By Nick Ubels (Online Editor) – Email
An ambitious fundraising campaign that will send humanitarian aid to victims of the recent 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that has devastated areas of northern Japan is well-underway at UFV.
Organizer Ayaka Hatekeyama set up a donation booth near Clikz Café during the afternoon of March 14 – only a few days after the disaster struck – and plans to collect donations on behalf of the Canadian Red Cross for three weeks with the help of fellow Japanese students attending the university, many of whom have friends or family living in areas affected by the quake and the resulting tsunami.
“Our friends in Japan are still missing, so we have to do something in Canada,” she said.
On March 19, The Globe and Mail reported the death toll in Japan had surpassed 8,000 people, while at least 12,272 are still missing and approximately 452,000 are living in shelters in the wake of the disaster.
The donation table as well as the surrounding windows and walls are covered in handmade signs imploring passers-by to “Pray for Japan” and “Save Japan,” while volunteers make origami cranes and collect contributions that have totalled nearly $4,000 in the group’s first five days of fundraising.
Hatekeyama explained that although it has been difficult to balance organizing the fundraising effort with her studies at UFV and her job at Little Japan – a local restaurant – she has received plenty of support from others.
“I don’t have enough time to always be at the booth and do homework, but they are helping me,” she said, gesturing to a group of student volunteers.
One of the volunteers is Midori Takeda, a UFV student from the Ehime Prefecture in southern Japan, who explained why the group has been making paper cranes. According to Takeda, folding 1000 origami cranes is often said to make a person’s wish come true.
“Usually when someone gets sick or gets hurt, we make 1,000 cranes to cheer them up,” she said. “In Japan, cranes are also symbols of peace.”
Takeda urged students to give whatever they can spare, even if it is just the change from their coffee.
“I am also a student and I don’t have money… but a small amount will become a big amount if everyone gives,” she explained. “I really appreciate everybody who thinks about Japan so much. Everyone has been so kind.”
The cause is emotionally-charged for many of the organizers who have a personal connection to the tragedy.
Ayaka Hatekeyama said that she felt, “really worried and scared” when she first found out about the earthquake. She initially had trouble contacting her family in Sapporo because the phone-lines were tied up with other callers also trying to get in touch with their loved ones. Once Hatekeyama received word of their safety, however, her relief became mixed with uneasiness as she remembered her other friends who were still in danger.
“My hometown is kind of far away from the earthquake and tsunami,” she explained. “I was… thinking, ‘It may be okay,’ but some of my friends were in dangerous places so I was mixed up.”
Many of the Japanese students involved in the fundraising effort have stories of a friend or loved one with whom they had lost contact at some point during the aftermath of the disaster. Midori Takeda did not hear from her close friend Koichi until four days after the tsunami struck his hometown of Sendai, while Yuji Shimizu, a fourth-year business student at UFV, described his concern for the safety of his friend Takashi – a former UFV student who also lives in Sendai.
“It’s hard to imagine, right? He was studying here, at the university,” said Shimizu. “I met him last year, in 2010. Now, he is working at a finance company in Sendai, and he said that he experienced… the earthquake and tsunami. I just sent an email to him and he wrote that he is okay right now.”
Since October, Shimizu has been involved with organizing Japanese cultural activities at U House every Friday. Last week’s event became a fundraising opportunity as members offered plates of homemade Japanese-style curry chicken for a donation of $2 towards the cause.
Around 100 people attended the luncheon, including Owen Orsetti, a Bachelor of Arts student at UFV, who noted that the Japanese students have been “amazing” at organizing events to help the relief effort.
“Today there are people of all ages living in shelters in northern Japan without power, heat, sometimes water, and the area is currently experiencing an unusual cold snap with temperatures as low as minus eight degrees Celsius. If it is in your capacity to give even a small amount to help get these people some kind of relief and security, I sincerely hope that you would consider it,” he continued.
According to Canadian Red Cross representative Bas Brusche, all financial contributions to the organization’s Japanese relief fund will be forwarded to the Japanese Red Cross, who will determine where the funds can be best used.
“Currently, that is still search and rescue, providing first aid, and medical services,” he explained. “It will slowly shift toward more recovery-type activities and also providing basic necessities to people like shelter, housing, food, et cetera.”
Brusche explained that it is difficult to assess exactly how great the need is in Japan right now, but the organization expects that financial assistance from abroad will be necessary throughout the recovery phase.
“The Japanese Red Cross has said to us, ‘Please help us financially.’ They are well-organized, so they can do the first response – but mind you, the recovery from this disaster will take months if not years, and the scale of the devastation is truly immense.”
As of March 18, Canadians had donated $9.5 million nationwide, and 170 fundraising events had registered the Canadian Red Cross as their beneficiary in British Columbia alone.
Hatekeyama pointed out that in the face of hardship, victims of the disaster have been altruistic, with most news outlets reporting surprisingly few cases of looting in areas where people have been forced to evacuate their homes.
“[The people of Japan] share everything if it’s an emergency,” she said. “I’m proud of that.”
Those who wish to contribute can visit the donation table at Clikz Café from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday until April 1, or one of the many boxes the group plans to set up at local businesses and restaurants over the weekend. There will be a second fundraising event held at U House on Thursday, March 31 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. featuring food donated by local Japanese restaurants, homemade refreshments, the construction of a giant paper crane, and more to be announced.
