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You're not alone! Rely on one another.
Support Center Fukushima News "UNITE(Tsunagari)" No.2

Issued by JDF Support Center Fukushima for Persons with Disabilities in Devastated Area on April 20, 2011

Address: Room#102 YK Bldg., 21-10, 2-Chome, Asahi, Koriyama City, Fukushima JAPAN 963-8024
TEL & FAX: +81-24-925-2428

One month has passed since huge earthquake and nuclear accident broke out, however, residents are living day to day in uncertainty. They have gotten not only tired but also stressed as time goes by. We, JDF Support Center Fukushima for Persons with Disabilities in Affected Area, are currently moving forward on assisting persons with disabilities with listening to worries and conveying to administration and counseling staffs. Besides, we'll support persons with disabilities who are at homes, less neighborly ties and cannot evacuate to shelters with time and care hereafter. We've gotten an increasing number of hotline calls after NHK and newspapers reported our activities recently. We'll extend our support further to persons with disabilities with utmost effort.

Cumulative totals in the survey as of April 14

Numbers of centers/facilities for persons with disabilities: 39
Numbers of shelters: 152
Numbers of counseling &action: 108
Numbers of hotline call: 22

Voices from shelters

We've conducted research about situations and needs of persons with disabilities at shelters because it is difficult for local governments to figure out numbers and the number and conditions of all persons with disabilities at shelters, and found the following issues.

  • Poorly balanced meals
  • Unprotected privacy
  • Lack of nursing care products and medicines
  • No transportation between shelters and schools for children with disabilities
  • Cannot take a bath
  • Persons with hearing or visually impaired have difficulty to get information
  • Hard-to-use toilet

Present from Shiga to Fukushima!

On April 14, Sano-san of Potato Farm (employment support by type A facility management) came a long way from Shiga to offer presents such as vegetable juice and toilet papers. All of us realized how much support we got from all over Japan. Furthermore, Sano-san kindly measured radiation level in this center and worried the level in Koriyama City was higher than thought.

Present from Shiga to Fukushima
Present from Shiga to Fukushima

From work logs

Conditions of workshops and centers/facilities

  • It was found that two users without contact had been dead by a center, which mainly supports persons with psychiatric disability, located in Minami-Souma City. Users of this center were not able to enter a shelter because none would take care of them. According to three centers/facilities in the city, there are 32 users in total; 20 users out of 32 go out of Fukushima Pref. for safety; the rest are at home.
  • At a workshop located in Iwaki City, a building and machines suffered damage from tsunami so that users have no place to go. The circle of support is growing to open the workshop temporary.

Conditions of shelters

Some persons with disabilities held off taking a bath or returned their homes not to cause others trouble. Besides, some persons could not attend a school for children with disabilities due to no transportation even though being admitted to the school. What comes to our mind is not only relief goods but also other types of support are necessary at this stage. Many of people in shelters have plans to move to secondary shelters including hot spring resort areas by April 18. Being protected privacy is one of the pros, on the other hand, there are cons such as difficulty to grasp individual situations, unstable and/or lack of support. Neighbors become insensitive so that it is necessary to let out voice oneself. We've already visited 170 shelters out of 230 from April 5 through April 17 and acknowledged 119 persons with disabilities including 49 of physical impairment, 35 of psychiatric disorder, 21 of intellectual disability, 14 of severely disabled and others.

Future Activity

We'll promote ourselves with using various tools because our publicity and activity have not yet reached administration and so on. We held a meeting recently to sort out tasks of JDF Support Center Fukushima for Persons with Disabilities in Affected Area. The meeting showed an evaluation of our supporting activities for one month, and we confirmed issues from activities, roles of the center, target setting, detailed action plans and organization framework. From now on, a number of supporters from across the country including JIL, staffs from consultation and support service offices, branches of National Association of Community Workshops from JD will join accordingly.

Organization
Head: Shiraishi (Secretariat framework will be decided at the meeting of affiliated organizations on April 23 from 1 p.m.)

Activities
Safety confirmation and scale of the damage survey; supply chain and demand survey; promote us at shelters and demand survey; ensure transportations and shelters to offer for persons with disabilities who are newly under orders to evacuate; safety confirmation of persons with disabilities who are at homes and less neighborly ties, and demand survey; promote us at secondary shelters and demand survey

A Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) member of the House of the Councilors, Tani visited

On Thursday the 14th, a member of the House of the Councilors, Tani, who is a project member of disability policy as well as a manager of working team for intractable disease in DPJ visited JDF Support Center Fukushima for Persons with Disabilities in Affected Area. He said, "I'll convey local inputs and opinions to administration to work together."

A Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) member of the House of the Councilors, Tani visited
A Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) member of the House of the Councilors, Tani visited

Translated by the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities
Volunteer translator : Mr. Eitaro Ono