Disaster Response Japan Project #25181

Community Revitalization Project in Kumamoto

by OISCA International

Project Report | Oct 2, 2018
To the Supporters of our Project in Kumamoto

By Hayashi Hiroshi | Project Coordinator

Villagers selling their products in Fukuoka.

On behalf of the local residents of Nishihara Village who were benefiting from the support of GlobalGiving donors, I wish to extend my gratitude. With your support, from July to September, we have mobilized a total of 73 volunteers and assisted 12 local farmers and their families in their agricultural farms and in maintenance of their public lands.

Most of the volunteers are repeaters who have developed a sense of attachment to the community and to the locals, particularly the elderly. These volunteers assisted the locals in farming-related activities, such as post-harvesting of garlic, weeding, and harvesting of blueberries, persimmon fruits, potato and Chinese cabbage.

In comparison with last year, requests from farmers were on a downward trend due to the almost ending reconstruction assistance in agriculture sector. The earthquake survivors expressed the need to be self-reliant, however, due to circumstances such as old age, they have no choice but to seek help.

Nishihara Village, like the other rural villages across Japan, is suffering from the decline of agricultural production due to old age. We felt that in order to contribute to the immediate reconstruction of the village after the earthquake, mobilizing of volunteers is one of the best solutions.

Aside from mobilizing volunteers, we also assist the village farmers in processing and showcasing their products for them to have more income. The locals were inspired when one of the villagers penetrated the market after producing a vinegar made from peach. After setting a booth and setting their crops in one of the summer festivals in Fukuoka, a group of local farmers is still in awe after profiting more or less 6,200 USD.

Meanwhile, other than assisting in agriculture works, outside volunteers who are mostly government officials and doctors also bring information that are useful in the daily lives of the villagers. Such information includes government services that can be accessed by the villagers.

As we evaluate our project, we can deduce that what we are doing is a win-win situation. Some former volunteers decided to reside at the village and the locals whom they have assisted became their immediate families.

Even a pregnant woman can volunteer at the village

Helping an 88-year old is a fulfilling experience.

Volunteers` presence energizes the locals.

Despite the heat volunteers still gathered to help

Permalink

Jul 5, 2018
To the supporters of our project in Kumamoto

By Ma Grazen Acerit | Project Coordinator

On behalf of the local residents of Nishihara Village who have been benefiting from the support of Global Giving donors, I wish to extend my gratitude. With your support, from April to June, we have mobilized a total of 226 volunteers and assisted 94 local farmers and their families in their agricultural farms and in maintenance of their public lands.

Mrs. Fujimoto, an earthquake survivor and one of the local farmers who has been receiving help from the volunteers, said that other than eating her favorite Haagen-Dazs ice cream, meeting and working with the volunteers is one of the things that she is looking forward to. After the earthquake, she has to work 7 days a week to cope with the loads of work both in her farm and in taking care of her family, including her 100- year-old mother and 2 grandchildren.

Mrs. Fujimoto mentioned that the presence of the volunteers is not only helping her in producing and packaging her sweet potatoes, but also a big help in her emotional recovery as they are willing listen when she is voicing her problems. Before we parted, she asked for my address and two days after, I received a box full of sweet potatoes. The warmth and the gesture are quite overwhelming.

Meanwhile, together with Ms. Nambiar, Global Giving field-staff, we have met with the village leaders of Nishihara Village. They showed us the map showing the areas damaged by the earthquake and mentioned that until now, 80% of the total 34-hectare village`s paddy field is still left untilled, because of the damaged dam that used to supply the water needed for the rice production. The village leaders extended their gratitude to OISCA for mobilizing volunteers who are helping in the maintenance of their paddy fields. Without doing any grass cutting activities in the paddy fields, shrubs and trees will grow naturally and would further delay the tilling of lands.

The number of requests from the villagers may have decrease as the phase of the recovery support is about to complete, but we still feel the need to support because of the problem of aging local farmers and the shortage of human resources. Moreover, two-years since the earthquake and the immense destruction among the villagers is gradually forgotten. Our activities are somewhat important in informing the general-public of the need to reach out and help the victims.

Permalink

Apr 11, 2018
To the supporters of our project in Kumamoto

By Hiroki Hayashi | Project Coordinator

Volunteers and the locals of Nishihara Village.

On behalf of the local residents of Nishihara Village especially the local farmers, we wish to extend our sincerest gratitude to the GlobalGiving Donors. With your support, from January to March, we have mobilized a total of 217 volunteers and supported 93 local farmers and their families in the harvesting and post-harvesting of sweet potatoes and carrots. The dispatched volunteers also assisted some farmers in sowing of Chinese cabbage and corn as well as putting of sticks for tomato plants.

Other than helping in the farm works, the presence of the volunteers helps in the revitalization of the community. One volunteer group mobilized by the project sets up a booth once a month at local events and sells vegetables products of the villagers. There is a plan to expand the sales at local supermarkets or department stores. Meanwhile, we have been hearing comments from volunteers of their intention to move to Nishihara Village and engage in agriculture-related work. Some mentioned that it is inspiring to hear from the farmers, “Please do come again and we made progress thanks to your support.”

As for the comments of the local farmers, they feel happy when volunteers come to support them as they feel that their daughters/sons and grand children had come. Moreover, they are glad to hear a lot of new stories from people coming from the outside.

Almost 2 years since the earthquake, we have observed the gradual recovery of the village and the local people. In spite of the fact that some of the local farmers are hesitant in asking external support, we still feel the need to dispatch volunteers and support the community. Even though family members come to help on the weekends, most of the time, the farmers who are mostly elderly are working alone and constantly pushing themselves to work hard. As a consequence, they tend to get sick and is a heavy burden to them.

With the marriage between the two volunteers in February, we are planning to carry out “marriage hunting” or matchmaking events during the sweet potato planting season to further increase the number of volunteers. We are aiming to get prospective participants using social media and in cooperation with the media. We were featured on NHK radio program and appeared on a special program entitled “The Second Anniversary of the Disaster Recovery”.

The newly wed couple with the locals farmers.

Volunteers from Tokyo with the elderly farmer.

Local and foreign volunteer working together.

Permalink

‹ 1 2 3 4 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.