ivy chuang

It's almost two months since the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the North East coast of Japan.  Though the event has left the public eye, and scarcely is reported in the news anymore.  I think of the people in those regions constantly.  People who have lost their homes and lives. 

My in-laws live in Yamagata prefecture, 100km away from the Daichi Power Plant.  In the early days of the crisis we were worried that the nuclear crisis would worsen and had plotted escape routes and plans.  After the first couple weeks, as they reported that life began to normalize, our worries dissipated mostly but not completely.  My father-in-law and sister-in-law were back to work, mother-in-law was back to shopping for groceries, garden work, and swimming pool visits.  They also reported that TV Programming resumed, it was no longer news all day and all night; variety shows and dramas all took their regular slots.  I check the Yamagata prefecture's website frequently to see if there is any change - radiation effects in the air and water are reported daily.  Every time I've checked so far, it reads, "Currently, no effect on the human body." and I am slightly relieved. 

My husband and I have a small sum of money that we want to donate, but have yet to send it.  We wanted to donate the money in the most direct way.  We didn't want it to trickle through American Red Cross to the Japanese Red Cross then onwards, but to give it to a prefecture, town, hospital directly.  We have taken our time to find the right avenue, but now the US Dollar is at such a weak point, it seems that it may be better to wait awhile.

I am saddened when I think of those displaced families living in gyms of schools, while the nuclear situation drags on with no end in sight.  Over the ocean, I think and pray for them, hoping it will be better for everyone after awhile.

My Haiku Prayer for Japan:
Wait a while Japan
Hope will bloom you'll see
a new beginning returns
the rising red sun