2 powerful earthquakes have rocked the southern Japanese city of Kumamoto. Dozens of people are still trapped in the rubbles. More then 50,000 people evacuated and are currently staying in temporary shelters or on the streets while the death toll continue to rise. IsraAID team in Japan of trained disaster specialists and psycho social professionals is on it's way to Kumamoto to assess the needs and provide psychological first aid (PFA) for the victims in the evacuation centers.
Thousands of people have been traumatized by the first earthquake on Thursday, and were retraumatized by the second earthquake on Saturday. Many people lost their relatives, and many more lost their houses and their sources of income. There is a growing fear for additional earthquakes to occur in the next few days and there is an immidiate need for stress management and relief materials for more then 50,000 victims in the temporary evacuation centers.
Based on its long term experience in Japan, IsraAID team will conduct 3 main activities: 1. Provide immediate relief and distribute relief materials in the shelters 2. Provide psychologcal first aid and stress management to the evcuees in the temporary shelters 3. Assess the long term needs and prepare a 6 months recovery plan in close partnership with the Japanese government
The psychological impact of the disaster could create long term stress PTSD for the victims. IsraAID is planning to support Kumamoto and provide long term stress management and PTSD prevention activities, as well as capacity building and training of local professionals who would be able to support the emotional needs of the local population in years to come. IsraAID has been working in Japan for the past 5 years and trained more then 3000 Japanese professionals and volunteers.
