The following is a report of my experiences

The following is a report of my experiences volunteering in Japan this summer. This was my first Harvard-funded summer experience and I was definitely not disappointed. The Reischauer Institute has done a great thing for the people of Japan, and I hope that the support continues in some form or another. Within 24 hours of landing at Narita Airport, I was in a van being driven north to the devastated city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi. Also in the car were two coordinators from Grace City Relief (my host organization) and a temporary volunteer. I was immediately impressed by the professionalism and expertise of the coordinators, who were 23 and 29. It was clear that they had been with the disaster relief operation from the very beginning, and I felt very safe in their hands. Despite being 'briefed' on the drive up, it became clear after passing Sendai that this would be unlike anything I had ever seen. Mountains of trash and debris lined the edge of every urban area, gravestones remained toppled, and overturned cars dotted the saltwater-contaminated rice fields. The situation only got worse once we arrived in Koganehama, an oceanside neighborhood of Ishinomaki. Here, the water line had been around ten feet high, rendering the first floor of every building either coated in mud (at best) or completely hollowed out (at worst). Despite the depressing surroundings, however, the residents were eager to say hello to us as we arrived. The strong personal relationships between Grace City Relief and the residents were apparent, and we were constantly thanked for our service. It is clear that both the United States and Harvard are held in very high esteem. The following day, we begin our Wednesday-Thursday-Friday routine of trash removal and house deconstruction. For this, we are detailed to Samaritan''s Purse, an international disaster relief organization with a great deal of construction expertise. I have joined in the middle of this particular deconstruction project, so my main tasks are removing dry wall, floorboards, and insulation. The owners have removed anything of importance, leaving only luxury items, dead animals, and unknown objects that floated into the house during the three days that the town was underwater. We work for half a day until we break for lunch--bento boxes and usually a treat prepared by the homeowner. During lunch, we often speak with anybody who walks by, listening to their stories and translating them for the non-Japanese speakers in our group. Some of the stories are pleasant, like how an old woman stranded on the second floor of her home lived by eating out of her neighbor''s refrigerator which conveniently floated into her stairwell. Others are terrifying--grandmothers trying to outrun the wave, neighbors finding friends'' bodies in attics, and houses crushed by shipping containers caught in the riptide. The stories serve as a daily reminder that oftentimes, the mental debris is just as hard to clear away as the physical debris. Grace City has fortunately recognized this, and many of their programs are aimed at lifting up the spirits of the residents, many of whom are losing the will to remain in such a desolate place. After working for another half day, we head to the onsen to clear off the dirt and sweat. After cleaning up, we go grab some dinner at the Aeon food court on the other side of town, and then head back to our temporary home--a tent city on the campus of Ishinomaki University. There are about fifty other tents and most of the volunteers have come from other parts of Japan. They are engaged in all kinds of projects all over the region--including some that conflict with each other, but that is to be expected in such a decentralized operation. On Saturdays, we pick up 250 people''s worth of groceries and bring them to a gravel lot outside of the Koganehama community center. Together with some other Western volunteers, we operate both takidashi (a hot food stand) and bushi (grocery distribution). While the hundreds of residents wait, two of the older volunteers entertain them with bingo, gospel music, or some combination of the two. After everyone has received their food and groceries, we begin an hourlong program for the children. Though hectic, Saturdays are another great chance to converse with the residents and identify particular people who may need help cleaning up their homes. At around five, we head back to Tokyo for two days of rest. However, these two days are filled with administrative tasks like organizing the receipts, balancing the accounts, calling donors, meeting with program directors at Grace City Church, and printing flyers for upcoming events. This weekly schedule would repeat itself throughout my entire stay in Japan. All in all, I found my experience to be excellent--it positively changed my life and, more importantly, it allowed me to positively change the lives of those in dire need. However, if Harvard were to send more volunteers in the future, I would encourage the pre-orientation program to cover two topics in particular. First, the living conditions--they are very good by disaster zone standards and they didn''t bother most of us, but some of the volunteers who cycled through found them hard to handle. Those people probably could have used better preparation beforehand. Second, it might be important to emphasize that Grace City Relief is a Christian operation. There are group prayer sessions several times a day, 95% of the volunteers are certified missionaries, and the ultimate goal of the organization is to plant a church in the region. I would imagine that most Harvard students would not have a problem in such an environment, but I can see how some people may become uncomfortable or offended. In concluding, I would like to say thank you, once again, to Ted, Montana, and everybody at the Reischauer Institute for supporting this project. People in Ishinomaki were crying with happiness at the fact that these strangers were coming to help them, and they were generously making us rice balls even though they lost most of their possessions. I, along with several other volunteers, absolutely fell in love with Ishinomaki. It is, by all objective standards, a destroyed city--and yet, it seemed more full of life than Shinjuku Station or Shibuya Scramble. I have probably never had so little sleep and yet, I never felt tired--that is how inspiring the mission was. Thank you again to the Reischauer Institute, and please let me know if and when I can help recruit additional Harvard students to Japan in the coming year.