Help disabled and elderly disaster survivors

Bringing People in the Disaster-Affected Areas a Warm and Happy New Year

AAR JAPAN has been carrying out relief efforts for the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake since the immediate aftermath of the disaster. In addition to delivering emergency supplies to those who have limited access to aid, such as persons with disabilities and the elderly, AAR JAPAN is also repairing welfare facilities and providing vehicles for facilities for persons with disabilities.

Temperatures in the disaster-affected areas continue to drop. In addition to distributing winter necessities to people living in temporary housing complexes and other displaced people, AAR JAPAN is now also preparing equipment for snow removal. In the face of news of elderly survivors dying alone in temporary housing, we are continuing to support the Building Healthy Communities Project, offering community interaction and exchange events for disaster survivors, many of whom all too easily end up spending their entire day isolated behind closed doors.

AAR JAPAN hopes to continue its support for the people of the disaster-affected areas, offering them a warm and happy New Year.

Below is a report on activities that AAR JAPAN’s supporters have enabled us to carry out in 2011:

AAR JAPAN’s Ongoing Projects in Response to the Great East Japan Earthquake

1.    Delivering Relief to Families in Temporary Housing and Leased Housing in Fukushima Prefecture (approximately 35,000 families)

2.    Support for Food Service at Schools in Minami-soma City, Fukushima Prefecture

3.    Psychological Care for Children in Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture

4.    Building Healthy Communities Project

5.    Delivery of Relief Supplies

6.    Soup Kitchens

7.    Reconstruction of Facilities for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities

8.    Vehicle Provision

9.    Supporting Market Expansion for Products made by Persons with Disabilities

10.  Container Housing Project

11.  Hand-made Tote Bags Project

12.  Charity Concerts

1. Delivering Relief to Families in Temporary Housing and Leased Housing in Fukushima Prefecture (approximately 35,000 families)

In cooperation with ADRA Japan, we have been supporting the day-to-day livelihoods of families living in temporary housing and subsidized housing in Fukushima Prefecture. As the Japanese Red Cross decided to distribute six-piece sets of home electrical appliances in earthquake- and tsunami-affected areas, AAR JAPAN has focused on providing items such as kitchenware, bathroom goods, vacuum cleaners, kotatsu (heated tables) and regular tables, kitchen cabinets, and so on, based on requests from municipal governments. We are targeting 13 municipalities in the Hamadori and Nakadori regions of Fukushima Prefecture: Soma City, Minami-soma City, Shinchi Town, Iitate Village, Tomioka Town, Kawauchi Village, Koriyama City, Sukagawa City, Kagamiishi Town, Shirakawa City, Nishigo Village, Yabuki Town, and Izumisaki Village. Following a request from the municipal governments of Minami-Soma City and Tomioka Town, both located within 20 km of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, we are also providing supplies to survivors who have taken refuge in other prefectures.

In order to contribute to the economic recovery of the local communities, we are collaborating with the local Commerce and Industry Associations in 10 municipalities to source as many aid goods locally as possible. As of November 30^th, we have completed the delivery of relief supplies to 21,719 households in the target area.

2. Support for Food Service at Schools in Minami-soma City, Fukushima Prefecture

AAR JAPAN provided vegetable juice and rice for approximately 2,800 schoolchildren in Kashima, Minami-Soma City. The Kashima area is just outside the restricted zone around Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, and since the accident, many children who used to attend school closer to the plant have now been relocated here. From July 1^st to 22^nd, vegetable juice was provided to every schoolchild twice a week, and a total of 2 tons of rice was supplied for school meals. Kashima was also experiencing a shortage of vehicles for delivering food to schools, so AAR JAPAN secured rented vehicles for food delivery from August 23^rd.

3. Psychological Care for Children (Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture) 

AAR JAPAN has been supporting the SOMA Follower Team, a nonprofit organization formed by Soma City to provide psychological care for children. The six-person team includes clinical psychologists, psychiatric social workers, and healthcare workers who have been providing psychological care for students and their parents at affected kindergartens, elementary schools, and junior high schools in Soma City. 

In November, the SOMA Follower Team started offering counseling at elementary schools near the 20-km exclusion zone, where radiation levels from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant have not been deemed high enough for evacuation, but residents are advised to remain indoors as much as possible to limit their exposure. Here the children cannot play outside, and must remain inside during recess, lunch, and gym class, and they must also play indoors when they go home. At this time of year they would normally enjoy picking up chestnuts and colored leaves from the ground, but this year they cannot.

4. Building Healthy Communities Project 

AAR JAPAN has been providing rehabilitation and health-related services, mobile clinics, sanitation services, psychological care, and community interaction and exchange events for roughly 3,000 people, focusing on persons with disabilities, the elderly, displaced people, and people staying in temporary housing in the disaster-affected areas of Miyagi and Iwate prefectures. Through these comprehensive efforts, AAR JAPAN continues to support people in the disaster zone as they work to maintain both their physical and mental health. 

Rehabilitation Services

AAR JAPAN has been sending occupational therapists and physiotherapists to evacuation centers, senior care facilities, facilities for persons with disabilities, temporary housing, and individual homes in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures, offering rehabilitation visits and massages to 612 people from July 9^th to November 26^th. 

Psychological Care

To mitigate stress both from the earthquake and from long-term evacuee life, AAR JAPAN has been sending counselors to evacuation centers, temporary housing units, and individual homes to provide psychological care. We provided counseling for 265 people between August 6^th and December 3^rd. 

Community Interaction and Exchange Events

AAR JAPAN has been actively promoting community interaction and exchange events to help encourage the development of social ties in evacuation centers and temporary housing. In this effort, we have been organizing soup kitchens, delivering relief supplies, and providing rehabilitation services such as massages and aroma therapy. To date, we have organized or participated in events in the following locations: 

- Festival at Wako Kindergarten in Shichi-ga-hama Town, Miyagi Prefecture (July 23^rd)
- Bon Festival in Onagawa Town, Miyagi Prefecture (August 15^th)
- Higashi-hama Elementary School on the Oshika Peninsula, Miyagi Prefecture (August 18^th)
- Touni Town, Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture (August 20^th)
- Otomo Town, Rikuzen-takata City, Iwate Prefecture (August 20^th)
- Offering aromatherapy at Higashi-hama Elementary School in Miyagi Prefecture (August 23^rd)
- Workshop for persons with disabilities in Yamada Town, Chimohei County, Iwate Prefecture (August 26^th)
- Temporary housing complex in Kasshi Town, Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture (August 27^th)
- Temporary housing complex in Shichi-ga-hama Town, Miyagi Prefecture (August 28^th)
- Temporary housing complex in Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture (September 11^th)
- Gym of Nakano Junior High School in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture (September 17^th)
- Day room in a temporary housing complex in Kashinai, Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture (September 24^th)
- Temporary housing complex in Kuribayashi Town, Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture (September 25^th)
- Gym of Nakano Junior High School in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture (September 25^th)
- In front of a shop in Sakuragi Town, Otsuchi Town, Kamihei County, Iwate Prefecture (September 28^th)
- Temporary housing complex in Kesen Town, Rikuzen-takata City, Iwate Prefecture (October 2^nd)
- Festival at Kurosaki Shrine in Hirota Town, Rikuzen-takata City, Iwate Prefecture (October 9^th)
- “Everyone’s Festival Bureiko” in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture (October 10^th)
- Dosen Subsidized Apartments in Kasshi Town, Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture (October 16^th)
- Higashi-hama Elementary School in Iwate Prefecture (October 11^th)
- Otsuchi Dai-kyu Temporary Housing Complex in Otsuchi Town, Kamihei County, Iwate Prefecture (October 23^rd)
- Taki-no-Sato in Takekoma, Rikuzen-takata City, Iwate Prefecture (October 25^th)
- Nakano Sakae Community Center, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture (November 27^th)

 
5. Delivery of Relief Supplies 

Needs have altered as seasons change and people’s lives inch toward normalcy. AAR JAPAN is currently delivering portable power generators to persons with disabilities who rely on respirators to breathe. We have also been providing winter necessities for the harsh cold of the season. 

Relief Supplies Delivered to Affected Areas from March 14^th to November 30^th, provided to 79,460 people in 1,284 locations 

Areas of Distribution:

Miyagi Prefecture:  Sendai City, Ishinomaki City, Kesen-numa City, Natori City, Tome City, Higashi-Matsushima City, Onagawa Town, Tagajo City, Iwanuma City, Minami-sanriku Town, Yamamoto Town, Shiogama City

Iwate Prefecture:  Otsuchi Town, Ofunato City, Rikuzen-takata City, Kamaishi City, Yamada Town

Fukushima Prefecture:  Soma City, Minami-Soma City

Yamagata Prefecture:  Kamiyama City

Type of Facilities:
Evacuation centers, facilities for persons with disabilities, facilities for the elderly, social welfare councils, foster homes, shopping centers, social welfare corporations, volunteer centers, ambulatory facilities for the elderly, disaster countermeasures offices, temporary housing, evacuees’ homes, daycare centers, kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools, senior high schools, others.

Supplies Delivered:
Diesel oil (13,600 liters), Kerosene (4,400 liters), Gasoline (2,060 liters), Water (14 tons), Rice (2.5 tons), Milk (480 packs), Sweet-bean cakes (41,000 units), Vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions, spinach, cabbage, radishes, green onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, chives, eggplants, kidney beans, edamame beans, pumpkins, burdock roots, taro, sweet potatoes, Chinese cabbage, corn, Japanese mustard spinach, dried shiitake and others), Fruit (mandarin oranges, bananas, watermelons, grapefruits, melons, etc.), Eggs, Other food (retort foods, food for the elderly, canned food, miso, soy sauce, dietary supplements, etc.), Blankets, Bedclothes, Underclothes, Clothes and scarves, Towels and hand cloths, Furoshiki wrapping cloths, Face masks, Hand warmers, Sleeping bags (3,400 units), Cold medicine and other medical supplies, Toothbrushes, Paper diapers, Adult diapers, Women’s sanitary products, Batteries, Baby products (baby food, pacifiers, feeding bottles, baby wipes, etc.), High-pressure washers (32 units), Chainsaws (30 units), Shovels, Boots, Books and picture books, Crayons, Cell phone chargers, Computer sets (37 units), Printers (2 units), Photocopying machines (5 units), Bicycles (294 units), Sputum aspirators (2 units), Care beds (31 units), Folding beds (2 units), Futon sets (30 units), Wheelchairs (21 units), Care chairs (2 units), Walkers (35 units), Power generators (3 units), Laundry machines (29 units), Drying machines (22 units), Refrigerators (28 units), Microwave ovens (7 units), Electric fans (51 units), Vacuum cleaners (44 units), Air cleaners (16 units), Rice cookers (8 units), Futon dehumidifiers (34 units), Reflective heaters (5 units), Kerosene heaters (2 units), Automatic blood pressure meters (34 units), Television sets (22 units), Dish dryers (2 units), Electric fans, Dehumidifiers, Weight scales, Clothes irons, Ironing tables, Rotary printing machines, Pull carts, Dollies, Audio players (10 units), Portable radios, Walking sticks, Cooking knives, Cutting boards, Small shelving units, Bookshelves, Clothing cases, Disinfectant spray, Hand soap, Reading glasses, Stuffed toys, Other toys, Thermos bottles, Digital cameras, DVD players, Video cameras, Mattresses, Sheets, Cotton blankets, Pesticides, Bug repellant, Mosquito nets, Toilet paper, Laundry detergent, Kitchen detergent, Toilet soap, Laundry baskets, Hangers, Cleaning buckets, Paper dishes, Notebooks, Copy paper, Tinfoil and cling wrap, Grass-cutting scythes, Grass cutters, Cucumber seedlings, Tomato seedlings, Flower seedlings, Screen windows, Laundry poles, Summer clothes, Rubber boots, Sandals, Slippers, Ice packs, Neck coolers, Inflatable play pools, Nutritional supplements, Umbrellas, Taisho harp sets, Electric piano sets, Keyboards, Taiko drums, Tea ceremony sets, Other small musical instruments, Sewing machines, Scarves, Sweaters, Jackets and other winter clothes, Farming boots, Garden supplies, Table tennis sets, Electrical generators (7 units), Foot-operated aspirators, Hearing aids, Braille printers, Cultivators, Air purifiers, Heated carpets, Rugs, Kotatsu (heated table) sets, Gas and electric heaters, Hot water bottles, Electric blankets, Down jackets, Fleeces, others.

6. Soup Kitchens

In coordination with Ingram Co., Ltd., which is responsible for the Peace Project, AAR JAPAN has been organizing soup kitchens in Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima prefectures. The project began on March 31^st, and as of November 25^th, AAR JAPAN held soup kitchens in the following locations. Since August, the soup kitchens have been operated as part of the Building Healthy Communities Project. 

Soup Kitchen Locations (25,121 meals served in 72 locations)

Miyagi Prefecture:  Watanoha, Aikawa, Kitakami, and Ayukawa areas (Oshika Peninsula) in Ishinomaki City; Wakabayashi District in Sendai City; Tagajo City; Shizugawa and Utatsu in Minami-sanriku Town; Niitsuki, Shishiori, and Omose areas in Kesen-numa City

Iwate Prefecture:  Kamaishi City, Rikuzen-takata City, Taro Town in Miyako City, Yamada Town, Otsuchi Town

Fukushima Prefecture:  Haramachi Ward in Minami-Soma City&nb