Japan Update: CWS, partners help neglected survivors

["Lesley Crosson" <lcrosson@churchworldservice.org>]

Lesley Crosson, Church World Service, media@churchworldservice.org,
(212) 870-2676
Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net 

NEWS UPDATE

Local Japanese agencies meeting needs where country’s resources still
overwhelmed

Church World Service, partners expedite relief to thousands in
neglected coastal cities

‘They need everyone's help,’ says CWS’s Komino


Tokyo, Japan - Tuesday March 29, 2011 - Nearly three weeks after the
catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeastern
coast of Japan, humanitarian organization Church World Service reports
that the country’s domestic resources alone aren’t sufficient to
deal with the disaster, and there are still thousands who haven’t yet
received assistance.

From Tokyo, Takeshi Komino, CWS Asia/Pacific's head of emergencies, is
coordinating CWS efforts in Japan. Over the weekend, Komino reported
that "It is evident that even a very developed country like Japan is not
able to cope with its domestic resources only,” due to the magnitude
of four nearly simultaneous disasters - a 9.0 earthquake, tsunami,
nuclear threat, and freezing winter weather in affected areas.
 
"Survivors I interviewed echo the same point, that relief efforts
reported in the media are not consistently reaching them, which tells us
there is a huge variation on where needs are somewhat being met and not
being met at all,” he said. 

"These people who are staying in extremely difficult conditions at the
evacuation sites, they really do need everyone’s help. Their basic
needs must be met, and we need to be there when they re-formulate their
communities.  Governments can make systems and policies, but it’s
people who make communities.  As the people centered organization that
we are, we can formulate people-centered assistance, which is a key
aspect in this relief and recovery," Komino says.

Responding to the enormous need, CWS has expanded its initial appeal
and fundraising campaign to meet current and anticipated needs. 

Church World Service now is working with local partners in Japan to
coordinate emergency relief for about 25,000 individuals sheltered at
100 evacuation sites in Miyagi, Fukushima, Iwate, Ibaragi and Tochigi
Prefectures. 

CWS's Komino reports that needs are changing rapidly, even as the
government copes with the triple challenge of working to restore safety
at the damaged nuclear plant, building temporary shelters, and dealing
with the half million people living at evacuation sites or visiting
daily because they have no resources at home. 

Komino credits the government for working hard to meet these
challenges, but points out, that the government simply does not "have
the human resources to serve the most vulnerable, including people who
can’t even go to these evacuation sites." 

That is where local Japanese partner agencies have a distinct
advantage, being “stationed in the field and working with the affected
population on a daily basis,” he said. Those local agencies will play
a key role in finding and filling people’s changing needs, Komino
said, “much more precisely and faster … and will enable CWS to target
the most vulnerable, including those unable to go to evacuation sites."


Almost half of the city centers in Iwate Prefecture were destroyed in
the tsunami. So far, there has been virtually no humanitarian
coordination there, Komino reports, and distribution of relief items has
stalled.

According to reports, a growing number of people at evacuation sites in
the area are suffering from influenza and diarrhea and medicines are not
reaching them consistently. 

In Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures, CWS-supported assistance includes
mobile medical services, care at stationary clinics, basic hygiene
items, temporary toilets, and communications services for survivors at
evacuation sites. 

That work is being implemented by Japan Platform partner Nippon
International Cooperation for Commu
nity Development with Tohoku
International Clinic in Natori City serving as hub for stationary
medical services--the only clinic or hospital in Natori not affected by
the disaster. 

In Miyagi Prefecture’s Kesennuma City and Ishinomaki City, whose port
area is totally destroyed, temperatures fall below zero degrees Celsius.
CWS partners Peace Boat, Civic Force and Japan Lutheran Emergency Relief
are responding to requests from survivors at evacuation centers with
food, water, clothing, fuel and hygiene items to serve at least 10,000
people. 

From tax accountant to emergency center leader in seconds
When the tsunami struck, Yoshiaki Shoji, a tax accountant in
Ishinomaki, barely escaped. “If I was 5 seconds late, I think I was
dead,” he told CWS. 

Shoji is now a volunteer leader at an evacuation center in the city’s
Yamato elementary school. He said with 500 people currently staying at
the center and a flow of daily visitors, they’re serving more than
2,300 people. Everything from food and water to underwear and elderly
care is still scarce. 

CWS and its partners are now expediting four 10-ton trucks from Tokyo
to the Ishinomaki and Kesennuma centers to deliver the desperately
needed supplies.

In Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima Prefectures, CWS and partner National
Christian Council in Japan are collaborating with member churches to
find housing for individuals.

In Iwate, working with OXFAM Japan and the Japan Organization for
International Cooperation on Family Services, CWS is providing
counseling for pregnant women and women with young children and helping
them find safe, private spaces to stay, rather than crowded evacuation
environments.

Over the weekend, at Ishinomaki’s school evacuation center, survivor
Hideaki Aonuma told the CWS team he had seen nothing indicating any
future plans for the evacuees.  

“Houses gone, jobs gone, families are scattered,” another survivor
said. “We don’t know how long more we should stay here and where we
should go next.” 

CWS conducts its emergency response work globally according to quality
and accountability standards as set out by the international Sphere
Project.

HOW TO HELP: Contributions to support CWS emergency response efforts in
Japan may be sent to your denomination or to Church World Service,
Attention: Japan Response, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.  (Appeal
#699-Y).