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Noemi Noemi
11 septembre 2011

Volunteering in Tohoku, Part 7 - Celebration

September 11th 2011 : 6 months ago, the quake; 6 months ago, the wave; 6 months ago, death.

Half a year later, they celebrate life. Ishinomaki slowly gets better : cars are not floating in the trees and the roofs anymore ; more and more destroyed areas have been demolished to the ground to make space for the future new buildings and the houses, the gardens, the shops are cleaner than before summer. Life is coming back, and so are the inhabitants - many cars on the main street, full of people coming back to clean the mess and try to make their home a living place again.

More than ever, I got the feeling that people there are celebrating life even more than they mourn for the dead, and that they are looking forward. Japan is definitely a nation of survivors.

Saturday morning at 6am, this is my 4th bus trip with the AFJ to Ishinomaki, and I can see the Tohoku region under the sunshine for the first time (before it was always cloudy and rainy on the morning). Sunrise is always especially moving in Japan. Everyday is a new day!

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Our usual salutation to the Sea. Keep cool, babe, we are friends !

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Cheering messages and supporting words to the refugees of the Volunteering Center at Minato Shogakko.

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Kokoro Mina de Hitotsu : All together as one single heart

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Songs and prayers after 6 months

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Our Headquarters in the stadium (our sleeping room)

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The view above our heads while sleeping

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Maybe because the situation is improving (I hope), we have been given easier tasks this time. No watercourses, no dirty pipes but only house cleaning - no need to dig underground. 

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Second day... holidays ! Without kidding, we had to work in a garden. A garden ! In the scent of mint and wild flowers ! No dust, no worms, just a bit of mud everywhere like usual and long grown herbs to uproot... Gardening in Tohoku, that was a perfect activity for a Sunday morning.

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"Everyone around the world, come on !"

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There are still areas we can see nothing has been done yet, probably because the buildings are too weak and are just going to be destroyed soon. So much work to do yet...

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And in the middle of the mess, sunnflowers ! Hope !

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We are all miracles...

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To participate to the AFJ volunteering week-end missions at Ishinomaki (all nationalities accepted, they speak French, English and Japanese), just send them an e-mail ! All the information here

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