トーマス・C・カンサ
Children who have lost someone in the tsunami need care and the volunteers take care of these children's need. The elderly just want a cup of tea and a chat . They have a story to tell and I have learnt much from them . Their experience in that part of the country helps me with my work. It is very easy to forget why we are there. We sometimes get too enthusiastic and get carried away in what we are doing . It is very important for me to revalue my volunteering and try as hard as possible to accommodate their needs. My tea and lunch breaks are very important times for me to communicate with the local people and go back to understanding what it was like before the tsunami.
Abe to adjudicate on the construction of the cat tower and modify it if it was necessary. Well, suffice to say it is built and installed, and there are a few more orders for the cat towers!
While I was visiting the cats and doing my other volunteer work I dropped in for a cup of tea at Matsumura’s Sports Shop. Mr. Matsumura has this new project. It is a greenery project. He has the support of one of the world’s best natural garden designers (Ishihara.Garden designer).I watched his DVD in the shop and I signed on to join this project. For many years I have been mountain cleaning in Japan. I am fond of the outdoors and nature in general. My wife and I have many varieties of herbs, flowers and other plants on our balcony.
A few days later, I was lucky to get a on a night bus to Sendai via Yamagata. In Sendai, I was directed to the volunteer center of the City Officer where I had to register and waited around for three hours for some direction. Later, another volunteeer recognized me from the Kobe disaster and advised me to head to Ishinomaki where I would be better used. I then headed to the Ishinomaki bus terminal. By now, the bus trip from my home to Ishinomaki took over twenty hours.
I was lucky to get on the bus and head to Ishinomaki, which is a two hour bus ride but under the circumstance now took over fours hours. The aftermath of the tsunami and earthquake was unfolding minute by minute.
ロンドンで日本人女性と結婚し1984年に来日。
偶然粗大ゴミの中から壊れた車椅子を見つけ、それを修理して母国の障害児たちに車椅子を贈る活動を続けている。 アパルトヘイト下で育った体験談を詩集として発表し、その売り上げが車椅子を送る輸送費として充てられている。 その功績が認められ、1999年にシチズン・オブ・ザ・イヤーを受賞。
全国の小中学校などで、アパルトヘイトの現状やボランティアについての講演活動を行っている。
NGO団体、ヒランガニ・ンゴタンド主宰。大阪市平野区在住。
なお、来日した頃より合気道の修行を重ね黒帯を取得。同門には俳優であるスティーヴン・セガールがいる。
Our work was to get into the muck and shovel it out. The smell was nothing that I had ever experienced before. It even oozes out of you when you are sleeping. We were warmly received by the people as we were the first volunteers to start mopping up house by house. We retrieved corpses from nearly every home I visited. We usually held a minute of silent prayer before we cleaned a house or shop. More than 6 000 people lost their lives in this area!
My appreciation goes out to the self-defense force, the fire fighters and policemen. It was good to see all the rescue teams from around the world, some of whom I later came to know personally. The volunteers came from far and wide.
I know full v well that I can't turn the tide but I think it is important to know where they came from so we work to give them as familiar an environment as possible.
My October 2013 trip was a bit different. I was invited by an outside group to accompany them and to coordinate their volunteer projects. They were trying to build a bridge between their home town of Marukame in Shikoku to Ishinomaki. They had a long forgotten historical link. It was a 150 years old tombstone of a shipwright. The shipwright was born in Marukame and died in Ishinomaki.We spend the first day collecting all the information and data from the education board and some of the local people.
At night I visit the public bath house and soak my long day away .The winter can be very harsh up in the Tohoku area . The plants have to be covered .