As I wrote on the previous diary, what we can do here is limited. The army was collecting rubbish, building banks and tidying up chaotic roads.
Today our team was divided into two- a house cleaning team and a food/clothes delivery team. I was in the house cleaning team.
On our way to work
There are small number of houses miraculously standing after the disaster.
The owner of the house was third-generation fisherman who has run the sardine fishing business. The ground floor of his house was damaged by the Tsunami. All the mud was taken out yesterday by other volunteer teams.
I and another girl were requested to clean the "Kamidana"- Shinto altar. It's common to have household altars, however, it was like 10 times as big as the normal size. I have never seen such a humongous one at someone's house. They must set this to pray for business success.
I am surprised that I was assigned religious-related work two days in a row. Their ground floor was still in a mess and there were so many things to do- they chose the altar to be cleaned first of all.
I understood the reason when I heard the story from the owner. This altar was made by the father of their current builder who's also the third-generation builder. They've been working together closely from the grandfather's time, and the altar is the sign of their bonding. Also they believe that the altar will protect them from a disaster.
All wooden parts of the altar were assembled without nails. It was an elaborate beautiful masterpiece. We needed to clean it without disassembling it, using whatever we can use- toothbrushes, thinly sharpened chopsticks, or a special air-gun (I don't know how to call it).
It's not a man... it's me! I am blowing all the fine rubbish by this special tool.
Other team members were taking rubbish away from the river running by his house. This rubbish has stopped water flowing and given a very bad smell.
Some of the rubbish here- scallop shells; this area is famous for cultivated oysters.
This came from their neighbouring oyster farm.
Taking rubbish away- it seemed a never-ending work...
We were warned not to cut our fingers or feet by objects.
They are receiving reports of a growing number of cases of tetanus.
One of our team members cut his foot by stepping on a rusty nail with his welly.
He was taken to a hospital immediately.
The end of the day, the house owner repeatedly thanked us, saying it was a big step. However, one day's work is not enough help... it's a small improvement in a long long way before they go back to their normal life. I've realised that the important point is "continue to help people". At the moment this area is crowded with volunteers who want to help victims, but it shouldn't be a "trend". We need to remember 3.11 and continue our activities in the future.
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