12th July Tuesday
We went to Ishinomaki to help to clean up tsunami sludge. As we drove through the town of Ishinomaki, the aftermath of the tsunami seemed more real to me. I could really see how much destruction the tsunami had caused. Houses, factories, shops and petrol stations were badly destroyed. As we passed by many schools, we saw that the clocks of all the schools stopped at 4pm which was the time that the tsunami happened on March 11. It made me empathize with how the victims must have felt when the tsunami struck as they were caught totally off guard. It made the fact that peoples’ lives, homes, jobs and possessions were lost more poignant.
We helped an elderly man remove tsunami sludge from his home and factory. Even though it has been 4 months after the tsunami, his house looked as if the tsunami had just occurred a day ago. The whole area was covered with tsunami sludge and his furniture and items such as cashbooks and files were strewn all over the compound. Some of the machines in his factory were also toppled on the floor. I simply cannot imagine how long the owner would have taken if he were to clean up his house and factory all by himself. It was already strenuous for our team of twelve to remove the tsunami sludge. It would be immensely tiring for the owner and he would probably have taken weeks if he were to do it alone.
When we took a break, he proudly showed us the second floor of his factory. The tsunami waves only reached the first floor of his factory and thus the second floor remained intact. His factory was a production line for Styrofoam boxes to store seafood. The owner showed us the various machines to produce the boxes and the end product and I could sense his pride in his factory and a certain sense of longing to resume work and to restore the situation to how it was before the tsunami. We also went to a nearby evacuation shelter for the tsunami survivors for a toilet break. When we were there, an army band was playing for the survivors. The atmosphere was so solemn and I could feel that the people were feeling lost and needed a place for solace, comfort, hope and closure. One of the volunteers at CRASH had told us earlier that one of the survivors shared that it took him 4 months after the tsunami happened to be able to look at the sea again. When he was finally able to do so, the question that constantly crossed his mind was “Why did this tsunami happen?” When I heard this, it also made me question, why did God allow for this tsunami to take away so many lives and cause so much grief? Perhaps, the only “good outcome” of this catastrophe is that it opens a window and opportunity for us to show our love to the tsunami victims and to sow the seeds of the Gospel for Christ.