[TOKYO, Japan, 25 April 2011]
The Japan Committee for UNICEF’s (JCU) UNICEF Children’s Mini Library project was launched under the slogan “Deliver a book, create a smile.” Thanks to the gracious assistance of a wide number of donors, picture books and kami shibai (Japanese picture card stories) received from all over Japan have been delivered to shelters in the disaster area from the beginning of the month.
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| © Japan Committee for UNICEF | © Japan Committee for UNICEF | |
| A shelter at Ofunato Junior High School in Ofunato City. | Suezaki Furusato Center in Iwate Prefecture. |
Since early April children at kindergartens and preschools in the disaster area have been slowly regaining their energy. UNICEF Children’s Mini Libraries are now being delivered to kindergartens and preschools in addition to shelters. In this edition we will be introducing one of those schools—Shimoyahagi Preschool in Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture.
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| © Japan Committee for UNICEF |
| The principal and children reading a book at Shimoyahagi Preschool. |
Travel about three hours by car from Morioka City and you will find Shimoyahagi Preschool tucked away in a quiet mountain area. The preschool has not received any new students in the past few years, and the principal was even thinking about closing it down.
However, starting this spring the preschool will be hosting children from Takekoma Kindergarten. Also located in Rikuzentakata City, the schoolyard of Takekoma Kindergarten was wiped out by the tsunami, forcing a portion of the students to move to Shimoyahagi Preschool.
The principal of Shimoyahagi Preschool, Sakuyasu Shimoya said, “Combining to two schools will make for 46 children. It is not good for the children to be in such tight quarters, so we immediately turned our offices into nursery rooms.” The walls of the former offices are now covered in cute, handmade decorations to create a more welcoming atmosphere for the children.
Ms. Umeki, a teacher at Takekoma Kindergarten, commented that, “I never thought that a tsunami would make it all the way into the mountain area.” She says that she heard someone yell “Tsunami!” and when she turned around she was being chased by a giant tsunami plowing upstream Kessen River and pulling brown soil up with it.
Ms. Ueki put clothes on the children, who had just woken up from their nap, to keep them warm and then escaped with them up higher into the mountains. She says that the tsunami had taken over a road directly below them and was flowing violently, swallowing everything in its path. She commented, “The children knew what was going on. One three-year-old girl said, ‘Did the water wash my house away?’”
Takekoma Kindergarten was built just three years ago, but it was totally engulfed by the tsunami. Everything was shiny and new before, but now the merry-go-round, slide and other play equipment have been turned upside-down, making it a place that the children can no longer play. Inside the building we found child carrier backpacks and clocks, which were left among the glass from the broken windows. There was also a roof of an unknown house lying in the schoolyard that had washed up from somewhere.
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| © Japan Committee for UNICEF |
| A child reading a book with her mother at Shimoyahagi Preschool in Rikuzentakata City. |
The eyes of the children of Shimoyahagi Preschool began to sparkle when JCU staff opened the UNICEF Children’s Mini Library box. Some of the children chose a book and began to read it themselves, some had the teachers read a book to them, and some read books together with their mothers. One boy absorbed in the pages of the Very Hungry Caterpillar gave a big smile when the school principal softly said to him, “That’s great! You got your favorite book back!”
Mihoko Nakagawa, the head of public relations for the JCU Great East Japan Earthquake Emergency Assistance Headquarters, and who was also responsible for delivering the UNICEF Children’s Mini Library to Shimoyahagi Preschool, reported that, “I sensed the power that books have when I saw the children jump for joy yelling, ‘Look at all the books!’ There may still be children that suffered harsh experiences, or that are still suffering such experiences, as a result of the disaster. Nevertheless, the UNICEF Children’s Mini Library project, which was a result of the support from people all over Japan, makes children in the disaster area happy.”
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| © Japan Committee for UNICEF |
| Shimoyahagi Preschool in Rikuzentakata City. |
Rui Nomoto, a JCU staff member that has been involved in assistance activities for two weeks in Iwate Prefecture, commented that, “Seeing children look so happy reading books from the UNICEF Children’s Mini Library made me feel so wonderful that these books have made it this far. I plan to continue assessing the needs and expanding assistance activities to areas that have yet to be reached.”
Ms. Umeki emphasized, “I want to make the kindergarten a place that is safe and fun for children. The tsunami came just after the older children went on a springtime scavenger hunt as a part of their final field trip. Today you will find rubble still scattered around the town, but this area is usually very calm and beautiful. In spring, the children hunt for tadpoles and flowers. I believe that Rikuzentakata will reconstruct itself and return to being a town that is safe and fun for the children.”
Around Shimoyahagi Preschool the blooming of mountain cherry trees and narcissuses announce the coming of spring. JCU will continue to exert every effort to assistance activities so that the UNICEF Children’s Mini Library project is able to deliver smiles to the faces of even more children in the disaster area.
| Receiving Prefecture |
Type of Emergency Supplies |
Arrival Date |
Quantity | Donating Company |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miyagi | Water | 19 Mar. | 12,288 bottles |
VanaH Co., Ltd. | Two-liter plastic bottles |
| Fukushima | Water | 22 Mar. | 12,672 bottles |
VanaH Co., Ltd. | Two-liter plastic bottles |
| Miyagi | Underwear for boys and girls | 22 Mar. | 200,000 | ||
| Iwate | Underwear for boys and girls | 23 Mar. | 30,000 | ||
| Fukushima | Water | 23 Mar. | 4,680 bottles |
KIRIN MC DANONE WATERS Co., Ltd. | Two-liter plastic bottles |
| Miyagi | Children’s shoes | 23 Mar. | 10,000 pairs |
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| Miyagi | RChildren’s diapers | 24 Mar. | 80 packs | P&G Japan | |
| Iwate | Children’s underwear | 24 Mar. | 9,700 | ||
| Fukushima | Water | 24 Mar. | 12,288 bottles |
VanaH Co., Ltd. | Two-liter plastic bottles |
| Iwate | Shoes | 26 Mar | 1,404 pairs | Achilles Corporation | |
| Iwate | Underwear for boys and girls | 27 Mar. | 28,266 | ||
| Iwate | Boots | 27 Mar. | 7,462 pairs | ||
| Iwate | Wipes | 28 Mar. | 1,200 | P&G Japan | For babies |
| Miyagi | Recreation kits Early Childhood Development kits |
2 Apr. | 50 of each | Procured from the UNICEF Supply Division | |
| Iwate | Recreation kits Early Childhood Development kits |
2 Apr. | 50 of each | Procured from the UNICEF Supply Division | |
| Miyagi | Book bags | 6 Apr. | 70 | Nihon New Bag Chain | |
| Iwate | Book bags | 6 Apr. | 340 | Seiban | |
| Miyagi | Schoolbags | 8 Apr. | 18,000 | Procured from the UNICEF Supply Division | |
| Iwate | Schoolbags | 8 Apr. | 18,000 | Procured from the UNICEF Supply Division | |
| Miyagi | Personal security buzzers (for crime prevention purposes) | 8 Apr. | 5,000 | ||
| Iwate | Personal security buzzers (for crime prevention purposes) | 8 Apr. | 5,000 | ||
| Fukushima | Water | 11 Apr. | 1,536 bottles | VanaH Co., Ltd. | Two-liter plastic bottles |
| Miyagi | Replenishments for recreation kits | 12 Apr. | 60 sets | ||
| Miyagi | Miniature toy cars | 12 Apr. | Approx. 1,200 | TAKARA TOMY | |
| Sagamihara* | Water | 12 Apr. | 12,288 bottles | VanaH Co., Ltd. | Two-liter plastic bottles |
| Miyagi | Play mats | 13 Apr. | Two types; 80 of each type | IKEA | |
| Miyagi | Drawing sets | 13 Apr. | 60 sets | IKEA | |
| Iwate | Chairs (for 3-5 year olds) | 14 Apr. | 75 | ||
| Iwate | Tables (for 6 people) | 14 Apr. | 11 | ||
| Iwate | Low tables | 14 Apr. | 9 | ||
| Iwate | Notebooks and stationery sets for primary and junior high school students | 15. Apr. | 16,700 sets | ||
| Miyagi | 183 computers | 18-21 Apr. | 3 computers at 61 locations | Distributed to kindergartens, primary, junior high and high schools affected by the disaster as well as their new locations | |
| Miyagi | Copier/fax machines | 18-21 Apr. | 57 | Distributed to kindergartens, primary, junior high and high schools affected by the disaster as well as their new locations | |
| Miyagi | Printers | 18-21 Apr. | 61 | Distributed to kindergartens, primary, junior high and high schools affected by the disaster as well as their new locations |
*Areas receiving disaster victims.
*In certain cases some supplies may be taken from prefectural supply storage warehouses and distributed to shelters and disaster sites in other prefectures.
As of 9:00 a.m. on 20 April 2011 (compiled by the Information and Public Affairs Division).