ABOUT PEACE BOAT

Founded in 1983, Peace Boat is an international non-governmental and non-profit organization with Special Consultative Status
with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. The organization works to promote peace, human rights, equaland sustainable development and respect for the environment through global educational programs, cooperative projects andadvocacy activities on global peace voyages. Activities based in Japan and Northeast Asia are carried out from our seven Peace
Centers in Japan. Our associate organization Peace Boat US is a 501(c)3 registered organization based in New York, and we haverepresentatives in Europe, Latin America, South Asia and the Middle East.

PEACE BOAT’S EXPERIENCE IN DISASTER RELIEF OPERATIONS

As part of our wider peace building activities, Peace Boat has carried out emergency relief operations for the past 15 years,
delivering emergency assistance and raising funds, as well as coordinating the dispatch of experienced logisticians, interpreters andvolunteer teams to affected areas all over the world.
Peace Boat’s first disaster relief efforts took place in 1995, following the Great Hanshin Earthquake in Kobe, Japan when teamsof volunteers provided assistance for months supporting community access to food, water and other basic supplies as well as
humanitarian support. Since then, Peace Boat has organized emergency relief operations in disaster affected locations around theworld, including in Turkey (Aug. 1999), Taiwan (Sept. 1999), Algeria (May. 2003), Mid-Niigata, Japan (Nov. 2004), Sri Lanka (Dec.
2004), Pakistan (Oct. 2005), in the US (Hurricane Katrina, Oct. 2005), Indonesia (Jun. 2006) and Korea (Aug. 2007).

DISASTER IN JAPANOn March 11, 2011, Japan was struck by an unprecedented magnitude 9earthquake. The quake triggered a 10 metre high tsunami that submerged
over 443 square km of coastal areas, destroying everything in its path andsweeping across cities, villages and farmland. Waves up to 30 metres hightraveled as far as 10 km inland devastating the north east coast. Japan is
now experiencing its worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World
War with more than 27,000 people are dead or missing, and well over
490,000 displaced.
In addition, the March 11 earthquake and tsunami have seriously damaged
the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The Japanese government
declared a state of nuclear emergency, which has forced the evacuation ofthousands more residents. The nuclear situation continues to be a causeof great concern, and has hampered relief activities in the affected regions
and across the country.

The earthquake affected area; the tsunami devastated 200kmof coastline

PEACE BOAT’S EMERGENCY RELIEF FOR THE 2011 GREAT EAST JAPAN EARTHQUAKE:
CITY OF ISHINOMAKI, MIYAGIPhotos by: Yoshinori Ueno

On March 16, Peace Boat sent two advance teams to Miyagi prefecture, one of the worst affected areas where the number of deadand missing exceeds 14,000 and over 290,000 people have been displaced, to collect information about the damage and needs, andto deliver 10 tons of emergency aid including blankets, water, food, masks and other basic supplies.
Upon consultation with local authorities, Peace Boat established a base camp in the city of Ishinomaki. Peace Boat is working withthe city’s Social Welfare Council, the Mayor and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces on overall coordination of relief efforts in the area.

Rubble, trash and puddles of stagnant water aboundin crisis-hit Ishinomaki.

The sea which sustains coastal communities likeIshinomaki has now laid waste to them.

Evacuation centres struggle with overcrowding

SITUATION AND CHALLENGES IN ISHINOMAKI

Photo by: Tracey Taylor & Dee Green - 37 Frames

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, local authorities in Ishinomaki faced extreme difficulties in putting a functional local
emergency response in place as an estimated 30% of the city’s civil servants were killed in the disaster and many of those whosurvived have a severely reduced capacity to work, due to their own circumstances including loss of home and family members.
During its assessment mission, Peace Boat found that only four out of the then 170 evacuation centers in and around Ishinomaki
had an organized food distribution system in place. In this situation, at the city’s request, Peace Boat stepped in to support thecoordination of meeting survivors’ basic needs of food, water and shelter.
More than a month after the disaster, evacuation centres in Ishinomaki struggle to cope with overcrowding and outside theshelters, people remain in their damaged homes or cars without infrastructure or secure access to food and water. The state of theroads, continuing aftershocks and limited gasoline are still hampering movement and assistance to survivors. Buildings that were notdestroyed are filled with debris and thick tsunami mud, a health hazard and physical and psychological barrier to re-inhabitation.
Clearing the mud is an extremely labour-intensive and physically demanding task, beyond the ability of many of the residents of
Ishinomaki in their current vulnerable condition to carry out alone, especially for the large proportion of elderly people in the city.
Large numbers of people are needed to work together with the local community to clear this mud from buildings and streets tofacilitate the return of local people to their homes, businesses and daily life routines and support the earlier re-generation of thecommunity.

PEACE BOAT’S EFFORTS
Since March 16, 2011 in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, Peace Boat has been
acting in a coordination role between Ishinomaki’s local government and the many NGOs,
institutions and individuals offering help in the area. At the same time, Peace Boat has been
carrying out its own emergency relief efforts, dispatching 100-250 volunteers weekly to- Deliver over 1000 hot meals daily to those outside the shelters- Provide support within shelters and with the distribution of relief goods- Clear mud from buildings (schools, retirement homes, businesses, homes) in partnershipwith the local community.

Photos: by Yoshinori Ueno

Peace Boat is committed to working long-term with the local community and local authorities
to facilitate the safe return by residents to the still inhabitable areas of the town, and support aspeedy re-generation of the community. The next stage of disaster relief will focus on:- Urgently expanding the work of clearing mud from public buildings, businesses, private
homes and roads- Training, dispatching and transporting hundreds of well-coordinated volunteers capable ofcarrying out this physical labour to the affected together with the community- Continuing to provide support and assistance, including relief goods distribution to thoseliving in and outside the evacuation centers as requested by the community.
- Continuing to provide hot meals and provisions as needed, developing this work with local
restaurants and employing residents.

SUPPORT PEACE BOAT’S EFFORTS:• Financial Support: Peace Boat urgently needs monetary donations to support reliefefforts. All donations will be used on this project, to provide the support and partnershipdescribed above to the people of Ishinomaki.

Photo: by Yoshinori Ueno

Volunteers prepare hot meals and clear mudfrom buildings and streets

DONATE: Donations can be made directly to Japan, or through Paypal via Peace Boat US:
Donate online or see bank/post office transfer information at http://bit.ly/peaceboat_relief• Material Goods: Peace Boat is seeking donations of material goods. The list of requested
materials is available on Peace Boat’s website and updated regularly according to evolving
needs.
• Volunteers: Peace Boat is recruiting volunteers, including international volunteers, toassist with the relief work. Details are available on our website.

Re-opening local businesses like this fruit shop
supports community regeneration

Further information:• International Coordination: Peace Boat, with the support of Peace Boat US, is ready toreceive offers of international assistance, including volunteers, and direct such assistance tothe appropriate groups on the ground.

- Up to date details of Peace Boat’s 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake Emergency Relief Operation including
how to donate or enroll as a volunteer, and the latest activity reports: http://bit.ly/peaceboat_relief- Regular updates and photographs can also be found on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/PBsaigai- Personal experiences of survivors and volunteers in the area on the Blog “Voices from the Ground”
http://peaceboatvoices.wordpress.com

CONTACTS
For further information contactthe Peace Boat Office Tokyo.
Tel: +81-3-3363-8047 / Fax: +81-3-3363-7562
Email: pbglobal@peaceboat.gr.jp
www.peaceboat.org