A little girl turned to her mom and asked: "Mom, they let our dog die because they left him in the earthquake area, does that mean that they will leave us to die too"? The mom had no answer and continued to feed her child the instant Cup Noodles that the had been their only food for the last 2 months. Then the girl said: "Mom, if we die then at least we can join dad in heaven, I miss him"!
We here at GPOP have been so busy lately as the work has twisted and turned to a new direction. The Japanese Government has made some decisions that make no sense to us but they have been made and a lot of people are suffering from them. Shelters in the Tohoku area have been closed down, perhaps it makes them look good that they do that BUT they send those people to shelters in other areas such as Tokyo. However they are without all things, no money, no food and not a job! So we went to one shelter located at a Youth Hostel in Idabashi, Tokyo. There about 30 souls, most of them old people were living on on instant food and tap water. So we have now established a steady flow of food and water and set up refrigerators for the fresh fruits and vegetables that we deliver twice per week. These people are very happy that someone cares for them and are confused that it was a Gajin or a foreigner that came and made this happen. We hope that the Japanese Government takes better care of their people!
We also found out that as they close the shelters many people up in the afflicted area are now without food. A shelter closes down and then the people have to go home to their houses that often are not livable. One older lady was sleeping on the floor in her house that had no electricity and no heat. She had no functional kitchen and had to sleep on the floor with a brick as a pillow, she did put a towel on the brick. These kinds of stories are now heard all over and we are going to Iwate area this weekend on a 3 day mission to make sure what is needed and establish permanent delivery to these areas. We are bringing 3 trucks, one with just electrical equipment and two with food and cloths. It is hard to imagine what these people are going through, the lack of EVERYTHING and their lives taken away. They have no jobs and no home, everything has been taken from them and it does not seem that anyone is coming to help from either Government nor the big help organizations. Up there are mostly small help groups that have been organized by individuals that just want to help, and most of of them are run by foreigners.
The mission this weekend is in cooperation with Rescue Japan and Dwayne Wayne who has been the driving force in finding these problem areas. Our cooperation is now expanding to other groups who care and we just bonded with a French organization. It is interesting how many foreigners are actually helping the Tohoku victims and we are not letting it go, we will stay and fight for them no matter what! Please keep supporting us with what you can, we need so much help to help these people. Please remember that every dime you give will go to those people. We use our own money to pay for gas in the vehicles that go up and we have all volunteers to work with us, no one gets paid, they even pay for their own accommodations and food.
In Services,
Gudni Gudnason.
No comments:
Post a Comment