A letter from Yukiko Altman in Japan
March 14, 2011
Greetings
Thank you for your prayers and concerns for the people in Japan.
In Tokyo, we had a rather strong aftershock in the morning today. The epicenter was close to Tokyo, much closer than the original one.
We have been experiencing aftershocks (weak to strong) rather frequently since Friday afternoon. These aftershocks may last for a month or so, experts say.
On Friday afternoon (the 11th), we had more than the usual number of people in the HELP building. One regular volunteer, two Japanese ex-residents and a young child (all Japanese) who came to visit their HOME (HELP) for chats, four non-Japanese (ex-residents) who were attending a Japanese class and their babies, two volunteer Japanese teachers, and two volunteer baby sitters. With four current residents, our director, three caseworkers and a kitchen staff, we had 25 people in the building.
When we felt the first weak tremor, one of the staff, as planned, went to our front entrance to open the door to secure an escape path. When I went out of the office to join the crowd in the dining room who was ready to go under the tables, I saw the entrance door open and decided to step out the door for a few seconds to spy outside around a large parking area next to our building to make sure that no one was around to come into the building, just when the quake became very strong. I could not go back to the rattling entrance (mentally, I guess). I ran to the middle of the parking area trying to be away from houses and apartment buildings.
I was alone in the large parking area. I saw three parked vans swaying back and forth ready to jump forward. Cats ran out from the bushes. A flock of small birds flew away from a tall tree. Crows jumped into the air. Electric lines were swinging. Nothing to hold onto, I was worried about when the concrete ground would crack open.
After a long big quake was over, all the people came out from the building and spent one hour or so (fortunately a sunny, warm day) in the parking place. We decided to come back into the building because the sun disappeared behind a tall building and chilly winds started to come around.
Our building is old. In February, we had an earthquake qualification test, semi-required by the Japanese government. The result was that the building needs to have minor construction work done to meet the earthquake resistance of level 5 on the Japanese scale. Fortunately, this earthquake of level 5+ did not vindicate this test result.
Volunteer teachers and babysitters left for home, but we do not think they could make it home on Friday.
The rest of us had a simple supper (even though the Tokyo gas supply line was working, we did not use the gas just in case) and we slept together on a futon in the dining room. One baby child was too excited to sleep, making all sorts of happy noise way into the middle of the night.
We staff members feel grateful that these non-Japanese mothers were with us, not being alone with their small children to go through this unusually uncertain and terrifying night in a small apartment in a country where they cannot communicate 100 percent in Japanese.
Today, our director, Filipino staff and Thai staff could not come to work, because they live outside of Tokyo and their train lines stopped operating. I don’t know how long this condition will last, but I am grateful that I will be needed here and will able to share this hard time with the wonderful staff at HELP even after I retire on March 31.
You probably know that the Tokyo Electric Company has been trying to ration electric supplies to Kanto area by cutting off electricity three hours a day, to avoid massive blackouts since the nuclear plants and some thermal power plants are not operating. Central Tokyo is not affected by this plan, so HELP staff do not need to spend extra worrisome energy to prepare for the inconvenience of those three hours. We don’t know how long this project of the electric company will last, but I hardly hear any complaints so far since people who were spared of this tragedy — and don’t know what can be done to help the survivors — believe that they are doing something positive to share survivors’ unthinkable devastation by experiencing this small inconvenience. My apartment area is also in central Tokyo. To support the project, I try not to use any heat in my apartment by wearing extra-warm clothes. (I go to bed dressed in the clothes to be ready to run out of the apartment anytime in the night. I’ve packed important things such as my medication, passport …)
(I’ve just felt a weak tremor.)
Regarding the nuclear plants’ explosion, we try to trust whatever Edano Chief Cabinet Secretary has been trying to explain to us and ignore the sensational media reports from outside of Japan. I am sorry to hear that quite a few expats are leaving Japan.
Today is the fourth day! Five major TV stations still keep reporting only the quake-tsunami-related news all day long. (Four commercial TV stations started using commercials today). Today, each station seems to focus on rescue operations, relief activities and on scenes where people (survivors or relatives from outside of the areas) are trying to find their missing family members and relatives. There are few happy reunions. Many break down crying in front of a spot (mass of rubble) where a house they are looking for used to stand. In the rubble there was a house dog, wet and muddy, who came to a man who was filming and tried to scare him off. The camera man followed it and found the dog licking another dog and trying to protect it. The other dog was lying down, alive but barely moving.
I remember many, many survivors who face the struggle to overcome what the natural disaster has just left for countless days, weeks, months and years ahead. May all of them be given inner peace where they can feel that they are not alone but there is Someone who is always with them and who carries their burdens with them.
Please forgive me for my slow response as usual.
I did not come near the computer until today since I did not want to find my computer with problems again after 5+ level of earthquake.
Blessings,
Yukiko Altman
