一般財団法人　連帯　東北・西南　RENTAI　TOHOKU-SEINAN

We were devastated realising the fact that on top of a number of orphans due to the Earthquake, there are so many lonely children who are victims of domestic violence. We find it appalling that such tragedies still exist in a developed, wealthy country like Japan. To explore a way to remedy the situation, we held a meeting with local people to exchange opinions.

Nine guest participants joined us Rentai Tohoku staff at the meeting, including　Mr and Mrs Hatakeyama, Mr Atsushi Sekiguchi (Uniadex Co., Ltd. His mother is a Pakistani.), Ms Yuka Shimizu, Master Daigo Fujinami (Buddhist monk), Ms Masae Kimura (Junior high school teacher), Mr Akiyoshi Kosaka (Junior high school teacher), Ms Etsuko Nitta (Junior high school teacher) and Kentaro Koyama(Junior high school teacher).

Current situation of Children's Nursing Homes in Japan

Currently, there are 599 children's nursing homes in Japan (59 in Tokyo, 38 in Osaka, 6 in Iwate) and 30,000 children are living there. Age distribution of the children is as follows: 0-3 years (n=1,406), 4-6 years (n=4,082), 7-9 years (n=5,005), 10-12 years (n=5,961), 13-15 years (n=6,852) and 16-18 years (n=4,888). The number of reports of child abuse cases is growing from 1,101 in 1990 to 17,725 in 2000, 56,000 in 2010 and even as many as 73,765 in 2015.

We discussed the situations and problems which may lead to domestic violence and the possible solutions. The lack of communication was the most critical issue pointed out by many of the participants. In order to keep up with the fast-paced society, people cannot afford to care about or communicate with others, eventually falling into the individualism. As a result, the weakest in society, children in this case, often become victims of abuse.

Though it is difficult to transform the current social structure altogether, we found it meaningful to share with the participants our concern about domestic violence. We hope that our attempts will make a small difference in the future.

On May 31^st, we organised a "Tomodachi Curry®" event at Fuji-no-Sono, a foster home in Ichinoseki and spent some good time with the children staying there.

It was a warm sunny day and we all got sweaty preparing for the event outside. Once our staff members showed children how to prepare the ingredients, some girls took the lead to help us in cooking. Children soon became friends with our staff, even starting to call them by first names. Cooking curry in such a friendly atmosphere was a great fun.

Mr Sata and other staff members became very popular and had a wonderful time surrounded by the children during the lunch. It was thanks to Mr Watanabe, vice director of the foster home, that we were able to hold the event at the institution. According to Mr Watanabe, the children enjoyed the rare occasion a great deal. We would be pleased if our event could contribute to the enlivenment of the institution in some way or other.

On May 30^th, we invited Dr Yuichi Sakai, our old friend, to the Senmaya International Club. We organised a lecture and a dinner party to provide an opportunity to exchange with local people.

Dr Sakai is the vice director of the National Center for Child Health and Development, the largest and most prestigious paediatric medical centre in Asia. The centre newly set up a project to support children who require medical care at home after completing acute treatment. Dr Sakai was appointed as the director of the project in April this year and has been working hard on it ever since. Presently, he is involved in the establishment of the first ever hospice facility for children in Japan, which is planned to open in spring 2016.

Unfortunately, due to a physicians' meeting at the local medical association, the number of doctors who joined the symposium was fewer than expected. However, those participated in the event including some local medical professionals and tsunami victims seemed to appreciate the opportunity.

Dr Sakai talked about his experiences with children in Toronto who were bravely battling against severe respiratory diseases and their families who endured the great challenge. He also introduced his efforts to set up the hospice care centre for children, which we listened to with great interest.

On April 18^th, with the purpose to provide an opportunity for the evacuees in Senmaya district to get to know each other, we organised a "Tomodachi Curry®" event and a cherry blossom viewing party in the front garden of Senmaya Branch Office of Ichinoseki City Council, with a co-operation from Senmaya Community Revitalisation Confederation.

It was a warm, refreshingly sunny day and cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Mr and Mrs Sugawara and other council staff members helped us prepare curry. Originally, we expected that it would be 50 or so people at the most who would join us at the party because there was another sakura viewing event at the temporary housing complex in Senmaya. However, it turned out that nearly 100 guests came to our event, possibly lured by the fantastic weather.

On April 12^th (Sun), we cooked and served "Tomodachi Curry ®" and spent some friendly time with the residents of Nikkori Sunpark Temporary Housing Complex, which is located in Jusanhama, Kitakami, Ishinomaki, Miyagi. Approximately 300 people (150 households) are currently living at the complex.

It had been severe icy weather till the day before the event but it was sunny and warm on the big day. Lively children crammed around and watched us cooking curry with great interest. They timidly started to give us a hand and eventually everyone joined in the cooking.

We started the preparation in the meeting room of the complex early in the morning with help from a group of residents. As usual, with the purpose to break the ice among the participants by friendly conversation during preparation, Taher requested them to join us. 10kg of chicken was offered for free by Mr Keishi Onodera, a member of the Rotary Club of Senmaya, Iwate.

Mr Asawaka, managing director of Maruki Medical Systems Inc. and Mr Kodera, a former staff of the company, joined the curry cooking. They brought tasty sweets, which we enjoyed immensely.

We prepared naan bread instead of rice to serve with curry upon the request from the guests. They also loved the spiced tea we made after meal. As ever, 20 litres of fresh milk to make tea was generously donated by Mr Nobuaki Sudo from Senmaya, Ichinoseki.

After lunch, one of the residents sang some songs playing guitar and we truly had a good time.