Report of supplies delivery to Oshika Peninsula

        The other day, Professor Nizuma of Graduate school of environmental study delivered supplies that were donated by you to Oshika Peninsula.

This is the report of supplies delivery written by Professor Nizuma.

Dear All,

        Yesterday, I went to Oshika Peninsula to deliver supplies and gather information with Tominaga-san, the member of my laboratory. I would like to report about it.

        We delivered supplies which were presorted by the team of Saishu-san and four boxes of fruits and vegetables that were provided by Sendai-Asaichi Shopping District Promotive Association with the help of Okuyama-san to Oshika Peninsula.

        Receivers were not major evacuation centers, but minor evacuation centers and private houses as small shelters, for the following reasons: Firstly we cannot deliver enough supplies to evacuation centers of hundreds of people; Secondly, people who stays at shelter in private houses does not get enough support; Finally, I wanted to touch evacuees’ hearts by delivering supplies directly, hearing from them, and looking them in their eyes.

        We didn’t have any specific receivers, but we went southward from Onagawa and could deliver supplies to six places directly.

        They casted cautious eyes on us at first, but received our supplies with pleasure to hear that we were from Tohoku University and visited there to deliver fruits.

        Most of the places had no power supplies, plumbing, nor gas supplies just like Sendai right after the earthquake. Food supplies they could get were still rice-balls and emergency foods. They wanted fruits and fibrous foods as we experienced in Sendai, so they received thankfully. It’s been day-long work to go shopping, because big towns in Sanriku: Onagawa, Ishinomaki, Shidugawa, and Kesennuma, where people buy groceries were all destroyed by tsunami.

        Also, I strangely understood that people need to ask moms, not dads, about daily commodity as we do.

        In addition, they received supplies like under wares and clothes with pleasure, which were thought to be supplied already. I found that even if they receive enough supplies in the face of statistics, individuals have overage or shortage and clothes supplies lack of size variety.

        I learned it difficult to deliver a large amount of supplies which were donated from all over the country to individuals.

        When I saw the compassionate supplies in the boxes, I had mixed feelings about the fact that we couldn’t deliver donors’ feelings to sufferers directly. However, I felt happy to deliver supplies directly and donors’ feelings to them in a different way. I appreciate all the people who were involved in this project and giving me such a great chance.

        I got valuable information that Kinkazan was connected to Oshika Peninsula by land just before the tsunami and the elevation of sea didn’t move for a while.

        I learned the importance of knowing that the circumstances are changing day by day and place by place, and we need to seek the direction of our support.

Nizuma Hiroaki

        This is E, a member of HARU. Yesterday, I heard Professor Nizuma about supplies delivery. He told me very interesting story about supplies delivery to affected areas which I’d like to introduce about. I hope you would think about supplies delivery.

        At first, he said needed supplies are different by places even in one town and you can’t know what people really need without visiting there. Also, it’s not always true that people need the same thing as before. It’s very hard to recognize their need at different times from a distance. However, it doesn’t mean that we only have to deliver supplies which seem to be needed. We have to give sufferers opportunities to choose what they need, not just giving them the same things in the same quantities. For example, he suggested setting up shopping buses or delivery services to give them chances to choose what they need.

        It’s important to revive power for provincial reconstruction and their power won’t revive by just sending supplies. We need to set up support which helps people do something by themselves.

        He also said that most of the people in this area don’t take this disaster despairingly or darkly. He said they seemed to remind themselves that they have to go through their lives as survivors. He felt boundless power of people who have lived with natural threats, because there are many fishers in Oshika Peninsula who are brush with death and they experienced tsunami damage many times.

        Finally, he said “People’s smiles there were so nice and irresistible, and I’m really happy to see their smiles.” I was deeply impressed to see such nice smiles of sufferers in the picture.

        I’ll write my thought after hearing the story, below. This is my personal feeling, so please note that it has optimistic side.

        It’s been a month after the earthquake, and I’ve been involved in volunteer activities for three weeks. I’ve been to senior care home, elementary schools for evacuation centers, and head office of HARU. I became less sure of myself about what I was doing and wondered what I was working hard for. However, smiles of the elderly, evacuees, people in city halls, volunteer staffs, and children I saw in the field were really nice. Their smiles kept me going even in the tough situations physically and mentally. And I found again that I was working hard to see their smiles, owing to Professor Nizuma.

        There are various activities in reconstruction support. I’m happy to work in the front lines. At the same time, I guess you may wonder if your background activities help someone. But I think your work lead someone to smile somewhere no matter how small work it is. Many people have lent their hands in the back in this supplies support, too. People who called for providing supplies, who provided supplies, who boxed up the supplies, who arranged transportation of supplies, who loaded supplies to cars, who delivered the supplies to the field, and many others have lent their hands. All of their efforts made the nice smile, I think.

        Please keep in mind that your help leads to someone’s smile certainly no matter how small it is. And please remember that the smile is inspiring people around them.

        Let’s do our best!