Last year Justin and I canceled our vacation to Hokkaido over radiation fears. When Japan Airlines refunded our money, we didn't feel quite right about keeping it. We put a poll up here on the blog asking you to choose a quake relief charity for us to donate the money to, and you picked Architecture for Humanity, a charity which focuses on building to sustain communities in need.
So what has Architecture for Humanity been up to in the past year? You can visit their full one-year update here. The general trend is for constructions which improve community togetherness. The citizens of Tohoku are trying to help each other, but they often don't even have a room large enough to hold a meeting. Isolation is a big challenge to psychological recovery.
Some highlights:
- Hikado Marketplace: re-used salvaged timber to create a place for workers to eat together, hosted a festival this summer. (complete)
- Akahama covered alley: sheltered stairwell to make it possible and safe for residents to move among scattered temporary housing units (Phase 1 complete; Phase 2 in process)
- Shizugawa Fishermen's Workplace: (In progress): facility to support local fishermen as they try to rebuild the local aquaculture industry
- Oshika House Women's Cooperative: (in progress) facility to support women's cooperative industry (bracelet-making and hopefully eventually fish preparation) and provide community gathering space.
There is still a great deal of work to be done here. Many places have nit even finished clean-up, let alone rebuilding. Please consider donating to this other organizations working to help Japan recover.
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