L/R: Toshika Asata and 7 month old Misaki visiting her friend Rie Hatakeyama and 11 month old Yasushi who are staying in a ShelterBox tent in Ofunato Junior High School, Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, Japan on Saturday, March 26, 2011. Photograph: Mark Pearson
Dear most generous Kosssack community! Here I sit in a comfortable room, laptop on lap and am shamelessly "copying and pasting" Directly for the ShelterBox USA website
http://shelterboxusa.org/...
donation link
https://app.etapestry.com/hosted/ShelterBoxUSAInc/OnlineGiving.html
Lifesaving aid from ShelterBox is helping families in Japan as they begin to rebuild their lives after the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country on March 11.
The charity’s work is being welcomed by officials in Japan’s Prefectural government system who say ShelterBoxes will be used to provide emergency assistance to the most vulnerable. Takanori Hirai, Director of the Climate Change and Energy Policy Division for the Iwate Prefectural Government said: ‘We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your kind donation of ShelterBoxes after Japan’s horrible earthquake and tsunami disaster.
‘These ShelterBoxes will be used in a variety of ways; as shelters in the affected areas, protecting the privacy of those living in shelters and creating a space for families to live in.
‘We have the deepest respect for the efforts that ShelterBox is carrying out throughout the world. We hope that your organisation will grow even larger in the future.’
ShelterBox tents have been used to provide privacy and restore dignity to families sheltering in an evacuation centre – a school gymnasium - in Ofunato, a coastal town which was devastated by the tsunami.
One of the families to receive a ShelterBox tent were Rah (father), Rie Hatakeyama (mother), Kahoh (9-year old son) and 11 month old Yasushi.
There is more at the above link lots more pictures and good feelings for the donations you gave to ShelterBox and how it is helping the victims of the Japanese disaster please go and look!
John Diksa added: ‘Families have been living in our tents for well over a week now and we’re certainly seeing life being rekindled. In the evacuation centres, where we’ve been helping the families living there, there is a fantastic sense of community with people of all ages helping each other and pulling together.’
The need for shelters to replace the evacuation centres currently in use is becoming greater as many of these centres are schools. The authorities need these schools to be empty in time for the start of the academic year which begins in April.
SRT members from France, USA, Canada, New Zealand and the UK are all currently working in the country.