.
"I want to do support activities that can encourage those affected by the quake," he said.
Aung Myat Win, 36, a student from Myanmar (Burma), was also actively involved in promoting democracy in his home country. He also had experienced a tough time in Japan, which made it seem improbable when he and about 10 other Burmese in Japan donated about 200,000 yen ($2,500) from the wages of part-time jobs to quake-hit areas through a Diet member.
Myat Win was a graduate student at Yangon University in 1995, when he was arrested for taking part in a pro-democracy movement. After his release, he went to South Korea through Thailand in 1997 with a forged passport, and became a shipman.
In 1998, he heard rumors that he would be turned over to Myanmar authorities, so he sneaked into Japan when the ship docked at Hiroshima.
While living in a park in Tokyo, he took part-time jobs, such as washing dishes and cleaning.
In 2002, he was arrested on suspicion of staying illegally in Japan. He spent two years in an immigration detention facility where he shared a 10-tatami-mat room with more than 20 others. They were only allowed one five-minute shower a week.
In 2004, he was recognized as a refugee. But he remained dissatisfied with the Japanese government over its prolonged procedures on gaining such status.
On March 11, however, he watched the horrifying images of the tsunami destroying villages and lives.
He recalled the words he received from pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi when he interviewed her by telephone late last year: "You must not forget gratitude to a country where you have exiled yourself."
Now an interpreter in Japan, Myat Win is also editor in chief of free paper "Peace Wings Journal," which carries stories about the situation in Myanmar.
Remembering the kind people he did meet in Japan, Myat Win is now considering doing volunteer work up north.
Kyaw Kyaw Soe, 47, who runs a Burmese restaurant in Tokyo, was also a core member of the democracy movement in Myanmar. He arrived in Japan in 1991 after fleeing to Thailand to escape persecution from Myanmar's military junta. He obtained refugee status 18 months after submitting his application.
When he saw the suffering of people affected by the March 11 quake, he recalled the hardships he experienced 20 years ago. On April 8, he left Tokyo for an evacuation center in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, with 11 others. There, they offered food, such as soup curry and eggs fried with tomatoes, to 300 people.
"I wanted to convey the message to the affected people, 'You are not alone,'" he said.
(This article was compiled from reports by Wataru Nakano, Erika Toh and Takashi Ebuchi.)