The Lost Days I
October 30, 2011
I have a few photos from places I went that I never wrote about.
On this date, I took a bus trip with the International Society of Hitachi-Daigo to Miyagi Prefecture. I was invited by a nice, older lady that helped me out when I was sick. It took about five hours one way. We went to help clean up an area that was hit by the tsunami in March.
Our base was at a school, and when I went in to go to the restroom, I noticed that there were water stains on the first floor ceiling. There was still debris stacked up in the hallways; warped files, and muddy papers. I heard later that some used the gym as a refuge, and they had to climb up to the rafters because the water came so high and created a whirlpool on the floor below. It must have felt like the end of the world.
Our task was to clean an area that had gravestones scattered about from the force of the water. We were to put any debris in one bag, and hold onto any money and bones we found. The word "bones" was kind of hard to hear. Ironically, I was the first to find a bone, and I found many more after that, including a large piece of a femur. It was comforting that these were bones of people that were previously decided, but finding the bones of humans buried in sand and under trash is just weird. That's all I can say about that.
We were later told that the place we were cleaning up used to be a park. I had thought that a park toy seemed out of place in a graveyard. You couldn't tell what it used to be before, and I thought because of the gravestones, it was a large graveyard. The tsunami had carried the large, very heavy stones, hundreds of meters. My friend pointed out a tree in the distance with a white sheet high in the branches, about two or three stories high, remarking that was how high the tsunami came.
The park was surrounded by about 250 homes and 500 lives that were destroyed. The house above was finished a month before the earthquake. They kept mentioning the irony. I couldn't understand the point of doing so.
Finding and collecting human bones was an odd feeling, but it didn't really feel sad. What moved my heart the most is when I found a small, blue toy car. The small, personal items scattered around and buried in the mud--glasses, scraps of clothing, jewelry, toys--were the most harrowing of all. By the end of it all I just felt "not there". I had left a little piece of me behind.
Going on this trip showed me how much work still needs to be done. There was trash everywhere. Everywhere you looked, there were little white scraps sticking out of the dirt. When we left, I saw a small boat still sitting on the edge of a rice field, and all the land close to the sea was left barren, where elsewhere crops were being harvested.
But the oddest thing was the feeling of, no matter the devastation, how beautiful the place was. Tall pine trees stood like ancient solders, stretching out to the sea. A Jr High lay empty, windows shattered, magnificent in its emptiness.
I felt awful on the trip home, either from a lack of water or my energy being drained. We stopped at a rest station and I thought I was going to be sick. I was in a fog, until I saw this, and it made the trip back home just a little better.
When we got back to my friend's house, she went into the kitchen and grabbed some salt and had me come into the foyer. She threw the salt over my shoulders and then gave me some to rub on my hands. She said it was to prevent anything following us back from the graveyard where we were working. Now that I think about it, it was literally and figuratively a graveyard, was it not?
Going through these pictures has torn at my heart. After such tragic events, it is is so easy to forget the sorrow we feel at the start, the shock. One of the reasons I wanted to come to Japan is that I wanted to help in anyway possible. I felt so hopeless just sitting and watching the images flash by on the television screen. I was planning on volunteering for a few days in Sendai for winter break, but the organization is also taking the winter holiday as well. I took a day off of work in March the last week I am here because I will then have a four day weekend, but I am wishing I could stay longer. They have a apartment you can use if you are helping out, so I wouldn't have to worry about renting a hotel. I would love to stay a week... but I already have my return ticket. I wonder, can I change the date?
Well we will see. Just know, there is still much work to do. If you have a chance to help, please do. :)
~Stephanie
October 30, 2011
I have a few photos from places I went that I never wrote about.
On this date, I took a bus trip with the International Society of Hitachi-Daigo to Miyagi Prefecture. I was invited by a nice, older lady that helped me out when I was sick. It took about five hours one way. We went to help clean up an area that was hit by the tsunami in March.
Our base was at a school, and when I went in to go to the restroom, I noticed that there were water stains on the first floor ceiling. There was still debris stacked up in the hallways; warped files, and muddy papers. I heard later that some used the gym as a refuge, and they had to climb up to the rafters because the water came so high and created a whirlpool on the floor below. It must have felt like the end of the world.
Our task was to clean an area that had gravestones scattered about from the force of the water. We were to put any debris in one bag, and hold onto any money and bones we found. The word "bones" was kind of hard to hear. Ironically, I was the first to find a bone, and I found many more after that, including a large piece of a femur. It was comforting that these were bones of people that were previously decided, but finding the bones of humans buried in sand and under trash is just weird. That's all I can say about that.
We were later told that the place we were cleaning up used to be a park. I had thought that a park toy seemed out of place in a graveyard. You couldn't tell what it used to be before, and I thought because of the gravestones, it was a large graveyard. The tsunami had carried the large, very heavy stones, hundreds of meters. My friend pointed out a tree in the distance with a white sheet high in the branches, about two or three stories high, remarking that was how high the tsunami came.
The park was surrounded by about 250 homes and 500 lives that were destroyed. The house above was finished a month before the earthquake. They kept mentioning the irony. I couldn't understand the point of doing so.
Finding and collecting human bones was an odd feeling, but it didn't really feel sad. What moved my heart the most is when I found a small, blue toy car. The small, personal items scattered around and buried in the mud--glasses, scraps of clothing, jewelry, toys--were the most harrowing of all. By the end of it all I just felt "not there". I had left a little piece of me behind.
Going on this trip showed me how much work still needs to be done. There was trash everywhere. Everywhere you looked, there were little white scraps sticking out of the dirt. When we left, I saw a small boat still sitting on the edge of a rice field, and all the land close to the sea was left barren, where elsewhere crops were being harvested.
But the oddest thing was the feeling of, no matter the devastation, how beautiful the place was. Tall pine trees stood like ancient solders, stretching out to the sea. A Jr High lay empty, windows shattered, magnificent in its emptiness.
I felt awful on the trip home, either from a lack of water or my energy being drained. We stopped at a rest station and I thought I was going to be sick. I was in a fog, until I saw this, and it made the trip back home just a little better.
When we got back to my friend's house, she went into the kitchen and grabbed some salt and had me come into the foyer. She threw the salt over my shoulders and then gave me some to rub on my hands. She said it was to prevent anything following us back from the graveyard where we were working. Now that I think about it, it was literally and figuratively a graveyard, was it not?
Going through these pictures has torn at my heart. After such tragic events, it is is so easy to forget the sorrow we feel at the start, the shock. One of the reasons I wanted to come to Japan is that I wanted to help in anyway possible. I felt so hopeless just sitting and watching the images flash by on the television screen. I was planning on volunteering for a few days in Sendai for winter break, but the organization is also taking the winter holiday as well. I took a day off of work in March the last week I am here because I will then have a four day weekend, but I am wishing I could stay longer. They have a apartment you can use if you are helping out, so I wouldn't have to worry about renting a hotel. I would love to stay a week... but I already have my return ticket. I wonder, can I change the date?
Well we will see. Just know, there is still much work to do. If you have a chance to help, please do. :)
~Stephanie
Comments (1)
Wow, I was just thinking about the tsunami the other day. These pictures are so devastating.