A volunteer who'd come from Tokyo stares at the rubble left by tsunami with a solemn look on his face. He says that he can't get the smell of something smoldering under the soil out of his nose.
A supporter from Saitama talks about hushed silence. About three weeks after the March 11 quake and tsunami, the supporter was helping with house-to-house searches trying to confirm the safety of disabled residents. The local welfare evacuation center was notified as soon as a body was found. And whenever that happened, the air filled with tension.
In this Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011, photo, a woman walks through the ruins of her home, which was destroyed by the March 11 tsunami, near the waterfront in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
The reason was a local social welfare worker who was posted at the shelter. He happened to be at city hall when the tsunami hit, and for the next three days and three nights, continued to tend to the area's victims.
Only later did he learn that his family had been swallowed whole by the waves as they sat in their car. His wife, fortunately, was spared, but their children, aged 1 and 3, went missing. And yet, he couldn't take time away from work, and continued his search for disabled residents among the rubble. Out of consideration for his situation, his colleagues fell silent whenever talk turned to children and bodies.
Unlike the connected series of memories that we generally accumulate from childhood, flashbulb memories are scenes that have caused us sadness or fear that return to our consciousness in a flash of images. Six months have passed since that day, but some scenes are stuck in the minds of both local survivors and volunteers who have gathered to help.
Around 20,000 people have died or are missing from the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. Even today, at least 80,000 people are still living in evacuation shelters. As time goes on, the needs on the front lines continue to change.
In this Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011, photo, the town of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, is seen at dusk almost six months after it was destroyed by the March 11 tsunami. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
Determining that it was no longer enough just to dispatch support staff, the aforementioned supporter from Saitama will be setting up a consultation support center in the disaster-struck region at the request of a local municipal government.
The local welfare worker will also be working at the center. Though his 1-year-old has yet to be found, some days, a drink or two gets him talking about his children, a little bit at a time. ("Yoroku," a front-page column in the Mainichi Shimbun)
Click here for the original Japanese story(Mainichi Japan) September 12, 2011
余録：がれきを見つめながら、東京からやってきたボランティア…
がれきを見つめながら、東京からやってきたボランティアの男性は神妙な顔をしていた。土の中で何かがくすぶっている。そんなにおいが鼻孔から離れないという▲静寂について話すのは埼玉の支援者である。震災から３週間目のころ、障害者の安否確認のため全戸をしらみつぶしに歩いた。新たな遺体が見つかると福祉避難所にも知らせが届いたが、いつも異様に張り詰めた空気が漂う。その静寂の正体が気になった▲理由は、避難所で働いていた地元の福祉職員だった。市役所を訪れた時に被災し、そのまま三日三晩被災者を救援した。家族が車ごと津波にのまれたことは後で知った。幸い妻は助かったが、３歳と１歳の子の行方がわからない。それでも仕事から離れられず、がれきの野に障害者を捜し回った。心中を察してであろう、子どもや遺体の話題になると同僚の誰もが沈黙した▲幼いころから連なる記憶とは違って、悲しみや恐怖に襲われた場面がフラッシュをたいた写真のように残ることがある。細部まで長く消えない「フラッシュバルブ記憶」という。あの日から半年が過ぎた。被災者だけでなく支援に入った人々の脳裏にも焼き付いた記憶がある▲死者と行方不明者は約２万人。今も８万人以上が避難生活をしている。復旧とともに被災地のニーズは刻々と変わる。「もはや職員を派遣するだけでは無理だ」。埼玉の支援者は地元自治体の要請を受け、被災地に相談支援事業所を設立することになった▲あの若い福祉職員も一緒に働く予定だ。まだ１歳の子は見つからないが、酒を飲むと子どものことを少し話すようになったという。
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