{"id":14364,"date":"2024-08-21T11:10:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T02:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/habitatjp.org\/en\/?p=14364"},"modified":"2024-08-30T15:34:53","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T06:34:53","slug":"noto-peninsula-earthquake-report-three-months-as-a-student-intern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/habitatjp.org\/en\/archive\/14364","title":{"rendered":"Noto Peninsula Earthquake Report: Three Months as a Student Intern"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eight months have passed since the New Year\u2019s Day Noto Peninsula earthquake. As the situation evolved, Habitat Japan shifted the focus of our activities from emergency response to reconstruction efforts, and began cleaning up damaged houses, providing architectural consultations services for damaged homes, and building shelves to furnish temporary housing units. Helping coordinate these activities, two students from Habitat's Japan\u2019s campus chapters have worked onsite in Monzen-machi as student interns since April. One of them is Todaka-san, a 4th<\/sup> year student at a university in Kobe City. Todaka-san assisted field operations for three months before leaving to study abroad. We are pleased to be able to share their observations and learnings gleaned from their three-month internship in Noto.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"Thank you very much for having me as an intern. <\/p>\n

Nestled between mountains and the sea, Monzen-machi, Wajima City, is home to gentle winds and kind people. At first, I didn\u2019t have any specific goal in mind. I had a vague desire to be of help to people, and I made the decision to act on it through this internship.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before making my way to Monzen-machi, I could only imagine kind of life denizens were leading going three whole months without water, and worried what they might think of an outsider inserting themselves into the community at this time. After going, I quickly learned that these worries were unfounded. <\/span><\/p>\n

My first journey to Monzen-machi was in March, not as an intern but as a volunteer alongside 13 other students from campus chapters all over Japan; I started my internship after that in April. About four months had passed since the disaster, but streets were still framed on both sides by devastated homes. This married with the fact that road and water infrastructure remained with little progress, you could think the earthquake struck yesterday. Despite all this, residents stay resolute and hopeful, remarking \u201cthere are people worse off than us.\u201d While outwardly they were cheerful, as I spoke with residents I could sense their impatience for the snail\u2019s pace of restoration work and frustration at the shortage of contractors preventing many from even beginning to repair their damaged homes. They asked \u201cWhat about my house? What about my job? What about my family?\u201d and were burdened by an abundance of choices needing to be made and anxiety for the future. Witnessing the residents\u2019 misfortune, I felt helpless at times, but I was reminded of the things I could achieve by taking small steps and focusing on one problem at a time.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have the strength to carry large appliances and furniture, but I can help clean up a house by cleaning and organizing small things, often filled with precious memories. I don\u2019t have the expertise to offer advice like an architect, but by lending an ear and sharing kind words I was told residents were able to get things off their chests and feel a bit better. I did my best to do all I could to help in the here and now. I was often told that it was great that I was volunteering in a disaster area. But to me, my time in Noto felt more akin to co-living rather than volunteering. Holding shelf-building workshops at temporary housing sites, residents contributed their expertise as if they were carpenters, bring their own tools and sharing information on different types of wood and ideas of what to build. When we would help carry things in and out of homes, they would offer us cold drinks and snacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether it be kind words or gifts, I feel like I\u2019ve received a lot more than I\u2019ve given. Looking at a disaster area, it\u2019s easy to point out things that are missing or have gone wrong. There\u2019s no water and the roads are damaged, but it\u2019s times like these especially where it is important to be grateful for the things we do have: Being able to take a bath, do laundry, eat a hot meal, and connect with the community and people around us every day. While it\u2019s important to be prepared for disasters whenever they may occur, I believe it\u2019s also important to appreciate the mundane and cherish those around us while we can.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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