Like everyone, I’m shocked and horrified by the images of destruction in Japan, and I wanted to add a brief post to express my sadness, and my hope that this disaster can bring the world to a better place in terms of international sympathy and cooperation. Five days after the quake and tsunami, the nuclear crisis is still unfolding around several reactors, and it’s not clear how bad it will get.
In Boston, the Japan Society is also planning a Vigil for Japan on Monday, 3/21/11. More info here: http://www.japansocietyboston.org/
If you want to make a donation, my friend and colleague Dave Leheny sent along a note from a woman who works with the NGO called JEN. If you wish to support relief efforts in Japan with a donation to a group with ties to local communities, this is one opportunity. Chika Watanabe, who has worked with JEN says this:
I’m writing you all to ask if you would contribute to the relief and rehabilitation efforts in the hardest-hit Tohoku region by a Japanese NGO called JEN: www.jen-npo.org. As some of you may know, I worked with them briefly, and I can say with confidence that they do amazing work. They have been working in emergency situations—postwar and post-disaster—since the 1990s, and they are considered to be one of the best. In addition to projects in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc., they have a program in Niigata where they’ve been supporting a small community of elderly farmers to rebuild their lives after the Niigata Earthquake in 2004. Seeing their work there, I know that JEN can and will respond with care to the needs of victims, not only in the immediate relief, but in the long years of recovery ahead.
There must be other large organizations mobilizing for action right now. While they also do good work, it can also be limited. Small but highly skilled NGOs like JEN can do what large agencies cannot do—be attentive to the multiple local needs and act according to each situation. This means that they can choose to work in neglected and hard-to-reach areas, work flexibly according to the fast changes of post-disaster conditions, without large overhead costs, and without bureaucratic constraints. They will also continue to be there when others have left after the relief phase. In short, your donations will go far to help victims directly.
If you’d like to contribute, you can do so using your credit cards or through the post office:
http://www.jen-npo.org/contribute/form01_1.php (credit card, in Japanese)
http://www.jen-npo.org/en/involved/donate1.php (credit card, in English)
Our hopes and heartfelt thoughts are with the people of Japan.
