"Heartful Tono UCCJ" is a ministry of the Kyodan (UCCJ)
itself that is designed to help disaster survivors by providing
mental health care. Every week an average of 60 participants
gather at three temporary shelters in Kamaishi City, about
50 kilometers from Tono. Through these gatherings, a
relationship of trust has developed in an atmosphere of
friendship and harmony. As a result, in the more than one
year that has transpired since the disaster, the expectations
placed on Tono Center, Heartful Tono UCCJ by the Kamaishi
Social Welfare Council and the various organizations
representing residents of the temporary housing for disaster
survivors have only increased.
Kyodan asked the Tokyo Suicide Prevention Center to
start the Tono Suicide Prevention Center in August 2011
for the purpose of “grief care,” and the Kyodan decided to
provide financial support for it. However, as time passed
following the disaster, the needs of the community changed,
so following the advice of the Kamaishi Social Welfare
Council, we decided temporarily to suspend our activities
to determine how best to give continued support to the
survivors. The operation of this suicide prevention center
had been delegated by the Kyodan to the Tokyo Suicide
Prevention Center, so a consultation between the two was
held. This resulted in having the Tokyo Suicide Prevention
Center hold a series of lectures and training seminars as
well as facilitating the sending of volunteers. The training of
volunteers is something that the center was well suited for, as
it requires a considerable degree of expertise. So by adapting
the cdenter’s program to facilitate what it does best, the need
for more volunteers could be met.
In the meantime, the Kamaishi Social Welfare Council
asked the Kyodan to resume mental health care because as
the overall disaster relief activities began winding down,
the number of volunteers helping out began to decrease
drastically. Several organizations ended their activities, so
a shortage of volunteers developed. In order to meet this
changing need, the Kyodan began a regular program called
Ochakko Salon (literally, tea-drinking salon), a coffeeshop
style ministry that meets once a week at three different
locations. During this whole process, we learned a great
deal through our close collaboration with the Kamaishi
Social Welfare Council as well as from other relief agencies,
including Caritas (a Catholic relief agency), the Japan
Episcopal Church, and CRASH Japan (Christian Relief
Assistance Support Hope).
Kamaishi is a city located on the coast of Iwate Prefecture
that had a pre-disaster population of about 30,000. The main
industries were ironworks and fisheries, and there were many
seafood-processing facilities as well. Some 900 people lost
their lives in the tsunami, and it has often been reported in
the news that because the town was protected by the highest
levee in Japan, the townspeople had a false sense of security
that a tsunami would never reach them. The situation was
further exacerbated by the high percentage of elderly people
in the town. The removal of debris is well behind that of
other towns, and redevelopment plans are still uncertain,
which causes residents a lot of anxiety. They do not yet
know whether the property their houses stood on will be
redeveloped into housing areas or business areas, and with
the poor employment outlook, the people are left with a dim
future.
The Ochakko Salon ministry began in mid-February and is
held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the common lounge built in
each of the temporary housing facilities. Being a coffee-shop
type ministry, we offer a variety of beverages, including
coffee, black tea, herbal teas, cappuccino, brown rice tea,
along with cookies and other sweets. On average, about
20 people a day come to enjoy themselves, chatting about
various things with the volunteers running the program. At
first, residents were rather reticent and appeared a bit wary of
these strangers in their midst, but they gradually opened up
to us as we worked together in such activities as knitting and
flower arrangement and began sharing their experiences in
the disaster as well as their current situations. So progress is
being made.
In early March, after this tea-house ministry had become a
regular event, the matter of how the March 11 anniversary
would be commemorated became an issue faced not only
by the survivors but also by us volunteers serving on the
scene, as our own activities would be in the spotlight. A kind
of “depression related to the commemoration” set in during
the time just before and after the anniversary, when special
care was needed to engage with the increasing number of
survivors who felt the need to talk about their experiences.
Some of them would talk for two hours or more, crying
all the while, and the things they were sharing were truly
on a scale we had never heard. It is hard for even a trained
volunteer to be able to do what on the surface would seem
to be a easy thing—simply listening, as it involves giving so
much of yourself as you share in their pain, so a great deal of
care is needed. The living witness to what had happened was
so overwhelming that it was beyond our comprehension, and
it was often difficult to bear. The scale of the event and the
things we were hearing almost crushed our spirits as well,
This is why the kind of professional training that the
Tokyo Suicide Prevention Center was able to give is so
critical. With that in mind, we held a training seminar for
volunteer counselors on April 21 and 22, 2012. There were
25 participants from some 20 churches who received the
training and, from the following week, began to serve with
the ministry of Heartful Tono UCCJ.
On April 25, Heartful Tono UCCJ held an event that was a
kind of initial summation of the tea-house ministry. We took
38 residents from three temporary housing units in Kamaishi,
who had been receiving that support, on a cherry blossom
viewing tour of Tono by bus. It was a great opportunity for
them to have a refreshing time away from the disaster area.
There were even some unexpected reunions along with
new friendships, so it was a great success. The participants
enjoyed singing karaoke on the bus as well as eating a meal
together and going to hot springs. Thus, they were able to
relax and make some pleasant memories. This is how our
tea-house ministry built up a relationship of trust and bore
much fruit.
We look forward to continuing this ministry of support
that God has given us, taking on the tasks we are given as
opportunities of blessing and giving thanks to God as we
seek guidance in prayer for the things we can best do to
further this cause. (Tr. SM)
—Maekita Mio, staff member
Kyodan Disaster Planning Headquarters
2012-June.
「ハートフル遠野UCCJ」は(震災に関する)
当初8月より「グリーフ・ケア」
一方、釜石市の社会福祉協議会は教団対策本部に、
釜石市は岩手県の沿岸に位置する人口約3万人の街である。
さて、2月中旬より始まったこの「お茶っこサロン」
お茶っこの活動も定例化してきた3月上旬のこと…「
そのことから、東京自殺防止センターのように専門的知識、
4月25日(水)「ハートフル遠野UCCJ」
活動が彼らとの信頼関係を築きながら実を結んだ結果である。
今後も神さまの与えてくださったこの支援場所を大切にし、