Building Bridges: What I can do


* Maria Teresa, with her volunteering name tag

Maria Teresa Hosoya

Maria Teresa was the first Filipina woman to get married in Rikuzentakata. She is 45 years old, with one son in high school, one daughter in middle school, and one daughter in elementary. Kesen dialect is naturally sprinkled within her speech.

A Mother With Twelve Family Members
Maria Teresa lists the Japanese dishes she cooks regularly. “I can make nishime (a special style of boiled vegetables). I can add an ajitsuke egg to chawan mushi (an egg pudding like mixture), and top it off with some pickled vegetables,” she says cheerfully. She started a Japanese language class when she first arrived in Rikuzentakata 17 years ago, figuring that foreign residents are only going to increase. At the time, she did not know one single other foreigner, but her neighbors all kindly told her to keep working hard. She said she learned how to cook from her mother-in-law.
Along with the seven members of her family, they took in five friends of her mother-in-law after the quake. Maria Teresa says she made food for 12 people every day. “It was difficult because I had to live with people who weren’t my family, but I did my best.”

* An elementary school in one of the worst-hit areas. She volunteered as a lifeguard for the summer pool.

Volunteering
“Because so many people helped me when I first arrived in Japan, I knew I had to do my best after the disaster to do all I could to help the survivors.” Maria Teresa registered as a volunteer soon after the disaster at a volunteer center. Some of her volunteer activities include visiting retirement homes and refuge centers, assisting with debris clean-up, and distributing supplies. “My mother-in-law is in our house so I can work until 3 in the afternoon.”
On the day of the earthquake, Maria Teresa watched the tsunami from the high ground in which her house was located. “White foam floated in the distance until it slowly surged closer and closer and formed a giant black wall of water. It was so scary.” Her friend’s house and the company where she worked part-time were swept away. Luckily, her husband, who was working at a construction company, was safe, along with her three children and her in-laws. Her son quit his club activities after the quake and started volunteering.

I want to work hard for Japan
Maria Teresa lost her part-time job and her husband’s company was destroyed, leading them to worry about how they would pay for their children’s education. Maria Teresa enjoyed cooking, so in order to increase her job qualifications, she decided to get a cooking license. Additionally, she was concerned about her Filipino friends who had been affected by the disaster. “I certainly wanted to return temporarily to the Philippines, but I would rather stay here and work hard with everyone else.”