Smiling girl displaced by Japanese tsunami

This was outside an emergency shelter only a few weeks after the tsunami. Just down the hill lay incomprehensible devastation. But this girl showed a smile (a rarity during my visit) as she blew bubbles into the air, anxious for life to return to normal. The world shifted on March 11 when we were exposed to horrific footage of a natural disaster as never before. To me, this image portrays the compassion, gratitude and healing of one survivor, and of a nation.