Video Conference 10:00 - 12:00 (Brussels), 17:00 - 19:00 (Kobe)“Volunteer activities for the GEJET”
ProgrammeOpening
Prof Hiromasa Kubo, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University
Presentation:
Ms Ai Yonemitsu, Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University
Ms Mari Kinkawa, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe University
Ms Yuko Sato, Faculty of Maritime Sciences, Kobe University
Mr Jinya Suzuki, Faculty of Economics, Kobe University
Mr Kai Nishii, Faculty of Human Development, Kobe University
Discussion:
Participants: Students of Kobe University, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Closing:
Prof Yasuo Tanaka, Research Center for Urban Safety and Security, Kobe University

Having two facilitators from Brussels and Kobe, the workshop

feelings; and in this respect, volunteers like her were able tostarted with presentations from Kobe students who actually

help. They had to however steady their own feelings so thatparticipated in the volunteer activities in Tohoku areas.

they may listen carefully and understand their requests.

The ﬁrst presentation made by Ms Yonemitsu in Kobe wasMs Kinkawa participated in two volunteer events from Kobe

about her volunteer activities in the aﬀected areas. She joined

University. Her presentation was mainly about her involvement

a volunteer group that helped rake out mud from aﬀectedin the footbath activities. She found through her experience ofhouses, took care of the Children s Day event and so on.

giving footbaths to the aﬀected people that it provided

Through this volunteer activity, she pointed out the diﬀerence

thermal eﬀect; relaxation of both body and mind; and a chance

between the Great Hanshin Earthquake and GEJET. While thefor the volunteer to assess the needs of the aﬀected person

damage in the former was caused by collapsed buildings,through communication.

tsunami washed away buildings and people in the latter. She

Ms Sato s activities included providing meals, helping

also learnt that people in the aﬀected areas needed someone

preparation of bath, cleaning up muddy houses and dealing

to talk to about their experience in order to sort out theirwith reliefs such as clothes. Through those activities, she20

found there was some mismatch of aid and needs, andhave caused psychological stress. In answering to thisthought that we need to think what are needed by people inquestion, Kobe students explained that they had somethe aﬀected areas. Moreover, she wishes to point out two

preparations beforehand by way of lectures and explanations.

things: there should be good cooperation between local

However, even doing so, they were shocked by what they saw

government, private sectors and volunteers; and volunteers

in the aﬀected areas and heard from the experiences ofare responsible to carry on their activities to the next level

people who survived. Although they were not experts, theyafter completing their activities at the aﬀected areas. They

believed they can be of some help to the people aﬀected byshould not forget the disaster once they leave, for this could

speaking to them. Another Kobe University student mentioned

ﬁll the gap between aid and needs.

the important roles played by volunteers, individual people,

Mr. Suzuki helped in the removal of dangerous items, home

whose view and suggestions would be of help to theelectrical appliance and so on from destroyed buildings andgovernment in making a better society.

houses. Mr. Nishi visited the disaster stricken areas twice andcompared the two experiences. He noticed a diﬀerence in thescenery. For example, in the earlier time, there was a lot ofdebris, but not so much in the latter. Another aspect was in
the places the evacuees stay. In the earlier time, they lived invery small cubicles in schools or other shelters, but by thesecond time, the evacuees lived in temporary houses built
especially for them. He also noticed that people expressedhope for the future in the latter.
In the Q & A session, a student in Brussels asked if there wasany diﬃculty when communicating with people in the aﬀectedareas. A Kobe student found no diﬃculty in speaking to elderly
or local people, but the problem was communication with thelocal government. Another student in Kobe pointed out that
dialect was sometimes diﬃcult for communication as well as
local customs which were diﬀerent. There were some otherquestions such as the essence of the footbath, the timing
and period volunteers visited the aﬀected areas andfollowing-up activities after their return to Kobe. Question on
the activities of listening to aﬀected people was raised
because those activities overwhelmed volunteers and it might21