Tohoku Pacific Earthquake: Report 2 on Medical Activities on the ground - Médecins du Monde Japan

[Conditions in the evacuation centers – the challenges for aid worker support] As the Doctors of the World emotional and psychological care team helps in the relief effort, it is learning of the realities being faced by those in the evacuation centers. In a medium-sized center (roughly 100 people), a local couple that the community would normally turn to has taken on a leadership role. Many of those in the center are elderly, and it is heartbreaking to watch those in their 80s go without the proper care they deserve. For the past four weeks they have refrained from going outside, which has only further weakened the strength of those among them who were already frail. Aid workers cannot help but be deeply affected by witnessing this. The wife along with the help of several other evacuees prepares 3 meals every day for over 100 people, while her husband spends the day helping with the reconstruction work in the town. They also make sure the toilets are being maintained and try to mediate any disputes that arise between fellow evacuees. All this despite that fact that they are evacuees, too.