Since last week the NPO (Japanese blog : http://ameblo.jp/fairtrade-t ) I try to help around here has internet access again so I am able to still a few minutes on their computer and type this message.

Depuis la semaine derniere l’ONG (Blog en japonais: http://ameblo.jp/fairtrade-t ) que j’essaye d’aider a de nouveau l’internet et je vole quelques minutes sur leur ordi pour vous taper ce message.

Today there will be one minute of silence at 14:46 Japan time for all those who lost their lives in the tsunami that hit the North-East Coast of Japan last March 11, 2011. Please pray for them and send all the good thoughts you have in you to their family and those who are still struggling to survive. Thank you all. I will try to come back as often as I can to show you that Japan still needs your help. So many people have lost their homes, don’t be fooled by your first impression of a “rich” country. This is not Tokyo. We are talking about fisherman and factory workers who not only lost their homes but also their jobs, on top of loosing some family members.

Aujourd’hui il y aura une minute de silence a 14:46, heure japonaise pour tous ceux qui ont perdu la vie dans le tsunami qui a frappe la cote nord-est du Japon le 11 mars dernier. Prier pour eux s’il vous plait et envoyer toutes les pensees positivesqu’il vous reste pour leur famille et tous ceux qui souffrent encore et essayent de survivre. Merci d’avance. Je vais essayer de revenir aussi souvent que possible pour vous montrer que le Japon a encore besoin de vous. Tant de personnes ont perdu leur maison, ne soyez pas trompe par votre premiere impression que le Japon est un pays “riche”. Ici ce n’est pas Tokyo. On parle de pecheurs ou d’ouvrier qui non seulement ont perdu leur maison mais aussi leur travai, en plus de perdre des membres de leur famille.

Example of what the coast of Japan looks like now.

Kobuchi Hama, in Oshika – Miyagi Prefecture

Photo by me for NPO Fair Trade Tohoku

Hello to you all. I take the chance to use a friend’s IPad to send you some news. First of all, we are both alive my husband and me. We were together at the time of the earthquake and managed to escape to the nearest mountain before the tsunami hit the coast where we were half an hour before… But I kind of lost track of time when all this happened so I can’t remember how we waited until the first wave hit the our town… Yes, there were several waves… It’s a too long story to tell now in those conditions but maybe someday I’ll find the courage to tell it all. Short story : after one night in the mountain spent between our car and the fires some people lighted up for the refugees (not much gas in my car so we couldn’t leave the engine on all night… It had to happen a day I had barely no gas , damn!). Next morning we managed to cross the tunnel nearby to get back to our side of the town, stayed at a friend’s house/office because our building was still flowded… We live on the 1st floor. From Sunday to Sunday we spent our days and nights at the university where we both work and tried to help out as much as we could the refugees who found there way there. Finally since Sunday last week, we are back at our friend’s house and are able to eat warm meals, sleep in futons and even take a bath… I took my first bath this week Monday !! We are among the luckiest ones because we have all we coupled wish for considering the situation but so many still don’t have underwear to change in or even toothbrush… Our friend and my husband with others volunteers go visit many refugees centers to ask what they need most so that we can try to get it for them and deliver the most urgent things… The town organization is so bad, there are mountains of stuffs laying here but nothing over there. All that to tell you that we are doing fine under the circumstances. Thank you for your support. I really don’t know if I will be able to go back to scraping after this but my hard drive might have been spared by the flood (the tsunami hit the coast badly but we live on the other side of the mountain and there the water went up slowly from the streets and houses were flowded) so maybe if I found the heart to scrap again I hope you’ll take me back in the dig community. Until then take care as we will and I’ll try to come from time to time to let you know how things are going here in Ishinomaki, our town. As for now, we were spared the sadness of loosing someone we know and I hope it will still be like this but so many people have died or are still missing, I hope you’ll have a special thoughts for them. Time to go to bed now, another day of volunteering is awaiting us tomorrow.