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20120706Ofunato2.jpgIn Ofunato, Iwate, Habitat Japan operates a project to rehabilitate individual houses damaged in the disaster. Ms. Konno is one of the beneficiaries of this project.
　　
On March 11th, when the earthquake struck, Ms. Konno was cleaning up her bar near by the seacoast. She thought her house might have been damaged by the earthquake so she made her way back to her place. However, the bridge she usually takes was shut down. She took roundabout route through Ofunato Hospital which is located on the hill. 20120706Ofunato3.jpgThere, she was told that the big tsunami reached the seacoast and realized that she had just managed to survive from it.
　
She spent 2 weeks at her daughter's place before moving back to her house. The house was full of mud and debris as the tsunami reached up to the ceiling of ground floor. Her post-tsunami life had started then.
　　　
In May 2011, on mother's day, her grandchildren gave her a manicure and a lipstick and told her that "We hope you can be cheerful again as you used to be". She had been so occupied with cleaning and repairing the damaged house; too busy surviving to live a life even for a bit. She was inspired by the message from her grandchildren and decided to decorate damaged walls by herself. She used plates and bowls to cut out papers to cover up holes and cracks on the walls as decorations. Ms. Konno recalls those days and says "All I could use were kitchenware, and everything ended up in round shape!"
　
20120706Ofunato1.jpgIn April 2012, she found information about Habitat's program on the local newspaper and made application. With having its cost partially supported by this program, she repaired the damaged walls. "Habitat Japan and so many other people helped me. If, I hope not, but disaster like this happens again, I would love to be a help for someone else. Would there be anything that an old lady like me could do?" said Ms. Konno with positive attitude. She is one of many disaster survivors who shows us how people can live through struggle of recovery with wisdom and creativity.
　　　
　　　
◆ Back Number
2012.06.07　Miyagi : Rehabilitating the Community Center (3)

2012.06.05　Iwate : Homeowner Story (1)

2012.05.29　Miyagi : Rebuiding a Home with Volunteers
2012.05.10　Miyagi : Rehabilitating the Community Center (2)
2012.05.07　Iwate : Storage Cabinets for Community
2012.04.26　Iwate : Habitat Japan featured on Tokaishimpo
2012.04.20 Miyagi : Rehabilitating the Community Center (1)
2012.03.22　Iwate : Flyer Distribution on its 2nd Stage
2012.03.13　Iwate : Program Flyers to 600 Families
2012.03.12　Iwate : Habitat Japan on Chinese National TV
2012.03.11　Rebuilding Japan Program Goes On
2012.02.24　Miyagi : Building a Gazebo for Community
2012.02.22　Miyagi : Painting Pictures of Hopes
2012.02.11　Miyagi : Volunteers are Back on Sites
2012.01.13　Miyagi : Winter Items for 1,338 Families
2012.01.11　10 Months after the Disaster
2011.12.23　Miyagi : Distribution of 2,400 Hot Carpets
2011.11.17　Habitat Staff Featured in Ofunato Newsletter
2011.11.05　Distributing 278 Futon Sets in Onagawa
2011.10.22　Support for Fishery Industry
2011.10.21　Campus Chapters Raising Funds for Tohoku
2011.10.20　Corporate Volunteer Teams
2011.10.12　Futon for the Disaster Survivors
2011.09.12　KLA-Tencor Donates over 3.7m yen
2011.09.12　First Volunteer Team in Ishinomaki
2011.08.14　Quarterly Report (Apr to Jun, 2011)
2011.06.30　Standard Chartered Raises over 32m yen
2011.06.30　Volunteer Recruitment Started! (July departure)
2011.06.13　Oakwood Tokyo Lends Support to 'Rebuilding Japan' Program
2011.06.07　Volunteer Stories
2011.06.06　Homeowner Story
2011.06.06　Reports from the Volunteers （June 4-5）
2011.05.20　Volunteer Recruitment Started!
2011.05.14　Disaster Response Team Started
2011.05.03　First Volunteer Team Finished Its Work
2011.05.02　"I Never Imagined that I Would Smile Again"
2011.05.01　What Habitat Volunteers Bring to the Victims
2011.04.30　Children Return to a Cleaned Gym
2011.04.29　Volunteers Taking Action in Tohoku
2011.04.28　First Volunteer Team Heads Out to Tohoku
2011.04.19　Toiletries Delivered to Ofunato city, Iwate
2011.04.13　Toiletries Delivered to Soma city, Fukushima
2011.04.10　Thousands Support HFH's Response in Earthquake-Hit Japan
2011.04.04　Campus Chapters Fundraise for Rebuilding Japan
2010.03.31　Donation from APP Japan
2011.03.14　Donate to Help Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Victims