Contributor: Carol Skowron

Photo: Chris Cabatbat/Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps' Comfort for Kids program provided fun and creative activities to help children cope after the tsunami. Local facilitators are being trained to continue similar programs longterm. Photo: Chris Cabatbat/Mercy Corps

As I bumped along the slippery coastal road in a bus, I wondered what I would learn at the training that I was headed to in Kamaishi, Japan.

Our partner agency, Peace Winds Japan, had arranged for Donna Shuurman, from The Dougy Center in Portland, Oregon, to talk to professionals in the Tohoku area, which was devastated by last year’s tsunami. The Dougy Center specializes in helping children and families cope with grief after losing loved ones.

While Mercy Corps’ Comfort for Kids program transitions to local facilitators for the longterm, trainings like this aim to empower Japanese professionals working with children to better understand young people’s unique reaction to loss and learn the best ways to help them recover.

When the tsunami tore through towns on the northeastern coast of Japan, survivors witnessed firsthand the destruction of their communities and the loss of family and friends. For children in particular, the sudden changes were frightening and often resulted in new behaviors and challenging setbacks.

Although families, educators, nonprofits and the government have worked hard to normalize life as much as possible, some children are still struggling. In Japan, where emotions are not always shared openly, it is especially hard to work through the grieving process.

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The entrance to a food court-style assembly of various restaurants in temporary structures in Ofunato. Photo: Sylvia Ross/Mercy Corps

Temporary "shopping mall" plazas like this gather stores around the perimeter and offer attractive walkways and seating areas. Photo: Sylvia Ross/Mercy Corps

I’ve spent about half of my time in Japan since the March 11 tsunami, working with our partners on the various relief and recovery projects. And each visit — whether I’m there a few months or just a couple weeks — presents a new face on the recovery.

My first visit was marked by people trying to access basic needs and get by in evacuation centers as they experienced the raw grief and trauma of the event. During my second trip in July, most people’s basic needs were taken care of, but they still needed a place to live. They began shifting to temporary housing units as soon as the government could get them built. With a new place to live, they had a new reality: new neighbors, new commutes, new expenses. It was hot and sweaty as people tried to settle in, but at least they had a place for their family to be together.

In October, the heat was thankfully gone, and it was time to get ready for winter. At that time, I also noticed that the infrastructure in the tsunami zone had come a long way. The debris was organized into piles, electricity was restored everywhere, and many roads and bridges were completed. The focus had shifted to revitalizing communities with rebuilding plans, jobs and economic recovery.

On this current visit, there’s a very obvious addition in the tsunami-affected zone – temporary shops.

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I added a new word in my Japanese vocabulary today: hae, which is the word for that common insect, the fly. In the tsunami-affected area of Japan, flies are now everywhere.

It seems that conditions in the area of devastation are just perfect for them to breed, and they have appeared in great numbers. At a recent stop at the Chamber of Commerce, a group that Mercy Corps is supporting, everyone was walking out with a fly-swatter to take home with them to attack the problem. At the shelters I visited last week, screens for the windows and doors were being installed as they could to try to keep the pests to a minimum.

This disaster started in the cold and sometimes snowy month of March. Now people must contend with the hot and humid weather that is typical of Japan this time of year. Paper fans seem to be very popular just about everywhere. In a recent shelter visit, we were told that they had the offer of more electric fans and air conditioners, but the electrical system in that location couldn’t accommodate any additional demands.

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When I left Japan a little over a month ago, people warned me about what it would be like when I returned. Summertime in Japan means not only warm temperatures, but high humidity that saps your energy and leaves everything feeling damp and soggy, from rice crackers to towels that never seem to dry.

This year the summer weather was of particular concern — the disaster at the nuclear power plant and the nationwide concern over the safety of remaining power plants has left Japan with a reduced supply of electricity, heading into the season where demand typically reaches its highest. As suppliers scramble to find new resources, in the short term the only way out is for the nation to reduce its consumption.

With the very real threat of brownouts, the Japanese are powering down where they can. Hopping on a train or walking into a store in the summer used to mean a blast of icy air, a welcome respite from the sweltering temperatures. Not this year.

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Fisherman Isami Hoshi (in blue head wrap) in Minamisanriku, Japan. Photo: Carol Skowron/Mercy Corps

He could be a fisherman from almost any country — the tanned face, the weathered clothes, the rubber boots, and the sense of being at home at the sea. We caught up with Isami Hoshi on the oceanfront in Minamisanriku, just as he was heading home for the day. Peace Winds staff Sachie Saijo explained that Hoshi was the best octopus fisherman around. Prior the earthquake and tsunami, he and his crew would bring in a ton of octopus a year.

Now, just a little over three months after the earthquake, he was anxious to get back to it. Hoshi had owned several boats, some of which had been lost in the disaster. He and his brand-new boat — which had just arrived on March 5, six days before the tsunami — had been spared because he had been out at sea when the earthquake hit. He returned four days later to find a totally changed world.

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