Mar 16

Huffington Post article by Rikuzentakata JET alum Sarah Ruddy

Article/Journalism, Earthquake Tsunami, Notable JET Alums, Return on JET-vestment, Writers Comments Off on Huffington Post article by Rikuzentakata JET alum Sarah Ruddy

Former Rikuzentakata JET Sarah Ruddy, a web producer for New York Magazine, was recently  by Huffington Post to write an article in connection with the one-year anniversary of the 3/11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. (On a side note, I noticed that Sarah mentions another JET alum in the article, author/humor writer Will Ferguson who wrote Hitching Rides With Buddha among other books.)

View from where Sarah's desk used to be in the Board of Education in Rikuzentakata

Here’s the article:

After The Tohoku Earthquake: ‘I Gave Up My Family For Dead’

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-ruddy/after-the-tohoku-earthqua_b_1335092.html#s770689

Here’s an excerpt:

My decision to go back was not about whether I should but how soon I could. I was determined to do whatever I could to help. I was often asked if I was afraid of another earthquake and tsunami occurring or how the radiation would effect me. There are plenty of dangers in the world that we can’t predict or prevent. They shouldn’t stop us from experiencing life.

I ended up going last November, seven months after the tsunami hit. I was welcomed by friends and generously offered a place to stay. I heard their stories of that day and the seven months that followed. The improvements made in that time were incredible.

I volunteered in Rikuzentakata and Ofunato, the city immediately north, and returned to my former schools to help out with classes. The people I volunteered with were from all over Japan, including students who were on break, retired couples who had free time and curious people who wondered how anyone could have survived. I spent long hours digging through fields of sediment and debris.