The 4th
of September saw twenty-two workers from Aiina go on an observation trip to
coastal areas affected by last year’s tsunami. We departed from Morioka at 7:30 a.m., and first stopped off at the
Miyako City Office. From there, we went to the Omoe Fisheries Co-Operative.
The Fisheries Co-Operative performs
an important function for the inhabitants of Omoe. The principal of Omoe
Elementary School (our next stop) emphasized the critical importance of that
organization for Omoe. The Omoe Fisheries Co-Operative’s representative told us
that a reliance on external aid inhibits the region’s independence. “While we
are very thankful for the aid, we must never depend too much on it,” he told
us.
After that, we
moved on to the Taro area. There, the local fire corps chief and the head of “Taro-chan
House” (a temporary retailer cooperative formed from
twenty-two shops in Miyako City) guided us around the area of Taro
Station. When the tsunami happened, it was the fire corps volunteers who had to
close the gate of the seawall. They told us that several people died during
this process, as well. The chief described to us how terrifying the job was. We
were then taken to the top floor of the five-storey Taro Kanko Hotel, which was
damaged up to the third floor. There, we were shown images that had not been
shown to the media. These were taken from the fifth floor of the hotel, with
other footage taken from other areas of high ground by local residents. We had
never seen such disastrous images before.
Lastly, we
stopped by Taro-chan House. It is a jointly-run store that was
established by local retailers. It was put together to service residents of the
large-scale temporary housing built on the property of GEENPIA Sanriku Miyako
Hotel. They provide several services that help make life easier for people in
the area, such as retail shops, bento shops, barbers, cram schools, etc.
What we can do
now to help with the recovery is to purchase products from the affected coastal
areas, and not to let the memory of this disaster fade. Elderly residents we
spoke to expressed their desire to be given a forum where they could speak and
people would listen.
（Iwate International Association 9/21/2012）
