A Volunteer Trip to Noto Peninsula
During my two weeks fall break after an eventful fall trimester, I made the frightening decision- looking back- to make my first volunteer trip in Japan. It was geared toward relief work in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, following a devasting magnitude 7.6 earthquake that took place earlier this year, from which they are still recovering. The earthquake caused significant infrastructural collapses, left thousands displaced, and led to a number of fatalities. Six other TCU students went, and we each returned profoundly enlightened and impacted, after a humbling experience.
Noto is a peninsula located North of Japan in Ishikawa Prefecture. Its coastal scenery is widely appreciated though much of it has been largely affected by the disasters that has befall the area over the years which was tragic to see. The volunteering opportunity came through Noto Help, a Christian organization that started operations in the area in January 5th , 2024, following the January 1st earthquake that took place.
Our days started quite early and assignments varied, depending on what was needed for the day. We regrouped from our deferent residences every morning at the church and daily tasks were distributed among the different teams. On the first two days, we were tasked alongside other team members to clear out debris from a number of houses affected by the earthquake. We cleared the assigned spaces, moved the items, and washed them if necessary. This meant less interaction with actual victims, but it provided an opportunity for exchange with other members volunteering from different parts of Japan. We shared lunchbreaks together and had insightful conversations. At the end of a day’s work, we offered prayer with whoever the victim was, bringing the work to a close. A particular cleaning experience that was challenging, fun, and memorable, was trying to clean a crawl space underneath a house.
On our final day, we worked on distributing food supply. This involved going to a warehouse and loading needed items in a truck. We then drove for about two hours to a temporary shelter for victims. Our interaction with the victims upon arrival is one that left the strongest imprint in my heart from the trip. They were all elderly female residents who were kind enough to sit with us and share their stories. As painful as you suspect it is, they did manage to still laugh as they shared. They were curious about where we were from and even asked us to share what we think of Japan. We sang a song together and they offered us some handmade socks that they had placed on the table. We left truly moved and ready to head back.
The trip to Noto proves hard to define. You witness grave destruction and pain but also see resilience and the power of people coming together to help each other out. It was troubling to hear that another, but a minor earthquake occurred after we left. One person was injured. I encourage every reader, therefore, to please keep Noto and Japan in their prayers.
B. John M’baaday
PS: I had this amazing experience with a kind old lady who met me at the laundromat and offered me sweet potato- find picture below. My heart is full.
