JET Prefecture Round-up 03.16.11
Earthquake Tsunami, Uncategorized 
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Emily Lemmon, Shiso-shi ALT 2009 to present, and editor of Hyogo Times, gives a little taste of what JETs are doing around Japan.
Ongoing
Man up for Japan – a campaign launched across prefectures not affected by the earthquake and tsunami damage. Every JET is encouraged to donate ichi-man (100,000) yen on payday, or before if possible, either via bank transfer or at a post office or Family Mart. So far, 2,303 JETs are planning to participate. See the facebook event page for more information.
Aomori – Aomori JETs, led by Travis Emery, are compiling and delivering supplies to some affected regions, including Minami Sanriku. There are many drop-off locations, including people’s homes in Morioka and Hiroskai, and a school in Oga.
Upcoming
Shikoku Region
Kochi – Yusuhara Fijian/Indian Cooking Day, April 3rd (10am – 2pm). Parents of CIR Kavita will give cooking lessons and demonstrations. Recipes to be distributed in English and Japanese. (Flyer) Cost is free, all donations go to Tohoku Earthquake relief efforts.
Kochi – Windbeat Concert, March 26th, ticket proceeds and CD sale money will be donated to aid earthquake affected region. More information here.
Tokushima – Annual Tokushima AJET Touch Rugby Tournament, to be held the 28th and 29th of May in a beautiful camping ground in Tokushima Prefecture.
Accomplished
Block 6 and 7 V-Day Party in Osaka raised 14,000yen, originally for other causes, but now being donated to provide rice in the earthquake affected region.
Earthquake: Volunteer Information for People in Japan
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Via AJET Website. Thanks to JET Mike Maher-King (Fukui) of Smile Kids Japan for all his efforts with this:
http://ajet.net/lang/en/2011/03/16/volunteer-information-for-people-in-japan
AJET and Smile Kids Japan, with support from the JetWit JET alumni translators and interpreters group, have compiled a list of prefectural volunteer organisations (PVOs) mobilising volunteer groups to do ground work in areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami. The list of PVOs can be found below.
The current state of affected areas in the Tohoku region is still being assessed. Until a final assessment has been made, no volunteers will be allowed into those areas. Because PVOs are being formed on a prefectural level, each prefecture is at a different stage in organisation. This list will be updated frequently so please keep checking back here for the latest news about your prefecture.
Although we recommend that JETs in unaffected areas stay safe at home, we know many of you have volunteer experience and want to get involved at ground level. We highly recommend that interested volunteers contact their PVO before contacting any NGOs. PVOs are prepared to work with large numbers of untrained volunteers and know how to create safe, secure ways to volunteer in Tohoku; most NGOs cannot do this as effectively. In addition, by working with your PVO, you will be helping the affected areas rebuild themselves while promoting grassroots internationalization by bonding with your local prefectural volunteers.
We must also remind all JETs that you are under contract. Your role in Japan is first and foremost as an educator or community relations officer. If your contracting organisation or school asks you not to volunteer, you must not go. Also, as a JET you should only be volunteering your time during school holidays. Keep in mind that relief efforts are going to take many months; even if you cannot get permission to volunteer now there may be other opportunities to volunteer during Golden Week, summer holidays and beyond.
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Should you volunteer away from home?
- You may be able to help more from home:
You can help from your prefecture by making material/monetary donations, doing fundraisers, donating blood or hosting displaced people through CouchSurfing. Going to the Tohoku region isn’t something to do because of peer pressure, it is a serious decision.
- Do not go to Tohoku without support:
Going alone without the support of a recognized PVO/NGO puts you and disaster victims in danger. Especially if you are untrained/unskilled, you can make matters worse. This was a major problem for NGOs in Haiti and we do not want anyone slowing down the emergency response.
- Tohoku is not yet safe for untrained volunteers:
Not one volunteer organisation is allowing untrained/unskilled volunteers into the disaster zone yet. It is not safe. Organisations will start sending lay volunteers when the region is deemed stable and safe. Be patient. Be safe.
- Make sure you’re physically and mentally prepared:
AJET and the volunteer organisations ask you to seriously consider your physical and mental health. You will be going into a disaster zone, one that in places may look worse than a typical war zone. There will be things that you may not expect or want to see. You will be doing heavy, physical labor after a very long journey by bus or car. Are you ready to handle that?
- Make sure that you can afford to pay your own way:
You will be responsible for your own travel, accommodation, food, water and other basic expenses.
- Be prepared to stay in very modest accommodation:
It is likely that you will be camping near your work sites but accommodation may vary by location.
- Be sure that you can can complete all work duties in addition to volunteering:
The volunteer dates may not fit your work schedule, if volunteer opportunities fall outside of spring break/Golden Week, you may not be able to go. Also your contracting organisation may not approve your request to do volunteer work/take nenkyu. If they do not approve, you must not go.
- Be ready and able to leave on short notice:
PVOs will send notice of the chance to volunteer only very shortly before they actually move out. Will your schedule and contracting organisation allow that?
- Be aware of the risks:
PVOs will do their best to make the trip safe for everyone. The ones we have contacted so far are providing special volunteer insurance to cover you but please know that if anything happens, it was your decision to be there and you are responsible for your own well-being. We will organise a contact person in your PVO and in your home prefecture, so that we can remain in touch at all times and quickly address any issues that may arise. However, there will still be some risks to volunteering.
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If you are not accepted by your PVO for any reason, AJET and Smile Kids Japan are currently working on a list of NGOs that may later accept groups of foreign volunteers. No matter how you volunteer, it will be essential to register with AJET and keep your B.O.E informed so that we can always account for every JET’s whereabouts and safety.
Please direct any questions to volunteer@ajet.net.
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Find Your Prefectural Volunteer Organizations Here:
AJET SKJ Earthquake Volunteering Info
[This list will be constantly updated — check back if you can’t find what you’re looking for!]
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Donate Money here – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=198359066854878
Donate Food/Goods – http://www.2hj.org/index.php/news/send_us_food_and_supplies/
Host displaced people here – http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=39703
Counseling Services – http://www.telljp.com/ / http://ajet.net/psg/index.php?title=AJET_Peer_Support_Group
Compiled by
AJET http://ajet.net/
Smile Kids Japan www.smilekidsjapan.org
with help from
JetWit http://jetwit.com/wordpress/
I know that many of you have been awaiting next steps on a national JETAA USA fund. We’ve been in correspondence with JETAANY and JETAANC to work on a way to run a national fund through one of our 501c3′s (just found out that Great Lakes is one, as well!). After a lot of email conversations and a considerable amount of due diligence, JETAANY has graciously agreed to convert the JETAANY fund that was announced on Friday to the national JETAA USA fund!
The purpose of this fund is to bring the 19 U.S. chapters together in an organized and concerted effort to raise funds aimed at helping rebuild the affected areas in Japan. Instead of having 19 separate small funds, we felt that if we created a national initiative to drive fund-raising for Japan, it would bring together the JETAA USA community and inspire more overall participation from JET alumni in America. Read More
Earthquake: Perspective From Japan
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Written by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika currently works as an in-house translator for PFU (a Fujitsu company) in Kahoku-shi, Ishikawa-ken. She is also the vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.
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“How can we help?” is the most frequently asked question I have been hearing over the last few days. For my neighbours in the small coastal town of Hodatsushimizu in Ishikawa prefecture, situated on the Sea of Japan, the horror of last week’s tsunami which effortlessly wiped out whole towns is only too poignant. Friends in my local JET and foreign communities are struggling to understand the truth of the situation due to the disparity between the seemingly down-played reports in the Japanese media and sensationalist approach to reports by certain western press. However, everyone is ready and willing to help in whatever way they can. Also eager to help are family and friends around the globe, who are constantly being bombarded with shocking headlines and devastating images of the disaster, causing tensions to run high as my presence in Japan makes them all the more connected.
When the earthquake struck shortly after 2:45pm Friday March 11th, I was sitting at my desk at work, when I started to feel a strange dizziness. It wasn’t until a minute later when other colleagues mentioned the same that we realized we were experiencing a tremor. Registering at only magnitude 3 here in Ishikawa prefecture, the earthquake was largely unfelt, with most people only noting a slight swaying and a seasick-like feeling. However, the length and number of aftershocks indicated the seriousness of the situation at the epicenter, as confirmed by the news reports that started to come in.
Like everyone else around the country (and world) we followed the news in disbelief and shock, uncertainty and a feeling of helplessness taking over. As the extent of the disaster began to unfold over the following days, these feelings have only intensified. While things remain calm and ‘normal’ here in Ishikawa (we are all going to work and have no shortages of food/water/electricity/gas), the nerves of the Japanese, foreign community, and family & friends back home are being tested daily. Although we are not directly affected here, we are all suffering from mixed feelings of fear, confusion, heartache and love for a country that is our home. For all of us now, remaining positive in the face of so much sadness and uncertainty is key.
How Can We Help?
[Donate Money]
This is the most effective and encouraged way to help. Various different funds and suggestions of organisation accepting donations have been doing the rounds. For direct donations to specifically address JET needs in affected areas, AJET has set up the AJET Relief Fund. (There are other recommended relief efforts supported by AJET also listed on the site). Also, the JET Alumni Association (JETAA) is organizing a large fund raising effort as well. Details to come.
Other suggested ways to donate:
Be careful to donate through official channels as reports of criminals using this tragedy for monetary gain are already being reported.
[Volunteer]
Planning is underway to assign volunteers once official groups can be coordinated. People are urged to stay where they are until official groups are in place. (The strain on limited supplies and infrastructure in the affected areas is already too great and unorganized volunteers would unfortunately cause more of a hindrance rather than a help).
Volunteer information once available will be posted on JetWit as well as on http://ajet.net/. Various groups that you can join have been set up on facebook, such as this one: I am/will be in Japan and want to volunteer in Tohoku
[Give Blood]
Check where you can donate locally. Here’s one resource listing blood donation rooms: Blood donation rooms etc. Do make sure to check if you can actually donate as there are strict rules. Here’s a good source of info on this: Who can and can not donate blood in japan
[Save Electricity and Don’t Over-Stock Supplies]
As scheduled blackouts are in place for most areas in the North-East, the whole country is being encouraged to save as much electricity as possible. Over stocking of supplies is being discouraged as panic has lead to stores selling out in the Tokyo area, raising concern that this will cause further strain on supplies needed in the worst stricken areas.
[Offer Your Couch]
A group has been setup on CouchSurfing where people in Japan can offer their homes as temporary accommodation for those affected by the earthquake. Check here: http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=39703
Volunteer Translators
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[via JET alum and Brooklyn-based translator Philip Schnell via Charles Aschmann]
The Japan Association of Translators (JAT) is compiling a list of interpreters willing to volunteer their services to help rescue crews and other people providing help to victims of the earthquake and tsunamis. We are starting by compiling the list, publishing it on the website and trying to contact organizations that are responding. If you are willing to volunteer, either travel or perhaps (if the location allows) electronically, please send your information to webmaster@jat.org.
Please include the following information.
1. Full name
2. Address
3. Language pairs
4. Phone number
5. Mobile phone number
6. Skype name (if you have one)
7. Other means of communication, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
8. Extent to which you can help. (travel, tele-interpreting, etc.)
9. Any other information you feel would be useful.
Also, this Facebook group has been started for translators to provide free translations of disaster-related information:
Request: Personal essay for NYTimes op-ed about the earthquake?
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Via JET alum and DC-based Kyodo News reporter Ben Dooley:
A good friend of mine is an op-ed editor for the NYT, and he’s looking for someone to write a personal essay about the earthquake to be run on the op-ed page. It needs to be about 900 words, written in English or Japanese. The ideal person would be a prominent writer, academic or government official from or with strong ties to Sendai.
I know that things are very difficult in Japan right now, but if anyone from the JET community could put me in touch with someone who is interested in this opportunity and fits the bill, I would really appreciate it.
Thank you for your time.
Best,
— Ben Dooley
bdooley [at] kyododc.com
Justin’s Japan: Earthquake and Tsunami Update ~ JET Alumni Aid and What You Can Do
Article/Journalism, Earthquake Tsunami, JETAA Chapters, Justin's Japan Comments Off on Justin’s Japan: Earthquake and Tsunami Update ~ JET Alumni Aid and What You Can Do
People take shelter as a ceiling collapses in a bookstore during an earthquake in Sendai, northeastern Japan March 11, 2011. (Reuters/Kyodo)
By JQ magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.
Friday’s Sendai Earthquake and Tsunami has devastated Japan, with Prime Minister Naoto Kan calling it the most difficult crisis for the nation since World War II. At this time, the death toll is expected to exceed 10,000, and the country’s workers are racing to prevent a nuclear crisis in the wake of aftershocks.
Helping those affected are participants of Japan’s international education exchange initiative the JET Program, along with its alumni association here in New York (of which this reporter is a member). Another member, Brooklyn resident Steven Horowitz, serves on JETAA New York’s board of directors and is the founder of JetWit.com, a global JET alumni resource site now featuring a significant stream of relief and support efforts updates via its 55,000 members worldwide.
“My goal is to make information available to people that might not be able to find it elsewhere, or in English,” said Horowitz, who worked on JET as English teacher in Aichi Prefecture in the 1990s. “JETs are ideal conduits for information, because so many JETs and JET alums are great at absorbing Japanese information and putting it out there in English through social media and other ways.”
While no integrated system has been set up at this time to accept donations in Japan, Horowitz has been sharing ways people can help, whether they’ve lived in Japan before or just have a desire to help.
“Since JetWit is a central communication platform for the JET alumni community, I’m trying to gather and disseminate as much information as possible,” Horowitz explained. “I’m doing my best to support the efforts of the Japanese government and disseminate the information to people who might need it.”
Click here for a listing of donation resources.
CLAIR Tokyo office operating as usual
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There was a tweet or post earlier today incorrectly stating that CLAIR Tokyo was being evacuated and responsibilities were being handed to CLAIR NY. This was inaccurate. I think it’s been deleted everywhere on other pages, groups, etc. Just re-posting on JetWit in case anyone out there is still confused by this. The post apparently related to last Friday but inadvertently got posted today (Monday).
FYI, CLAIR Tokyo office is operating as usual. (Actually, “as usual” is probably not the correct term as they’re working their oshiris off more than ever right now.)
Ganbatte and hang in there CLAIR Tokyo people!
Via Fukui JET Mike Maher-King of Smile Kids Japan:
Update: Here’s the link to the Google spreadsheet where you can start inputting any info you gather: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AsMdoYcl5qwSdG5BTHl3M3VSX21TZHpYc21ReVFhUGc&hl=en&authkey=CJH_ppQL
AJET and Smile Kids Japan are working on some procedures to help foreigners living in Japan volunteer at the earthquake sites. They need JET alums with good Japanese>English ability to look through prefecture websites and find the information about prefectural volunteer groups plus, if easily available, volunteer forms. (This might best done through internet searches using < prefecture name + 東北地方地震災害ボランティア >)
CONTACT: smilekidsjapan [at] gmail.com, cc: activities [at] ajet.net
An example of what we are looking for for every prefecture is this
Fukui
Info http://info.pref.fukui.jp/danken/npo/060_sv/touhokujisin.php
Application form http://info.pref.fukui.jp/danken/npo/060_sv/html/data/touhokumousikomusyo.doc
Complete form and mail to danjoken-volunteer@pref.fukui.lg.jp
Once gathered, this information is going to be distributed through block reps, facebook, twitter etc to all the jets and hopefully lots of non jets that want to help so it has to be accurate.
Yoroshiku,
–AJET & Smile Kids Japan
The AJET Relief Fund for JETs in affected areas
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Via National AJET (10:15 am, Monday, March 15 NY time):
AJET would like to announce that we will be collecting money to specifically address JET needs in areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami. We also encourage donations to relief efforts directed at the community at large (JEN: http://tinyurl.com/4sp8mba; Peace Winds Japan: http://www.peace-winds.org/en/; or Good Neigbours: http://tinyurl.com/4f6gtas), however the AJET Relief Fund will provide donations directly to JETs in affected areas, with advice from Prefectural Advisors in prefectures such as Akita, Chiba, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Iwate and Miyagi to ensure that this money is used in the most efficient way possible.
As the relief effort is still in its early stages, the needs of affected JETs have not yet been fully assessed. National AJET expects to address some of these needs as they arise; shelter, food and water will be top priorities. The AJET Relief fund will also be used to help JETs rebuild their lives after the immediate danger has passed. For updates or questions about the distribution of AJET Relief funds, make sure to e-mail relief@ajet.net.
Via Matthew Holmes who is at Interac’s headquarters:
Thank you all of you for sharing information and really helping to keep us updated at Interac HQ. We are working round the clock trying to contact everybody and also give news to relatives by phone, email, facebook and via the various Embassies. We have really appreciated your responses and help with contacting various people on the ground.
Please take care everyone and please tell any Interac teachers, if they have not already done so, to contact Interac . They can do so 24/7.
contact@interac.co.jp
We are all taking turns to do shifts in the office and we will continue to try and get through to everybody. We will be providing instructions and further advice over the next 24 hours.
All those in the middle of this tragedy are in our thoughts and prayers.
Matthew
Request for contact from all New Zealand JETs
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Via former New Zealand JETAA President Katie McTeigue, who says the Embassy of Japan wants to hear from everyone:
As you are aware the recent earthquake has potentially affected many New Zealand JETS particularly those in the Miyagi, Fukushima, Iwate and Aomori regions. If you have any information on JETS in these areas please forward details to Mr. Ato. (takashi.ato@mofa.go.jp).
KYODO NEWS URGENT CALL FOR UPDATES IN QUAKE AND TSUNAMI-HIT AREAS
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Via JET JET alum Jody Godoy (Fukui-ken) who is a Kyodo News reporter:
KYODO NEWS URGENT CALL FOR UPDATES IN QUAKE AND TSUNAMI-HIT AREAS
How are foreign residents in your area doing? Is anyone unaccounted for? Did anyone sustain injuries? Are people at shelters?
Any updates are appreciated! Please pass this information on to anyone who may have information. Feel free to append other helpful links.
Please call the following numbers with updates only. I’m sorry but we cannot field questions. Or please e-mail me at jody.godoy@kyodonews.jp
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Kyodo News Tokyo 03-6252-8306
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Emergency line if you cannot get thru above 03-3574-7693
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English speaking line (The others should be able to speak to you in English also) 03-6252-8314
JET alum Washington Post reporter seeks contacts with relatives in Sendai
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Via JETAA DC:
Hi all — I’m a Washington Post reporter and former JET (Hiroshima ’02) looking for any local dc-area connections to the quake for a story on local reaction. In particular seeking anyone who might have relatives in the Sendai region or any of you who were based there for JET and have friends/former colleagues there that you are trying to reach. We are on an immediate deadline, so please email me asap with a contact phone number if you have such a story to share.
Domo,
David Nakamura
nakamurad [at] washpost.com
