World Compassion Network Staff Recounts Trip To Japan
World Compassion Network Staff Recounts Trip To Japan
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Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
World Compassion Network Staff Recounts Trip To JapanTwo local World Compassion Network staff returned Thursday night from Japan after delivering cash and assessing the tsunami and earthquake situation.
Joe Wilkey, World Compassion Network executive director, and Greg Rauen, WCN disaster relief coordinator, arrived in Tokyo March 19.
WCN is a faith-based organization that provides disaster relief and is funded by individuals, churches and corporations.
They originally left for Japan March 17, but returned to Indiana from Chicago. They were told the radiation zone increased in Japan so they couldn't get to where they wanted to, so they drove back to Indiana.
They then left from Indiana to Japan March 19.
Wilkey said when they arrived in Tokyo they met up with a team called Christian Relief, Assistance, Support and Hope to assess the earthquake and tsunami situation.
They went through orientation with team leaders and drove to Sendai, which is 50 miles north of Fukushima, where the reactors were, to assist with relief efforts.
A tsunami spawned by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake slammed Japan's eastern coast March 11, killing hundreds of people as it swept away boats, cars and home while widespread fires burned out of control.
The most recent earthquake was a 6.5 earthquake that shook eastern Japan off the quake-ravaged coast this morning, prompting Japan to issue another tsunami alert.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, but the Japan Meteorological Agency announced that a tsunami of up to 1.6 feet may wash into Miyagi Prefecture.
Wilkey and Rauen visited churches in the effected area and evacuation shelters and talked to the earthquake victims to assist with the March 11 earthquake.
"I saw total destruction of village towns on the coast that was wiped out," Wilkey said.
Homes were flattened by the earthquake, and cars were stacked on top of each other in Ishinumaki, 30 miles northeast of Sendai.
When they visited shelters, Wilkey said, they could sense the devastation but gratitude of the people.
"Imagine you had a nice home and family and now live in a gymnasium with hundreds of other people, and your living room consists of chairs marked off in an area," Wilkey said.
Some of the people at the shelter didn't know if their loved ones were dead or alive.
Wilkey and Rauen worked with other volunteers to provide spiritual counseling to the earthquake victims.
Wilkey said, despite devastation, there was order and respect.
Wilkey said he saw earthquake victims standing in a gasoline line quietly and patiently despite there being a shortage of gas.
"The thing that makes this earthquake the worst I have seen in years is the logistics," Wilkey said.
Wilkey said it was difficult to get needed items such as gasoline to those in Japan.
WCN had $10,000 in cash to begin to purchase supplies for the earthquake victims in Japan. The funds came from WCN's emergency disaster relief fund raised by the organization.
The funds went toward purchasing underwear, clothing, food and supplies for the relief effort.
"People fled from their homes and all they had was the clothes on their back, but they needed underwear the most," Rauen said.
Rauen said the physical suffering was a tragedy as well as the loss of immediate possessions, food and clothing and family photos and artifacts.
Rauen said there have been Christian American missionaries laboring in Japan all these years who will need prayer and support.
"This is the time to strike in helping the people there understand that the local Christian churches came in to sustain them from misery," Rauen said.
Wilkey and Rauen were staying in an apartment that was over the CRASH headquarters when they experienced an aftershock on the seventh floor on March 22 early in the morning that lasted 30 seconds.
"We had immediate recognition of what it was, and glad we were in a Japanese-built building," Wilkey said.
They said the worst aftershock they experienced was when they were at the airport Thursday morning in Japan ready to return to Indiana.
"We were an hour from boarding time, and I was sitting in a dining area, and I saw a pillar moving and the floor moving," Wilkey said.
"The strange thing was the floor was moving like a wave," Rauen said.
Airline officials came on the speaker, informing passengers that there had been an aftershock, but everything was fine.
They also experienced two other minor aftershocks while in Japan.
Wilkey said some of the earthquake victims living in the shelter will never be able to return to their homes.
"We want to continue to raise funds to sustain the effort until they can get back on their feet," Wilkey said.
Wilkey said Japan is a well-developed country with great capabilities of recovering in times of disasters, but the earthquake and tsunami were so overwhelming, outside help is needed.
People locally wanting to donate to the Japan relief efforts can visit www.w-c-n.org
