A small crew of us recently went on the first of many trips up to the Tohoku cities of Ishinomaki and Onagawa to visit with the victims, help with what we could and provide them with new family photo alums. It was a huge success and we are looking for supporters now. If you want to help out and see one way your contribution can help, please contact us or visit http://photohoku.org

In an impending distaster, with just minutes to evacuate, what one treasure would you take with you?
People always answer the same: Photos
Why Photos? Because everything else is replaceable.
Photos are our live’s true treasures. They serve us as our memories by chronicling the happy moments of younger days, marking important milestones in our children’s lives, reminding us of loved ones lost. We collect them over the years and assemble them into photo albums which in turn become our own autobiographies.
Imagine the misfortune of a family losing a history of memories in the wake of tragedy like those victims in Japan affected by the events of March 11th. Thats what inspired us to start “Photohoku” a project to rebuild and restart family photo albums of those effected by distaster.

東日本大震災で車が流されるなど生活の「足」を失った被災者に自転車を届けようと、米海軍横須賀基地（神奈川県横須賀市）の将校夫妻が、基地内の放置自転車を修理して東北に送る活動を始めた。

　在日米海軍司令部将校のピーター・ラッシュさん（５２）と妻、リディアさん（５５）は、平成１８年から２年間を青森県の三沢基地で過ごし、震災後も支援物資を車に積んで東北を４回訪れた。米軍のトモダチ作戦は終わっていたが、横須賀基地の司令官や法律部門に直訴し、１カ月かけて廃車前の自転車を譲り受ける異例の許可を得た。

　放置車には丈夫なマウンテンバイクも多く「道路状況が悪い被災地で役立つはず」と約１５０台を確保し、仲間７、８人で修理を開始した。

　トラックなどで配送を手伝える人を探しており、問い合わせはリディアさん（Ｌｒｕｓｈ２５４５＠ｙａｈｏｏ．ｃｏｍ）まで。

An officer and his wife at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, have launched a program to send unclaimed bicycles from the base to people in the Tohoku region who lost their cars and other means of transportation in the quake and tsunami disaster.

Peter Rush, 52, and his wife, Lydia, 55, spent two years at the Misawa base in Aomori Prefecture starting in 2006. The couple said they have fond memories of Tohoku and made many friends there.

Since the March 11 disasters, the couple have visited Tohoku four times to deliver carloads of relief supplies. The once-familiar landscape has totally changed, with many cars submerged in fishing ports.

The couple started to think about the many bicycles left unclaimed at the Yokosuka base.

Have you been up north yet?” is a common question, six months after the compound disasters of March 11. Over 700,000 people have not only seen first-hand the devastation wrought by the tsunami in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures, they have volunteered.
While volunteers may have met with confusing and even contradictory information at first, there are now quite a few online resources to help match potential volunteers with work that still needs doing. Different government offices are running sites with volunteer information, including the graphically appealing Tasukeai Japan from the Cabinet Secretariat’s Volunteers Coordinator Office, which has general information about how to help and which towns are accepting volunteers.

東北においで！
東北エリアの、イベント、グルメ、観光名所など、この夏のお出かけ情報を東北の皆様の声とともに大紹介！ボランティア検索はエリア、日付、ボランティア内容から探せます。口コミ投稿も充実しています。

トニーと里美さんという二人の同僚と共に、東北で3日間のボランティア活動を行い、帰京したところです。震災直後に、大使館チームの一員として被災地を訪れて以来、厳しい状況下でも私たちにご協力下さった地元の方々に何か恩返しをしたいとずっと思っていました。大使館では、震災以降、24時間の業務体制を経て通常業務に戻った後も忙しい日々が続いていたのですが、比較的時間的な余裕が持てる夏になり、漸く、これまでの思いを叶える機会に恵まれました。トニーと里美さんは、英国外務省のジェレミー・ブラウン大臣 が石巻を訪問した際、現地に同行して、ピースボートによる貴重なボランティア活動を見せて頂きました。震災以降、この活動には4千人以上のボランティアの皆様が参加されています。今回、時間を有効に使い、地元の方々が必要とするお手伝いをさせて頂こうと、私たちも仲間に入れて頂くことにしました。

I’ve just returned from three days of volunteer work in Tohoku with two colleagues, Tony and Satomi. Since having deployed with the first Embassy team to travel to the disaster area after the earthquake, I had wanted to do something to repay the kindness we were shown by local people who graciously helped us at a time of great loss. The initial period of round the clock working during the crisis was followed by a period of getting work back to normal and busily trying to ensure the Embassy’s work carried on. But the relative quiet of summer was a great opportunity to finally follow through on the desire to give something back. Tony and Satomi saw the valuable work being done by Peace Boat in Ishinomaki when they visited with Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne, coordinating over 4000 volunteers since the crisis began. We decided to join them to ensure that our time would be well spent on what the local community needed.

July 4.
Making a Difference: American volunteers marked Independence Day by helping to reinforce as sense of community among Japan’s struggling survivors. NBC’s Ian William’s report, Nightly News.
7月4日、アメリカの独立記念日を被災地でのボランティアーで過ごしたひとびとがいました。

日本でモデルをしている方が東北で、ボランティアー活動の報告。
This is one models dream for healthier, happier people, in a healthier, happier world…
“There is no delight in owning anything unshared”
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