Philippine Typhoon Yolanda Aid
2014.05.16 Fri 11:20/
On April 6, 2014, the workshop in different barangays in Ormoc City and Merida Town had started after
completing the installation of ICT stations and CA systems in connection to Philippine Typhoon Yolanda Aid.

The workshop first started at Barangay Casilda which was attended by the Barangay Captain, Barangay
Councilors and the residents of the barangay. There were so many people that they couldn’t fit inside the hall,thus, some of them had to stand by the window to listen to the workshop with the eyes of curiosity in eachone of them.
November 8, 2014 – Super Typhoon Yolanda devastated the center of Leyte Province – Tacloban City and its
neighbouring towns and cities, including Ormoc and Merida. The affected area is vast thus the recovery has
been slow due to the lack of technicians of the power utility company to restore the island’s electricity supply.
In order to hasten the recovery, Community Addressing (CA) System and Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) station – includes laptop, printer, amplifier – were delivered. Due to the total shutdown of
power grid lines that took place after the disaster, it was impossible to power up the equipment, thus, Solar
Power Generator was supplied. The residents have been using this as the primary source of power as thisdoesn’t require any fuel – used by over 1,000 people to recharge their gadgets and residential lights for free.

The workshop was intended to help the locals become self-efficient to operate and maintain the equipment
after its delivery. Dondon (nickname) – his real name is Antonio Montejo III, the local staff, gearing up at thecenter to facilitate the workshop.
The lecture included how to use and maintain the Solar Generator, CA System, Mobile Wi-Fi router, andLaptop.

The workshop was held 7 times a week from April 6, 2014. It was completed on April 16, 2014 before the Holy
Week – a Christian event in the Philippines. The manual for the workshop has been shown to the participants
during the workshop and was open for feedback before finally laminating it upon its delivery. This project isdue to end in the middle of May 2014.
Translated by Antonio Montejo III (Assistant BHN philipine typhoon AID project)Solar Power to Villages in Karen State, Myanmar
2014.06.27 Fri 10:30/
In Myanmar many of the minority ethnical areas were left without infrastructures due to the battles against
the central government.
After the cease fire better infrastructures are indispensable to encourage refugees and Internally Displaced
Persons(IDP) to return to their home lands. BHN started supplying solar electricity to remote villages toimprove their lives.
What is the issue, problem, or challenge?
In Myanmar, there are as many as 135 ethnic minority groups and over 60 years after independence of thecountry, many of these ethnic minority groups were in battle against the central government, demanding
ethnical autonomy.
Recently, most of these ethnic groups agreed ceasefire with the central government and the refugees andInternally Displaced Persons(IDP) are gradually returning to their home lands. However, most of the
disputed areas were deserted and left without infrastructure investments
How will this project solve this problem?
Since last summer, to encourage people to return, BHN has been trying to build solar power systems in Shan
Ywar Thit sub-township in Karen(=Kayin) State. With LED lamps in the high school students can now study
at night to prepare for exams for higher education and watch educational TV and video programs.
In the village community center, villagers are frequently gathering and watching TV programs and chat. Alsoat school, teachers can now communicate with their families via radio telephone set.

Potential Long Term Impact
As the next project BHN installed the same solar system in the high school of Paung village located far south.
Parents of high school students now do not need to buy candles for their children to study at night.
Also, in Shan Ywar Thit, BHN plans to supply solar power to the area hospital and equip villages with radio
phones, which covers over 10,000 inhabitants in the area. With such improved basic infrastructures BHN
wishes to encourage more refugees and IDPs to return to their old home lands.

Hirofumi AIZAWA

Istanbul Summit: Women’s Perspectives on UN Post-2015 Development Agenda
2014.06.30 Mon 16:51/Events, Others
Women Gathered for the Summit
Istanbul Summit: Women’s Perspectives on UN Post-2015 Development Agenda was held on 30 May – 1 Junein Istanbul, Turkey. According to the final declaration of the Summit, 306 participants, including 4 Ministers
and 14 MPs, from 42 countries joined the Summit which was organized by the Journalists and Writers
Foundation.

The general aim of the Summit is to contribute to the UN Post-2015 Development Goals and to createawareness across societies worldwide. The specific aim is to open the floor to women’s perspectives andopinions on the proposed SDGs by bringing together women participants from across the world.
Two-Day Summit focusing Women
Following the award ceremony for Peace Project Grantees on 30th May, the two-day Summit officially started.
Three or four panellists from various organizations including United Nations delivered a speech from theirpoint of view in four different sessions; Civil Society and Development Goals, Environmental Dimension,

Social Dimension and Economic Dimension.

In the Environmental Dimension, Anna TAMAKI, Project Coordinator of BHN Association, made an oral
statement. She introduced BHN Association and its Bangladesh Project and proposed that Climate Change
and Disaster Risk Reduction should be mainstreamed in the UN Post -2015 Development Goals emphasizing
the importance of women’s empowerment for disaster risk reduction.

On the 2nd day of the Summit, participants were divided into Parliament Roundtable and 8 Working Groups;
Eradication of Poverty, Women’s Empowerment, Health, Education, Food & Water Supply and Sanitation,
Environment, Climate Change and Energy, Sustainable Economic Development, Peace and Good Governance.
Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment were discussed almost in all the groups.

The recommendations from each group were delivered back to the centre session, and then at the closing
ceremony the Final Declaration was announced. All documents are available here.
We all hope that this output of the Summit gathering all the discussions and arguments among theparticipants will make positive influences on the UN Post 2015 Development Agenda.
Anna Tamaki, Project Coordinator

Bangladesh Project No.4: Message from Ms. Fukuda, the designer of Radio Shagor Dwip’s logo
2014.07.01 Tue 10:18/Development Support
Ms. Yui Fukuda who works for Nara College of Arts designed the logo for Radio Shagor Dwip, a community
radio station in Hatiya Island.
The logo & slogan contest was held in Hatiya Island last November. Based on the pictures drawn by 10-15
year old students, the logo was arranged and finalized by Ms. Fukuda. A message from her follows:“First of all, I appreciate Mr. Kotoge, Project Manager of this project, for giving me such a great opportunity.
It is my great pleasure to have designed this logo based on pieces of art drawn by children in Hatiya Island.
I found the children’s passion to their Home Island and excitement to the new community radio in eachdrawing. Though it was quite tough for me to incorporate wonderful ideas of all students into one logo, I
really enjoyed this work.
Hatiya Island in Bay of Bengal with the rising sun is designed in the logo, which delineates hope of people in
Hatiya. I’m very pleased to hear that everyone is very excited and delighted with this logo.
I hope that Radio Shagor Dwip will save as many people’s lives as possible by broadcasting necessaryinformation to them especially in the event of a disaster, and I wish it would become a beloved community
radio station providing a lot of fun to the people.
Thank you very much again. “
Yui Fukuda
Nara College of Arts

Myanmar Karen: Installation of New Solar Power System in Paung High School
2014.08.01 Fri 10:17/Development Support
By the end of May 2014, BHN Association completed installation of a solar power system in the High Schoolof Paung Village.
School rooms are now lit with LED lamps and a large screen (50 inches) TV set with a video player is usedfor visual studies. Dormitories for teachers and the school toilets are now also lit brightly.

After the construction works, trainings were conducted in June for enabling the local people to maintain thesystem after it is transferred to them.
The village of Paung is located about 50km from Hpa An, the capital of Karen (=Kayin) State, and manyfamilies of refugees are gradually returning to the villages around this area after the ceasefire between thecentral government and KNU (Karen National Union) has been established.
The high school has 126 students coming from 17 neighboring villages. Many of the high school students arestaying overnight in the school to study until late hours to prepare for exams for higher education, however,lack of funds prevented running a dynamo until late at night so as to satisfy the needs of the students.

BHN is now preparing to build a system of the same type in another high school in another village where
many refugees are returning.
Hirofumi Aizawa, Project Manager

Final Report for “FM Broadcast Stations Supporting Disaster Victims
2014.08.22 Fri 17:18/Emergency Relief
From August 5 to August 8, one of the BHN experts made a round trip to the FM broadcast stations in Tohoku
district to install UPS (Un-interruptible Power Supply) systems.

The city of Minami-Souma, Fukushima Pref., was the 1st destination as it recently suffered damage to its
radio facilities from a thunder surge and the radio broadcasting has been stopped.
In this city, about one third of the citizens are still evacuated from their homes to escape the atomic
contamination and the radio broadcast is badly needed to get local information on disaster recovery and also
to hear the news about their relatives and friends.
In the city of Natori, Miyagi Pref., a new studio was built recently and the UPS was installed in the city hall.
In the town of Ohtsuchi, Iwate Pref., the radio emission antenna is located on a mountain top and wasaccessible only by all-wheel drive car even under ordinary conditions, thus, the work had to be postponed to
the next day due to the heavy rain fall and storm.
With the completion of the installation of these UPS systems, BHN completed all the planned construction
works for FM Broadcast Stations in Tohoku district.
We wish to sincerely thank all who supported our project via GlobalGiving since the occurrence of the disasterin 2011.
Although our construction assistance to those broadcast stations is ending, they may still have many
problems and encounter difficult situations that may need support from us.
We are firmly resolved to keep assisting them in the coming days.
Thanks again to all!

By Hirofumi Aizawa – Project Manager

Community Life Improvement Project Utilizing Community Addressing System in the Ayeyarwady River
Delta
2014.09.03 Wed 16:55/Emergency Relief●The first workshop of our project held in Myanmar
Community Addressing Systems (CA systems) have been installed in the delta area in southern Myanmar
where no commercial electricity, water supply nor telephone is available.
We hope that these systems would help the local people not only to cope with emergency situations such as
the arrival of cyclones but also to improve their daily life.
Normally, this kind of a project ends at the completion of system installation. However, we thought that thisis not enough in order for the systems to be utilized and maintained by the villagers for years to come.
Therefore, instead of holding one-sided training sessions, we asked each village to set up a “CA system
Operation Committee” and then we organized a training workshop for the Committee members.
The goal of the workshop is to let the Committee members learn how to maintain and operate the system
and understand its function.
The workshop will train the participants on effective use of radio, other broadcasting items, content andtiming of broadcasted messages, etc. in both everyday life as well as in emergencies.
We will also illustrate efficient usage (techniques, know-how) of the system with examples while maintaining
a bilateral exchange of opinions and suggestions.
A meeting for Workshop preparation was held in Myanmar at the beginning of April, 2014.
Project Manager in BHN Myanmar office and two members from BHN head office (Tokyo) participated in themeeting.
We were planning to start the workshops as soon as possible, but the timing of the workshops became an
important issue.
This is because, unlike the rainy season in Japan, it rains heavily and continuously along with strong winds
during the rainy season in Myanmar, which is typically between middle of May and middle of October.
This year they had unusual heavy rains, so much so that it would be difficult and dangerous for all involved
to get to the workshop venue by boat as waters would be high and winds would be strong.
To make matters worse, it seemed difficult to get full participation from the village members because theyare usually very busy planting rice and tending to rice fields in this season.
So we rescheduled the actual workshops to the dry season (November to December) in view of safety andavailability of participants so that our training goals can be fulfilled.
However, to evaluate the relevance of the scheme and the materials for the workshop, we decided to hold atrial workshop with about twenty participants on 16th of July, 2013.
We kept it limited to 5 villages only (in Kyauktan township of Yangon district suburbs) where it was thought
to be less influenced by the rainy season.

At the meeting site, we raised flags of The Myanmar Chamber of Commerce (UMFCCI), Japan, and BHN
Association so that the workshop participants will be reminded of Japan’s contribution to the system.
Although we had hoped to escape from the influence of the rainy season, there was a challenge in attending
this workshop due to torrential rains and strong winds that hit the area. Fortunately, the rain stopped on
the workshop day and everyone got to the venue (a monastery) safely.
However, due to torrential rains in the region, the ground floor of the building was completely flooded and as
a result participants had to roll their pants up and wade through knee deep water to get to the second floor.

At the end of this trial workshop, we sought opinions about it from the participants by requesting them tofill a questionnaire to understand their impression of the workshop.
Many participants thanked us for providing CA systems in an area where no commercial electricity issupplied. Afterwards, we exchanged suggestions and opinions over lunch.

We agreed that it was important to receive and understand the response of the participants.
We understood through the answers to the questionnaire that participants appreciated us holding theworkshop and that the contents were relevant and significant to them. Thus, we concluded that our training
goals were reached.
The above trial workshop was held in a monastery.
However, we are considering holding the next one in a big hall in a township (county capital) and decided
that the optimal size of a workshop would be to include 10-15 villages (three persons per village).
The first phase of our project started on 24th of September, 2013 and finished on 23rd of July, 2014.

In order to continue with the remaining workshops that were rescheduled as well as to install CA systems in
additional villages, we have applied for Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO Project from the Ministry ofForeign Affairs for the second phase of the project starting in September, 2014.

NGO cooperation project in Myanmar
Eiichi Watanabe, Counselor

Workshop on ICT for disaster management for ASEAN countries
2015.01.09 Fri 16:12/Human Resources Dev.
● Outline of the workshop
BHN held the Workshop on ICT for disaster management, inviting experts from ASEAN countries (The
Association of Southeast Asian Nations), with the support ASEAN and the Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications of Japan (MIC) from December 8th to 12th, 2014, in Tokyo, Miyagi prefecture and Ibaraki
prefecture.
Japan was hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake followed by gigantic Tsunami in 2011 that caused tointerrupt communication services for a long time due to the failure of both commercial power supply andcommunication infrastructure. In ASEAN countries also, there are many natural disasters occurring every
year.

Workshop on ICT for disaster management for ASEAN countries was aimed at sharing our experiences andknow-how gained from the Great East Japan Earthquake and through the process of the recovery, with thetelecom leaders of ASEAN countries.
It is also hoped that our technologies and systems would serve as a model for the ASEAN countries when
they implement their own, and also to strengthen international cooperation between Japan and ASEAN
countries.
● Participants from ASEAN countries
Number of participants was twelve in total. There were two each from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand
and Vietnam, and one each from Malaysia and the Philippines.
● Program
The program of Workshop consisted of lectures and site visits to the areas that were hit by the Great East

Japan Earthquake.
・ The lectures covered MIC’s international cooperation in the field of ICT for disaster management,
standardization trends in disaster prevention systems, and various ICT technologies and systems for disastermitigation and prevention.
Participants from ASEAN countries presented country reports regarding countermeasures against natural
disasters in their respective country. They explained about the situation in each country concerning disasters
and how they are coping with natural disasters.
Another program of the Workshop included a visit to National Research Institute for Earth Science andDisaster Prevention in Tsukuba city, Ibaraki prefecture.
・In Miyagi prefecture, we visited the city of Ishinomaki, Onagawa cho, Shikama-cho, the city of Osaki and
Watari-cho which were all struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake. There, we received lectures andobserved how municipalities coped with the earthquake at that time, and their projects seeking
diversification, resilience and efficiency of information media for disaster warning, based on the lessons theylearned in the disaster.
Those activities included the temporary disaster FM broadcasting station in Watar-cho. The visit to NTT
East Miyagi Division enabled us to understand how they coped with the Great East Japan Earthquake andmanaged to bring the telecommunication network back to normal.

・Throughout this Workshop, participants from ASEAN countries raised many questions about Japan’s
technologies and systems. They also paid much attention to the restoration activities underway in the regions
struck by the earthquake and tsunami. From their response, we believe this workshop has been muchinformative and useful for disaster management development in ASEAN countries. We also believe that thisworkshop has contributed to strengthening international cooperation between Japan and ASEAN countries.
Mitsuake Hatakeyama

Bangladesh Hatiya: Creating a Disaster Prevention Educational Video for Young Children
2015.01.27 Tue 17:36/Development Support※ For information about “Community Capacity Development for Disaster Risk Reduction by Community
Radio” (Hatiya Island, Bangladesh) funded by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Organization), pleaseclick here.
● Collaborating with Wakayama University to Create Disaster Prevention Video
Increasing young children’s (age range of approximately three to seven years old) disaster preparedness
through education is essential to increasing the community’s ability to effectively respond to disasters.
Therefore, in this project we are creating a four to five minute educational video for disaster prevention. We
are collaborating on this subject with Professor Imanishi, of Wakayama University’s Disaster Prevention
Research Center, an organization with numerous domestic accomplishments.

We took a video made for people living in Japan, “Typhoon Rock and Roll,” and in order to adapt it to theculture and language of Bangladesh, we changed the illustrations and the lyrics.
Now that the animation for the video has been completed, we asked Professor Imanishi to come to the studioof radio Sagor Dwip in Hatiya Island, Bangladesh, in order to write the lyrics. We also went to a local
elementary school to ensure that the area’s children enjoyed listening to the video’s song.

We held an audition, and from the contestants we chose three people from the area to sing the song.
Unfortunately, due to the insufficient quality of the audio equipment provided and the fact that the recording
we had done beforehand was incomplete, the children from the school were unable to listen to all the lyrics.
However, they did enjoy the illustrations and the melody.
With this in mind, we are coordinating with staff from the area to make the video more enjoyable for thechildren.
CR Project in Hatiya Island, Bangladesh
Tadayoshi Kotoge (Project Manager)
English translation by Mariah Gomes

Completion of First Part of Training for BHN’s Seventeenth Human Resource Development Program
2015.02.04 Wed 14:40/Human Resources Dev.
● Participants So Cheerful They Danced
The first part of BHN’s seventeenth human resource development program, which was held at Malaysia’s
Multimedia University (MMU), began on November 17th of last year. At the end of that year, on December
19th, this was successfully brought to completion.

Eight people from eight different Asian countries participated in the training. Participants came from
Bangladesh (male, with a technical background (tech)), Cambodia (male, with a business background(business)), Indonesia (female, tech), Laos (female, business), Myanmar (male, tech), Sri Lanka (male,business), Uzbekistan (male, tech), and Vietnam (male, tech). Thus, the participants consisted of six males,
and two females; four with technical backgrounds, and four with business backgrounds.
● Lectures from MMU’s Professors
From November 19th until December 17th, MMU’s professors gave lectures in technology and business as
part of the training. Two topics dealt with technology, two with business, and one topic dealt with both. Thus,
seven professors split these topics up and held lectures on them.

As for how the lectures went, we posted a report by the BHN members in our previous e-mail newsletter andon one of our webpages (both in Japanese) that said the lectures were based on the professors’ talks and were
held in a seminar format with lively question and answer sessions. It is to be noted that this was the firsttime that the staff here at BHN attended the lectures by the MMU professors.

The participants commented that much of the material in the lectures was very interesting to them, and in
the closing session on the last day, when they made their training report, they said that as soon as they
returned to their respective countries, they would like to either put what they had learned into practice, oruse it as a reference in their work.
The participants learned how to use Prezi in the training, a software similar to PowerPoint that utilizes
animations and videos for presentations. They promptly used this to make presentation material for thereport on the training results, thereby showing how eager they were to proactively use what they had learned
to tackle a challenge.
● The Last Two Days: Completion and Commencement Ceremony
On the morning of December 18th, the participants had a chance to visit NTT MSC, a subsidiary of NTT
Japan near MMU, where Mr. Deguchi, CEO, introduced his business to them. They then went to observe the
NTT MSC’s data centers and other facilities. It was a rare opportunity to gain practical business knowledge
and to see actual facilities, which they would not have been able to attain in the classroom. The participants
highly appreciated this valuable experience.

On December 19th, the commencement ceremony was held in succession to the meeting to report the training
results. The participants were bursting with joy, feeling both a sense of accomplishment and relief fromfinishing the five-week-long training, as they received their certifications of completion.

Afterward, at the gratitude dinner, the professors from Japan and MMU, the staff at MMU Cnergy (theorganization that provided the training service and supported the day-to-day living of the participants during
the training), the members from BHN, and the participants all chatted in a relaxed atmosphere. Toward theend, the participants from Uzbekistan and Indonesia even did a dance, and everyone had a great time. The
dinner ended with everyone reluctantly saying goodbye, and expressing that they hoped to meet again in
Japan.

The participants finally returned home safely, and now report that they are very busy with their work.
We sincerely thank the professors for giving their lectures, as well as the faculty from MMU and MMU Cnergy,
and all the other staff who made time despite their busy lives to kindly support the first part of the training.
BHN Human Resource Development Program Leader: Kazuhisa Konoma (Director)
Translated by Mariah Gomes

Bangladesh Hatiya: PET Bottle Life Jacket & Piggybacking
2015.02.09 Mon 14:10/
Whenever cyclones would hit, the Bangladesh government only warned people to evacuate with the activationof disaster alert signals. However, many people cannot or do not follow the warnings for various reasons. For
example, some people stay behind to try to protect their possessions.
In light of this situation, we are planning to introduce Japanese methods and knowledge for Disaster Risk
Reduction (DRR) to communities in Bangladesh in cooperation with Professor Imanishi of Wakayama
University, so that local residents can learn how to protect their lives by themselves.
● PET Bottle Life Jacket
We introduced the “PET Bottle Life Jacket,” a DRR method.

▼ How to Prepare a PET Bottle Life Jacket
・Prepare two 1.5L PET bottles.
・Wrap the bottles with an orna, a long piece of cloth worn over the chest, which is also used as a head andshoulder covering in Bangladesh.
・Hold each bottle wrapped in the orna and twist each in opposite directions.
・Wrap the orna around your body.
People in Hatiya already use PET bottles tied with strings for survival in water, but it is easier and quicker
to use an orna for making a PET bottle life jacket.
● Piggybacking
Bangladeshi parents generally hold children at their waists, as the picture on the left shows. However, thismakes it possible for them to use only one hand. In addition, the child on the parent’s waist cannot be held
securely; therefore, both the parent and the child are at risk in emergency situations.

On the other hand, piggybacking keeps both hands free. So, in an emergency, people can protect themselves
and support other people such as their family and neighbours.
In December, 2015, we had a courtyard meeting to introduce the above methods to people at a para (thesmallest type of a municipality; a kind of village) in Hatiya.
They observed these DRR methods with curiosity and laughed while enthusiastically trying them out.

There are various methods that Bangladeshi people can utilize to protect themselves using ordinary objects.
We are planning to provide more DRR methods and knowledge that is relevant for people’s lifestyles in Hatiya.

Project Manager Tadayoshi Kotoge

Funding from the Red Feather Community Trust Fund for Activities to Support Iitate Village Approved!
2015.03.03 Tue 13:52/Emergency Relief
It has been three years and ten months since the great earthquake. Compared to the beginning, the numberof support groups has declined dramatically. The main reason is that, with the passage of time, the funding
for activities has decreased.
In the case of the BHN Association, we initially received donations from our members in addition to thefinancial support from Japan Platform (JPF). However, since April, 2014, we have had to rely on contracts
from Iitate Village, as well as donations from Docomo users through Docomo Premium Club Points. When
this was not enough, we have used our organization’s own funds to continue our activities.
Meanwhile, we sent out many applications in order to get support from new sources, and we recently learned
that we will be receiving some funding for our activities from “Red Feather Community Trust Fund’s”“Disaster Volunteers and NPO Activities Support Funds” (abbreviation: Volunteer Support).

The funding period is from August, 2014 until March, 2015. By adding this to the money from the village, wewill have a solid foundation for this year’s activities.
As a measure to strengthen the foundation of our activities further, last autumn, we put a lot of effort into
visiting organizations that we worked with in order to reaffirm and strengthen our partnerships with them.
Our partners, including members from Iitate Village, Iitate Social Welfare Council, Humanitarian Medical
Assistance (HuMA), and NTT Docomo CS Tohoku branch, pledged their continuing support and assistancefor our organization’s activities.

The villagers of Iitate Village in Fukushima Prefecture still must follow evacuation orders because of thenuclear power plant accident. They are still unable to plan for the future, and are forced to live precarious
and restricted lives in temporary and leased housing.

We are resolutely continuing our activities in the region to support the Iitate Village Patrol teams, as well as
the evacuees living in the leased housing. Since the beginning, there have been a total of 772 people
participating in 44 health consultation sessions (88 days), and 756 people participating in 86 massage
sessions. Additionally, there are currently 603 people in the region using pedometers presented by BHN.
Our organization will continue closely supporting Iitate Village and its villagers with all the organizations
that are supporting and collaborating with us.
Iitate Village Evacuee Support Project’s Project Manager
Yoshihiro Yoshioka (Counselor)
English translation by Mariah Gomes

December 2014: Report on Local Community Support Project for Disaster Affected People in Ishinomaki Cityin Miyagi Prefecture, Higashi-Matsushima City, and the Town of Minami-Sanriku
2015.03.12 Thu 15:19/Emergency Relief
As we enter December, 2014, this year’s top ten news headlines, as well as reflections about this year, havestood out through local newspapers.
We are approaching the fourth year since “The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11th, 2011.” Therebuilding of homes for people affected by the disaster in Miyagi Prefecture and the Ishinomaki region istaking shape, and the granting of residential land for the disaster prevention group relocation housing has
started. In addition, people have been moving into disaster public housing in succession.
There seem to be cases of the elderly feeling more isolated after having moved to permanent housing, as they
approach New Year’s Day in a new environment. Therefore, we are taking measures to prevent the people
who have moved into the permanent housing from feeling isolated; we have been doing the same for the
residents living in temporary housing where increasing number of rooms are becoming vacant. Additionally,
the new residents who are relocating from closing temporary housing complexes to new temporary housing
facilities are starting to form residents’ associations to create new communities.
With that being said, on December 8th, 2014, the Olympic flame platform was transported to the Ishinomaki
City General Athletics Park from Tokyo, using a truck over seven hours. This platform had been temporarily
entrusted to Ishinomaki City because of the reconstruction work on the National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.
The Olympic flame platform from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics became the symbol of Japan’s post-war recovery.
It was subsequently placed under the control of the Japan Sport Council. With hopes to recover from theGreat East Japan Earthquake, the council decided to temporarily entrust it to Ishinomaki City. The Olympic
flame platform is planned to be placed on a completed pedestal in the park, on Yasuragi Square, until March,
2019.
Until the new National Olympic Stadium is completed for use in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics,
the platform will watch over the residents of the affected areas, who are all working toward recovery.
● Computer Training for Residents’ Association Members
We conducted this month’s “Computer Training for Temporary Housing Complex Residents’ Association
Members” for Oomori Temporary Housing Unit 3.

We held a training to create flyers for the “Christmas Party,” which was organized by the residents’association of Oomori Temporary Housing Unit 3. The members learned how to use Word to insert shapes,
change colors, and search for related pictures on the internet, subsequently saving them onto their computers.
The residents’ association members were very happy looking at the finished flyers.
● About this Project’s Completion Procedures
BHN started these support activities using designated donations in July, 2012. In December, 2013, the timeframe set for collecting designated donations came to an end, and at the end of December, 2014, we completed
our activities.
This project to support the disaster survivors’ local communities started in Higashi-Matsushima City, Miyagi
Prefecture. Afterward, we expanded our activities to Ishinomaki City, Tome City, and Minami-Sanriku City.
Our specific activities, which were slightly amended during the time period, consisted of the following: 1)
Installing computers and printers in 38 temporary housing complex meeting places (in 28 of these temporary
housing complex meeting places, we also provided fiber-optic internet connections), and 2) Conducting“Computer Trainings for Temporary Housing Complex Residents’ Association Members” for members whorequested training.
As we approached the completion of our activities at the end of December, 2014, we made the final
confirmation of the members’ desire for the continued usage of the “fiber-optic internet connection” that was
installed in the temporary housing complexes and the “continued usage of installed computers and printers.”
We met with the members of Ishinomaki Temporary Housing Self-Government Alliance Secretariat, and got
in touch with all the temporary housing complex residents’ association presidents. Through this, we finishedconfirming whether or not all the residents’ association members of the temporary housing complexes wanted
continued usage until the middle of December, 2015.
After learning the results of this, we completed the “internet line contract transfer” for the two temporary
housing complex residents’ associations (Oohashi temporary housing complex in Ishinomaki City, as well as
Nakasechou Temporary housing complex in the Town of Minami-Sanriku, Motoyoshi-gun) that wished tocontinue using fiber-optic internet connections” at their own expense. Additionally, for the fifteen temporaryhousing complex residents’ associations that requested continued usage of installed computers and printers,
we concluded an MOU (memorandum of understanding) to enable continued lending of computers to them,and left the computers and printers in the temporary housing complexes to be maintained by themselves.
These fifteen associations were the temporary housing complexes of Oohashi in Ishinomaki City,
Minamizakai (Unit 5), Oomori (Unit 3), Iinogawa Senior High School, Ogachi-Tougezaki, Koganebukuro,
Oshikirinuma, Momoo Nakatsuyama, Asahi Kasei, Ayukawa Primary School, the Ishinomaki Temporary
Housing Self-Government Alliance Secretariat, Takagi no Mori Athletic Park in Higashi-Matsushima City,
Kamiku Fureai Park, Shimoku Fureai Park, and Yokoyama in Tome City (Number 1 and 2).

For the temporary housing complexes not listed above, we cancelled the fiber-optic internet connection
contracts with NTT, and collected one by one the computers that people had finished using over a long periodof time. While collecting these, we received words of thanks and appreciation from all the residents’association members. We hope that, through the harmonious administration of residents’ associations, thesepeople will be able to return to the lifestyles they led before the earthquake as soon as possible.
We received donations from 16 companies, including Sega Sammy Holdings, Inc., for this local community
support project for disaster survivors in Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture, Higashi-Matsushima City,and the Town of Minami-Sanriku. Through this, we were able to continue our activities until December 31st,
2014. We sincerely thank these companies for their help.
BHN was able to carry out these large-scale internet support activities because, in addition to the financial
support above, we received many in-kind donations, including computers, office software, and security
software from telecommunications businesses. We take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Microsoft
Corporation, the Symantec Corporation, the NTT Plala Corporation, and the All NTT Workers Union ofJapan Headquarters, for sending support to us.
● About the Efforts from Now on
At the end of December, 2014, we finished our project to collect these designated donations, which we started
in July, 2012. We have kept the computers and other devices installed at the fifteen temporary housing

complex meeting places for which the members desired continued usage. From now on, while watching overthe self-governance of the temporary housing complex residents’ associations, we will continue support
activities. In addition, we have decided to maintain the BHN Miyagi Office together with its activities until
the end of December, 2015.

Ishinomaki Area Disaster Survivors Support Project Manager: Shuji Arima (Counselor)
English translation by Mariah Gomes

Bangladesh Hatiya: We Have Obtained a Radio License for the CR Station “Radio Sagor Dwip”!
2015.03.17 Tue 14:57/Development Support※ For information about “Community Capacity Development for Disaster Risk Reduction by Community
Radio” (Hatiya Island, Bangladesh) funded by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), please click
here.

On March 4th, the radio license for “Sagor Dwip,” a community radio station forming an indispensable partof our project in Hatiya Island carried out by JICA, DUS (a local partner), and BHN, was finally approved!
Radio Sagor Dwip will now become Bangladesh’s 16th community radio station.

We have been waiting a very long time for this license to be approved, so when it finally was, our staff andthe international staff were all full of joy.
Before broadcasting can be started, there are still many things that must be done, such as gathering
equipment, doing test broadcasts, and training staff. However, this license approval represents huge progress
toward our goals.
This project will soon reach its turning point. We will continue sending notifications about these activities
through the BHN webpages and through PR brochures.
We continue to ask for everyone’s full support!
Bangladesh Hatiya Island CR Project
Tadayoshi Kotoge, Hirofumi Aizawa and Anna Tamaki
English translation by Mariah Gomes

21.04.2015 Human Resources
Dev.
Ｎｏｔ Ｆｏｕｎｄ

Implementing Skills Training for Disaster Prevention,
Telemedicine, and Sensor Networks (2014 APT-J4 Training)Report Available Online : BHN Association’s Relief & Support Activities in Areas Affected by Great East
Japan Earthquake
2015.03.17 Tue 13:45/Events, Others
We have published the report “BHN Association’s Relief & Support Activities in Areas Affected by Great East
Japan Earthquake”.

To download the report, please click on the link below.
DOWNLOAD [PDF]* Please contact us if you would like to consult regarding hard copies of the report.