A nonprofit organization (NPO) is proving that good benches make good neighbors at a temporary housing facility in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, where evacuees of the Great East Japan Earthquake are adjusting to their new lives.
A nonprofit organization (NPO) is proving that good benches make good neighbors at a temporary housing facility in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, where evacuees of the Great East Japan Earthquake are adjusting to their new lives.
The Tokyo-based Child Fund Japan (CFJ) is making benches to promote exchanges among residents of the temporary Ofunato facility.
"I was able to make new friends by sitting on the benches and greeting other residents," said Toshio Takeyama, 79, who has been living in temporary housing since July. "Thanks to the benches, I am no longer a recluse."
NPOs such as CFJ are increasingly engaged in unique support activities that meet the specific needs of people affected by the March 11 disasters.
The trend has developed as evacuees in different stages of recovery are faced with varying needs, along with the fact that initial shortages of all forms of relief supplies have become less prevalent.
In Ofunato, the temporary housing facilities on a hill in the city's Nagahora district have 300 units. When the weather is nice, people sit on the benches and enjoy chatting.
"If people greet other residents, they begin to pay attention to each other," said CFJ member Yoshikazu Funato, 33, explaining why the benches are so important.
After the temporary housing facilities were constructed for evacuees, CFJ conducted a survey of residents. Some respondents said they wanted benches for socializing. Based on the replies, the group began to make them on a full-scale basis in July.
The NPO constructed 187 benches for 10 temporary housing facility compounds in Ofunato in two months, with the assistance of residents.
"Benches are just a tool to promote exchanges among residents," Funato said. "More efforts are necessary to promote self-support in communities."
In August, the CFJ held a party for residents to get together and socialize. The group plans to continue these types of support activities to encourage exchanges and self-support among residents.
Another NPO, Saitama-based Chikyu Genkimura, is asking the hardest-hit folks in the disaster areas what they really need, and in turn conveying those requests to the group's supporters who send those items to them along with letters.
Through correspondence between the aid givers and the recipients, the group said it hopes to encourage exchanges.
A 26-year-old woman, who gave birth to a baby girl in July this year, opened a cardboard box in her parents' house in Tome, Miyagi Prefecture, in late September. The box, which was delivered by a Chikyu Genkimura staffer, contained diapers, powdered milk, shoes and towels. She said the diapers and powdered milk were exactly what she had asked the NPO for.
"Wow, I am very happy," she said. "These are all things I really need."
After the woman's house in the coastal city of Ishinomaki was washed away by the tsunami, she moved to her parents' home in the inland city of Tome. Unlike the coastal areas, it is difficult to receive relief items in remote inland areas.
Along with the goods, the woman said she appreciated the thoughtfulness of receiving a letter from the supporter.
"I feel that I am not alone," she said.
The NPO, whose leading members include motorcycle adventurer Shinji Kazama, began to implement support activities for affected people immediately after the March 11 disaster. Group members visited various communities on motorcycle, allowing them more mobility and access, particularly in rugged areas.
Six months after the disaster, it became apparent that aid goods were piling up in some areas while no assistance was reaching other locations. The people missing out included residents of small-scale temporary housing facilities in inland areas or those living in relatives' houses. Supporters also said they were unsure of what to send.
As a result, the NPO began to dispatch members to affected areas to ask them what they really needed, and then requested supporters to send the necessary goods.
The group also asked supporters to write letters to recipients and requested the recipients to reply.
So far, supporters have sent much-needed goods to about 30 people based on their requests.
"It takes time and effort to grasp the needs," said Yoshiharu Toki, 38, a central figure of the NPO's activities. "But we can implement on-target support. Supporters can also feel satisfaction.
"By linking supporters with affected people, we want supporters to have an interest in the disaster-hit areas for a long time to back recovery efforts there."
This article was written by Atsushi Yamanishi and Hideyuki Miura.