28 March 2011 NICCO's Secretary-General Norimasa Orii
Generators have arrived in the shelters; lights and baths for evacuees
On Tuesday, 22nd March, 64 generators donated by Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd through Japan Platform arrived at Rikuzentakata city.
NICCO is delivering them to shelters following coordination with local officials.
At the moment, NICCO is implementing support activities such as a medical care service, distribution of daily supplies, installation of temporary toilets and generation of electricity and water in Otomo and Hitora districts.
These two districts are located on the Hirota peninsula, which is connected to Honshu (Japan's largest island) by land being used as rice fields. These rice fields were struck by tsunamis from both sides of the peninsula, which isolated this area since lifelines such as electricity and water were severed. And so far there is no sign of recovery. JR Otomo station, which used be located in the root of the peninsula (where it is connected to the mainland) has disappeared without a trace, and without being told, you would never know that there used to be a station and stores here.
The people of Otomo who were affected by the disasters grouped themselves according to their neighborhood associations, and and decided to organize the community center as their shelter. By doing so they are getting through the hardship of having no electricity or water. I have heard that in one of these neighborhood associations, people shared out their rice in order to survive.
In this area, we have delivered generators, and now it is possible for the people of the area to use a certain amount of electricity, although fuel is still hard to obtain.
Although fuel is now available in Ofunato, the city next to Rikuzentakata, the destruction of all the gas stations in Rikuzentakata means that it is difficult to say when there will be fuel again.
We discussed possible solutions to this problem amongst ourselves, and the only short-term answer we can think of is that Japan's self defense force come and install a temporary fueling station of some kind. We then heard the news that the force has stated to allocate ration tokens for gasoline. Meanwhile, it is said that WFP (World Food Programme) of the United Nations is now preparing to set up an office for logistics in the disaster area.
In any case, it is almost impossible to procure necessary supplies in this area where infrastructure has fallen apart, unless a public agency intervenes and reconstructs the distribution system.
Even so, I would like people to know that some earthquake/tsunami victims have managed to power a light for the first time since the quake using generators and precious fuel.
I would like you to imagine how it feels to have a light on, even if it is just for a short period, after a long time of living in darkness.
Since generators are not usually necessary to our daily lives, people do not feel confident using them. So we will coordinate with organizers of each shelter, and by teaching them how to use the generators, we will put them to practical use.
Fortunately, we have met an electric engineer in Tabata community center, and we have agreed to work together to install the generators.
By using generators, the engineer would like to pump up water from a well which has not been used for a long time, to provide people in the town with hot water for bath.
We would like to realize this idea, and distribute generators amongst families who have a bath which they can open up to others. And by doing so, we want to provide baths to the whole community. At long last, we have achieved the means to support the people who have been left in the cold, and living with neither light nor warm bath.
