一般財団法人　連帯　東北・西南　RENTAI　TOHOKU-SEINAN

Reported by Ryu and Tahel, Staff of Rentai Tohoku
We held a Pakistani Curry Party at the temporary house in Saito, Otomo-cho Rikuzentakata on the 2nd October (Sun).

 

○Temporary house in Saito, Otomo-cho, Rikuzentakata-city, Iwate
As almost the entire Rikuzentakata-city was destroyed by tsunami, most temporary houses were built on elevated lands and are extremely inconvenient for residents to go out. At the request from Social Welfare Council of Rikuzentakata-city, we held a curry party to encourage communication among the residents.
42 families (140 people) are currently living in this temporary house. Most of them are farmers or fishermen.

 

○Preparing curry
As requested by Mr. Kanazawa, chairman of the community council, we had residents provide all the ingredients except meat.
The preparation started with peeling/chopping various vegetables. It was a great fun to work together. Everyone laughed and cried chopping 100 or more onions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What on earth is Pakistani curry like? People started getting excited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ladies finished chopping a massive amount of vegetables and took a break watching the pot from the window.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a rich aroma of spices wafted out, the star of the temporary house showed up to investigate what was going on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some residents kindly helped us clean the huge pot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

○After-meal relaxation
After the meal, Tahel made Pakistani spiced tea for those who helped clearing up.
We sat around the table in the meeting room and talked about the current situation of life and future plans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the tea party was in full swing, some residents sang songs and danced a local dance in return for curry and tea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the party, we were happy to receive thanks from the residents. We shook hands and promised to meet again.
Rentai Tohoku will always stand by the tsunami/earthquake victims and provide what we can to bring cheer to them and help them move forward.

 

 

 

 

 

Rentai Tohoku is pleased to announce that it will hold a panel discussion to facilitate self-supporting efforts of disaster victims on the 29th October, 2011 (Sat).
The venue is Kawasaki Public Hall, Ichinoseki. Panellists who themselves suffered great losses of loved ones or properties due to the earthquake will talk about how they face the reality as well as their active involvement in welfare activities.
We hope to welcome as many as possible of the tsunami victims and people in the area and to offer an opportunity to lift their spirit and have some useful clues to rebuild their lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reported by Ryu and Tahel, Staff of Rentai Tohoku　
We held a Pakistani Curry Party at the temporary house in Okiarai Aza Horei, Sanriku-cho, Ofunato-city on the 2nd October (Sun).
With cooperation from Ofunato Social Welfare Council and Nippon International Cooperation for Community Development, we aimed at enhancing communication among the residents through the party.

 

○Horei Temporary House
As the houses near Horei Station were all destroyed by tsunami, a benefactor (Mr. O) offered his field in the mountains to build the temporary house. 30 families including Mr. O's (about 100 people) live there.

 

○Preparing Curry
People started to prepare curry at 9 o'clock in the morning.
The residents had been looking forward to the event since they heard about it two weeks before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Comment from a volunteer staff)
Together, we started preparation by chopping vegetables etc.
But it was embarrassing when our clumsiness raised a laugh among the residents.
Then we watched foreign volunteers spectacularly cook curry in a huge pot.
The residents were so interested in the unusual way to cook curry.
Unless I had practiced to cook SALAM (peace) curry in the previous evening,
I myself would have doubted if it was indeed curry that they were making.
However, the taste of the actual outcome was fantastic. I was so happy
to be there as a volunteer when I heard everybody saying they wanted the recipe.

 

○Party
As the space of the meeting room was limited, the residents took turns to have curry

in groups of 20. Some ate up as much as three portions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After-meal chat and clear-up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next party will be held at a temporary house in Rikuzentakata-city, Iwate on the 15th October (Sat).

 

Reported by Ryu and Tahel, Staff of Rentai Tohoku With cooperation from Kesennuma Social Welfare Council, Rentai Tohoku held a Pakistani curry party at the temporary housing at Iwagasaki Park, Kesennuma, on the 24th September, 2011. Our aim was to provide an opportunity for residents of the temporary housing to get to know each other better.

 

● Preparing curry

This time, not only volunteer members but residents of the temporary housing cooperated to prepare curry in the meeting room from early morning. Apparently, many of the residents are from different regions and had nothing in common to talk about. Though they were rather reserved at first, the exoticism of Pakistani curry and Tahel's recipe served as a great ice breaker. Together, they seemed to enjoy the process from cooking vegetables to adding various spices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

●　Dinner time

Congratulating successful curry together, many residents encouraged each other to rebuild the life for the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curry was served to volunteers who came back from work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

　The news of SALAM Curry Party which was held by Rentai Tohoku and Kesennuma Social Welfare Council in the common room of the temporary housing at Shishiori Junior High School on August 27 (Sat), 2011 was run on the morning paper of Iwate Nichinichi Shimbun on August 29 (Mon).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Title: Let's get to know each other--Rentai Tohoku Throws Curry Party in Kesennuma

An Ichinoseki-based public foundation "Rentai Tohoku" (Board Chairperson: Yasuhiko Sata), which provides supports to victims of Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, provided Pakistani curry to residents of the temporary house in Shishiori Junior High School in Kesennuma, Miyagi, on the 27^th.

Rentai Tohoku has two activity bases in Kawasaki and Senmaya in Ichinoseki and provides meal services at evacuation centres, various advisory services to fishermen and employment supports for local people.

Collaborating with Kesennuma Social Welfare Council, the foundation planed the curry party for residents of the temporary housing who tend to lose communication with other people, compared to when they were at evacuation centres. The party was aimed to provide them an opportunity to get to know each other.

10 volunteers including members of the foundation and some local volunteers visited the temporary housing and Tahel=Seyed (45), a Pakistani member of the foundation served 300 portions of chicken curry named "Salam Curry" together with 200 naans or Pakistani bread. "Salam" means peace in Arabic.

Many residents of the temporary housing turned up with rice at the common room and enjoyed curry served by Tahel. "Chicken was so tender and the taste was just right. Thank you very much for delicious curry", thanked Yoshio Onodera (75), chairman of the community group of the temporary housing.

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(This article was posted on this site with permission from Iwate Nichinichi Shimbun.)