[IWATE, JAPAN, 16 August 2011]
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| “I pray that everyone will be happy again.” |
On the night of 11 August, marking five months after the Great East Japan Earthquake, “Lights of Hope” filled the town of Otsuchi. “Lights of Hope” was an event put on mainly by a group of volunteers and the student body of Otsuchi High School with the objective of “gently shining light on towns without electricity and the hearts of disaster victims, which can also easily lose their light, to move toward reconstruction.” The children used plastic bottles to make lanterns on which they inscribed messages that they wanted to share, such as how they want Otsuchi to change, their hopes and their dreams. The candles were then lit at six different locations around town. At one of the locations, Otsuchi Preschool, a picture of Anpanman (a popular cartoon character) was even drawn onto the plastic candleholder.
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| Otsuchi High School students and volunteers preparing for the event. |
One student from Otsuchi High School that was assisting with event preparations commented, “We want to pay respect to the people that lost their lives in the disaster. Also, in order to encourage everyone to continue to work hard towards reconstruction, we are making these lanterns so as to represent everyone’s thoughts and prayers. I hope that today’s festival will be one to remember.” A man that travelled all the way from Hanamaki to see if he could help after being called on by a friend, told us, “If everyone comes together and cooperates I am sure that we can achieve something great. That is what festivals are all about, and I think that mindset is very important. People are full of hope and possibility, so I want to see them hurry up and put that to use. I wasn’t directly affected by the disaster, but my hope is to see a smile on everyone’s face.”
Students from Otsuchi High School told us about their expectations for Lights of Hope: “I hope that this event will help Otsuchi will become a brighter place sooner.” “I understand that Lights of Hope won’t rebuild the town, but I hope it motivates the people.” “We are grateful to a lot of people, so I plan to light up the word “SMILE” at the main venue so that everyone that has supported us, and all of the disaster victims, will be able to smile.”
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| The main venue at Otsuchi Station. | ||
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| “I pray that Otsuchi will become a beautiful place.” |
The main venue was set up in front of Otsuchi Station. The station building itself was washed away in the tsunami, and the area is still surrounded by rubble, but amidst the clutter there is a banner that read “Candle-lit Messages – Shine on Otsuchi! – ” and lanterns were arranged to spell out the word “SMILE”. It was 6:42 p.m. and the town had become dark as there are no streetlamps; however, lanterns inscribed with the messages of supporters shined the night on.
Mamoru Tokai, a member of the committee that set up Lights of Hope, stared at the candles as he told us, “I am so happy that we did this. We had a lot of people watching us. We will continue to push forward one step and a time.”
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| “Let us be one.” | “Let Otsuchi rebuild itself to what it was before.” | “Let the missing persons get home soon. Let us quickly forget about the tsunami. Let the ocean return to normal.” |
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| “Let everyone be happy again!!” | “Thank you for the support. Otsuchi will get over this!” | “Let us move towards tomorrow.” |
All photo credits: © Japan Committee for UNICEF/2011
| 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 | ||
| Fukushima | Notebooks and stationery sets | 16 Apr. | 390 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 | 29 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 | |
| Miyagi | 2 copiers; 2 computers; 2 printers | May | For Higashi-Matsushima Day-Care Center and Watari Day-Care Center | ||
| Iwate | Water receiving tank, water purifier tank, water supply tank | May construction | |||
| Miyagi | Solar-powered vaccine refrigerator | 18 May | |||
| Fukushima | Fans | 30 May | 112 | Minamisoma City Board of Education | |
| Fukushima | Masks | 30 May | 100,000 | Minamisoma City Board of Education | |
| Iwate | 1 copy machine | 2 June | Preschool | ||
| Miyagi | Rain coats | 4 June | 1,000 | ||
| Saitama* | Shoes | 15 June | 460 pairs | Converse Footwear Co., Ltd. | |
| Fukushima | Fans | 21 June | 21 | Minamisoma City Board of Education | |
| Miyagi | Jerseys for teachers and windbreakers for students (various sizes) | June | Akashi Hifuku Kogyo Co., Ltd | Junior high schools in Kesennuma City (6 schools) | |
| Miyagi | Used digital piano | June | 1 | ||
| Miyagi | Digital scale | 6 July | 200 | Ishinomaki City Offices | |
| Miyagi | Fans | 6 July | 5 | ||
| Miyagi | Child-size tables and chairs; toys | 22 July | IKEA | ||
| Iwate | Candles for events | 23 July | |||
| Iwate | Wall-hanging fans | 1 August | 200 | ||
| Iwate | Recreation kit replenishments | Regular | |||
| Fukushima | Fans | 2 August | 95 | Minamisoma City Board of Education | |
| Miyagi | Hand sterilizer | 3 August | 4,680 | Lion Corporation | Preschools, etc. |
| Miyagi | Antibacterial freshener | 3 August | 3,600 | Magnet Corporation; Antimicrobial Technology Co., Ltd.; Jutech Corporation; Clean Techno Co., Ltd.; Mitani Valve Co., Ltd.; HY Corporation | Preschools, etc. |
-Number of UNICEF Children’s Mini Libraries distributed: Approximately 240,000 books to over 1,900 locations (as of 4 August 2011).
-Number of children that have participated in the UNICEF “Let’s Play! The Outdoors Playtime Project” in Fukushima Prefecture (including planned numbers): More than 31,000 (as of 4 August).
*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 4 August 2011 (compiled by the Information and Public Affairs Division).