The Kumamoto Earthquake Report 6:
Utmost Hospitality – Real Partnership with Shared Vision

April 29th 2016

The aftershocks from Kumamoto earthquake has exceeded 1,000 times, and further large aftershocks are still expected according to Japan Meteorological Agency. These aftershocks are really putting further stress on already worn-out affected communities as well as responders on the ground. The number of evacuees in evacuation centers has decreased to around 33,000, but this decrease would mean that people with limited mobility, such as elderly people, will constitute the majority at evacuation centers, and there are more people sleeping in the cars; which leads to additional risk of clogs in blood vessels. Prayers for the affected communities continue from all over Japan, with messages on panels (see the right photo).

The importance of evacuation center is now relatively higher for elderly, and such operation needs to continue. In Japan, local authority is primarily responsible for running official evacuation centers, and often, they do this in collaboration with aid agencies and civil society groups. The evacuation center in Mifune town is one example. The local authority in Mifune town is operating the evacuation center in close collaboration with YMCA.

Fukuyama from YMCA and Oki from the local authority in Mifune town now seem to be buddies as you see in the photo on the right, and this is due to dedication and commitment these gentlemen showed for the past two weeks since the quake. This evacuation center was opened after 7.3M earthquake on April 16th, and since then Fukuyama, responsible manager of this center from YMCA, and Oki, responsible officer from the local authority, worked hand-in-hand for the start-up and relief operation for the evacuees.

“What I can say about YMCA’s operation, is that they show utmost hospitality towards the evacuees”, said Oki. According to him, there are set guidelines on how to run evacuation centers, but actual implementation is even better than what’s indicated in the manual. He also appreciated YMCA’s flexibility in dealing with ever changing environment on the ground. “The fact that we can continuously discuss and find solutions together is really encouraging for us”, he said.

Life in evacuation center is really stressful due to lack of privacy, uncertainty towards recovery, deterioration of health condition, etc. But these two gentlemen work together to create ‘stress-free’environment as much as they can. It seems that ‘real partnership’ based on principles of partnership is created here in Mifune town, and it is probably due to sharing a common vision of serving the affected community members. Flexibility and people-centric attitude seems to be present in both ofthese gentlemen.

“My daughter has just started to go to primary school, and she could go to school only for 4 days because of the earthquake”, Fukuyama said. He hasn’t had much time to go home since the quake, but he is hoping he can spend more time with his family once the emergency phase is over. It may take some more time, but their daily service to the evacuees is bringing this day definitely closer.

You can help the operation on the ground. Please see below:
Emergency appeal of YMCA Japan
Facebook page of Kumamoto YMCA (Japanese only)

Bank Detail Name : The National Council of YMCAs of Japan
Address : 7 Honshio-cho Shinjuku-ku,Tokyo
Beneficiary Bank : THE BANK OF TOKYO-MITSUBISHI UFJ,LTD.
Branch Name : YOTSUYA BRANCH
Bank Address : 3-2-1 YOTSUYA SHINJUKU-KU TOKYO
Swift code : BOTKJPJT
Account Number : 051-0111494

The National Council of YMCAs of Japan and the Church World Service Japan are working together as partner for relief activities in Kumamoto Earthquake.
Here is English Report by Mr. Takeshi Komino of CWSJ about Japan YMCA’s relief works.

Interviewer and Photos taken by: Takeshi Komino

A lot of messages from all over Japan

Buddies in Mifune, Mr. Fukuyama(left) and Mr. Oki(right)