[TOKYO, Japan, 31 May 2011]
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| Sporting goods washed away in the tsunami are scattered around inside and around the completely devastated school. |
On 20 May, the 63rd Iwate Prefecture Inter-High School Athletic Competition was held at the Iwate Prefectural Sports Park Athletic Stadium in Morioka City. Aiming to compete in the August inter-high school competition, high school athletes have been battling it out in preliminary matches throughout the prefecture. The Japan Committee for UNICEF (JCU) is providing assistance for the Iwate Prefecture Inter-High School Athletic Competition so that children from the disaster-stricken coastal region of the prefecture can demonstrate the accomplishments of their months of training and aim to participate in the national-level inter-high school competition in August.
On 29 May at the former Ofunato Agricultural High School, members of Takata High School girls softball club, located in Rikuzentakata City, practiced for their first preliminary match, which is scheduled for 4 June. Takata High School was severely damaged in the 11 March earthquake and tsunami. At the moment of the earthquake, the girls softball club immediately stopped their practice, which was taking place on Ground 1 in front of the school building, and evacuated to Ground 2 located on a small mountain behind the school. The girls said that they watched from Ground 2 as the tsunami came piling through, tearing apart their school building.
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| Takata High School was completely destroyed by the tsunami | Classrooms vanished without a trace. | Second and third year students from the Takata High School girls softball club. |
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| Girls softball club members laughing as they answer our interview questions after their practice. |
In their interviews, the girls were quoted saying, “Water rose all the way to the third floor of the building. If we hadn’t been playing softball, I am sure that we would have been washed away in the tsunami.” Another student said, “That night eight of us slept under one blanket. It was so cold that I woke up every two hours.” Regardless of these hardships, one girl smiled as she told us how beautiful the stars were that night. JCU staff member Maya Saeki interviewed the girls and says that she was surprised by how cheerful they were. She commented, “They are not running from reality, but facing it, embracing it, and doing their best to be cheerful and strong. I felt that these are the type of people that will lead this region to reconstruction.”
The softball team says that it is their job to communicate this experience to future generations.
One of the girls commented, “Even when I am an old woman, I am going to tell my grandkids about what happened. We have to tell people that a tsunami will follow earthquakes and that they must escape to higher ground.”
All photo credits: ©Japan Committee for UNICEF
| 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 | Children’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 | 6-7 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 | ||
| Miyagi | Minicar | 8 Apr. | 3 cars | ||
| Miyagi | Nutritional supplements | From early April | 4,000 bottles | ||
| 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 | Preschool-size chairs, tables and low tables | 14 Apr. | 75 chairs; 11 tables; 9 low tables | Donated to preschools, primary schools, junior high schools and high schools in the disaster area as well as their new locations | |
| Miyagi | Mopeds | 15 Apr. | 5 | ||
| Iwate | Notebooks and stationery sets for primary and junior high school students | 15. Apr. | 16,700 sets | ||
| Miyagi | 183 computers; 57 copiers and fax machines; 61 printers | 18-21 Apr. | Distributed to preschools, primary schools, junior high schools and high schools in the disaster area as well as their new locations | ||
| Fukushima | Movable blackboards | 21 Apr. | 10 | ||
| Fukushima | Temporary toilets | 22 Apr. | 20 | ||
| Iwate | Geiger counters | 28 Apr. | 14 | For schools in Soma City | |
| Iwate | Dressing room/ breastfeeding partition system | 28 Apr. | 21 sets | ||
| Saitama* | Milk | From late April | Shelter in Futabamachi, Kazo City | ||
| Saitama* | Yogurt | From early May | Danone Japan | Shelter in Futabamachi, Kazo City | |
| Iwate | Color pencils (120 sets) and paint (240 sets) | 13 May | |||
| Iwate | Student lamps | 14 May | 15 | ||
| Iwate | Stationery sets | 16 May | 840 sets | ||
| Fukushima | Lockers | 16 May | 22 sets | For the Board of Education of Minamisoma City | |
| Fukushima | Computers | 16 May | 1 | Ishikawa Town Board of Education |
-Number of UNICEF Children’s Mini Libraries distributed: Approximately 110,000 books to over 350 locations (as of 16 May 2011)
-Number of children that have participated in the UNICEF “Let’s Play! The Outdoors Playtime Project” in Fukushima Prefecture: Approximately 5,600 (as of 26 May)
*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 16 May 2011 (compiled by the Information and Public Affairs Division).