One Life at a Time
行方が分からなくなっていた、仙台市若林区、荒浜地区在住の、友人のおじさん、おばさん、そして、９０歳のおばあさんが８日目に見つかりました。（３／１８）
日本語訳は英語の後ですので、スクロールダウンして下さい。
そして最期で申し訳有りませんが、許可をえて、コピペした、友人でNP学生の方の日本での活動状況を紹介します。
On the 8th day since the quake and tsunami completely engulfed the area her aunt and uncle lived and owned strawberry patch, Miiko continued to hope to one day find their names on one of the posting of survivors at one of the evacuation centers in northern Japan. What happened to her aunt and uncle and how their lives were preserved is beyond anyone's imagination.
The good news is, they are found alive on 3/18/11, Japanese time. I would not torture any reader to the suspense of not knowing. It blew us all away and my husband and I just cried when we receive the news.
Miiko's cousin who is a fire fighter from Tokyo area was allowed to go into the disaster stricken are yesterday personally, to locate the home where Miiko's aunt/uncle and actually their 90 yr old mother lived. The entire area was flattened and washed out by tsunami leaving only one home standing in a large area isolated by massive debris making it unaccessible from other areas. When Miiko's cousin, the fire fighter approached the house, he may have been fearing for the worst, and anticipating the disappointment. I can not fathom the complexity of emotions that the people of Japan is enduring right now. Those of us who know Miiko personally and know how anguished she has been since 3/11, also felt her pain, her family's hurt right along side of her.
Miiko's cousin walked in the front of the house on the first floor which was covered with thick layers of mud with pieces of everything strewn over everywhere and called out to upstairs, 'Oba-chan,, are you up there? ". To his amazement, the voice answered, "We are here!!!!!".
Miiko's aunt and uncle along with their 90 yr old mother were alive, although mentally shut down and distraught for an obvious reason, and weakened to a degree, physically unharmed.
How their home was not swept up when everyone else's home was washed away including their neighbors is unknown. It was simply a miracle.
Miiko shared with me that her aunt and uncle rebuild their home a few years ago with much higher foundation than average homes in the area. Their home stands on much thicker and stronger concrete foundation, according to Miiko's description. They own beautiful strawberry farm and the earthquake hit the day before the relatives and friends were to arrive to help the couple pack and ship their strawberry harvest. On Thursday afternoon, Miiko's aunt and uncle were at the strawberry patch near the coast line when the earth shook with magnitude 9.0. They hopped in their small truck (like the mini truck only hold two people) to leave to return home hoping to get in a bigger car to carry all three of them. When they arrived home, they saw tsunami coming, the wall of water approaching toward them leaving no choice but to run in the house and go upstairs. MIiko's aunt rushed up stairs as fast as she could to safety, hoping that the water would not reach the top floor. The uncle, who is around 60 yrs old himself, had to carry the 90 yr old mother to the higher floor. Miiko said that she initially thought to hear that somehow, 90 yr old lady got up the stairs under a rush of adrenaline. NO, the water actually floated Miiko's Uncle carrying his 90 yr mother on his back to the second floor with ease when the water came in. Can you imagine that? The tsunami went through their first floor of their home.
The sad moment was to see from the upstairs window some of their neighbors being pulled away by the flooding water. The voice of one of their far relative yelling for help rang in their ears making them literally unable to speak or move for a long time. In fear and uncertainty, without running water, electricity, and any other mode of communication, the three spent the first night surrounded by water and mud. The following morning revealed them a completely devastated area with only their home standing in the middle of the water, completely isolated from any modern amenities or civilization. When they opened the front door, muddy water was everywhere. Miikos' uncle saw things floating around their home and he examined them closely. What floated to his home were some bags of potato chips and other food apparently swam off the nearby convenience store shelves. He gathered what he had using the long laundry pole which is usually 7-8 feet in length. He heard no voice, no sign of lives anywhere around him and his home. Just the floating food was the visitor to his home. Who sent that to them? I think I know who. He and his wife examined the first floor where their kitchen area was located next. Mud covered the whole first floor since a strong gush of tsunami went right through the level but did not wash away everything in it. It would be difficult to keep a 90 year old alive let alone a 60 yr old for 7 or 8 days without running water. Water left what they survived on for the next 7 days.
What do you do when you have a group of people coming to help with major project at your home, such as packing and shipping harvested strawberries ? Normally, we would buy extra food and drinks to serve the helpers that would be there with you for the day or days, right?
That is exactly what Miiko's aunt and uncle did. They had boxes of canned drinks and extra food. The detail is not known to me right now at the time of this writing, however, it was relayed to me that they drank the canned juice an soft drinks to survive.
Miiko rejoices today for how her relatives are all accounted for and she and I spent some precious time together on the phone praising how God gave her peace in her heart.
The story does not end. The hardship is not over for these family members. Actually, at this moment, the three are still in the home isolated. When Miiko's cousin, the fire fighter called in for a rescue service, he was told that if they were not at risk for life and death, they could not spare a rescue crew at that moment. Miikos' cousin left them with sufficient supplies such as blankets to keep warm. 90 yr old lady is in shock but physically stable. I am praying that they can be rescued by someone soon to comfortable place but evacuation facility is crowded by other home less evacuees. No easy answer is given to the cousin who wanted to rescue the three. He had to leave them. Miiko's aunt and uncle reported that they heard ambulance in the distance several times in the last week but noone ever approached close enough for them to make themselves heard. Of course, no electricity and their phone does not work so what could they have done?
I can not imagine the joy Miiko would feel when she is able to be reunited with her relatives who are enduring so much. I am in awe of what happened and I felt that their story deserved FOX news or NBC or yet CNN but my humble effort to right about them has to do for now.
I am more hopeful that there are many more elderly trapped in their own homes and still alive in isolated region unreached by the rescue team. We hope to hear more stories of Japanese thought to have vanished but are patiently waiting to be rescued.........and to be united with their loved ones,,,,,,,,one life at a time.
友人の従兄弟が東京消防隊員という事で、行方の分からなくなっていたおじ、おばを探しに荒浜へ１８日に戻った。なんと、彼等の家のみが、何も無くなった荒野とも言える荒浜地区にまだ立っていた。ぽつんと一件だけ。彼は、いえへ はいって、二回へ向かって、おばちゃん、、、いるか、、、、と大声で叫んだ。すると、なんと、”いだー（いるよー）”と聞こえ慣れた声が聞こえたのだ。。。。
津波が来たのはイチゴ畑をいとなむ、伯父伯母、夫婦が収穫、出荷をする前日だった。友人の両親も他の親戚や友人も土曜日には集まるはずだった。そのために、余分の食料品や缶の飲み物が買いだめしてあり、箱のまま、一回に置かれてあった。
地震がおきたとき、いちごばたけにいた夫婦は急いで、軽トラにのり、家は戻って、自家用車に乗り換え、９０歳の母親をのせて、避難するつもりだった。しかし、家へ着いたとき、津波が見えた、目の前に。２人は家にはいって、一回の窓をあけてまず、おばさんが二回に駆け上がった。おじさんが９０歳のお母さんを担いで上がろうとしたとき、水がはいってきて、ふわっと二階に上がってしまった。。。。。そして、２回に水ははいらなかったのだ。。。。。
彼等の家は数年前に再建されたばっかりで、何かの理由で普通よりもたかい、ファウンデーションの上に立てられて他の家よりも、高くなっていたという。
二階のまどから、知り合いの方が、悲しい声をあげて、みずにさらわれるのを見たかれらはショックで身動きができなかったという。真っ暗な中で、恐怖につつまれながらも、３人は一夜を過ごした。朝、明るくなったときに見た物は、完全に何も無くなった荒浜地区。そこには自分たちの家だけがなぜか、ぽつんとたっていたという。一回のドアを開けると泥水がはいってきた。周りはみずうみのようだったがぷかぷかと何かが浮いていたという。どこかのコンビにかスーパーから流されて来たポテトチップス等の食料品が浮いていたのだ。物干竿で、届く物を引き寄せて、家に取り込んだ。
なんと一回は津波が通っていたが、箱にはいっていた、収穫にあつまる親戚用の缶ジュースが、流されずに、残っていたのだ。奇跡。彼等は、ショック状態の９０歳の母親をいたわり、８日を過ごしたのだ。ときどき、救急車が聞こえたという。しかし、レスキュー隊はかれらが叫んだりできる距離にはだれも一週間来なかったという。
この事実は、私に希望を与えた。。。気仙沼町にいるおばさんと、連絡がとれていない日本人がナッシュビルにいらっしゃる。山のほうに住んでおられるので、おそらく避難所には来られていないと思われる。もしかしたら、どこへも行けないだけで、食べ物さえ有れば、家でまっておられるかもしれない。そして、そういうお年寄りが沢山いて下さるのではないだろうか．．．そして、誰かが助けにドアをノックするのを毎日まっているのではないだろうか。。。。。
友人の伯父、伯母、と９０歳のおばあちゃん、、救出されなかった。元気でいきている、生死をさまよっていない、つまり、救急を要さない場合には救出隊をだす余裕はないのだ。それもわかる。でも、いつまでも孤立した場所では生活はできない。。。。復旧のために私は祈り続けたい。そして、出来る事をして行きたい。足らない文章で申し訳ないでも。。書かずにはいられない。
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿仙台から、NP学生の友人からの報告＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
一度関東に戻ってそれからまた再出動するかもしれませんがこれから本部と調整です
Xさんも大活躍しています
私たちがいたのは気仙沼に近い階上はしがみというところの避難所で１２００人くらいの方が過ごされているところです
私は１４日に現地入りしてほぼ立ち上げから入りました
震災から１週間して亜急性期も脱しつつあります
被害の少ない病院も外来を再開しつつあります
ほかの地域のことは情報が確実ではないので流しませんが
慢性期の継続治療と，今後長期の避難所生活に起因する公衆衛生的な問題，ストレスに焦点をおく必要があると見受けます
ほかの地域はまだ孤立しているところはまだまだあり，そこまでアウトリーチで来ていないところもあるので
その地域の人達はまだ医療の手が届いてないと思います
ただいわゆる緊急度の高い方はこの時点では残念ながら亡くなっている可能性が高く
今は慢性期の人が薬がなくなり増悪，環境により状態が悪くなってきているというところでしょうか
そろそろ移動を又始めます
取り急ぎご報告まで
Comments
thank you for asking. My dear friend Miiko just left for Japan today. She is hoping to visit with all her family members and to visit evacuation facilities in her birth town.