Hiroshi Mizota and Akane Kato / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
Despite the sometimes life-threatening nature of their work, foreign rescue workers in the disaster-hit Tohoku region are caring for survivors and keeping their sense of humor. Many survivors express relief as the foreign teams cater to their needs despite cultural differences. Among the rescue teams lending succor are those from Israel and India. These reports are by Yomiuri Shimbun staff writers Hiroshi Mizota and Akane Kato.
Israelis provide more than treatmentMINAMI-SANRIKUCHO, Miyagi--At 9:50 a.m. Sunday, an Israeli medical team visited a house in a mountainous area of Minami-Sanrikucho to see Rumiko Abe, 32, who is in her fifth month of pregnancy.
Wearing a white coat, obstetrician Moshe Pinkert sat in front of a kotatsu foot warmer in the living room with three others, including Tomoko Miura, a 50-year-old midwife.
"Konnichiwa!" Pinkert said to Abe's 4-year-old son Mahiro. Though the boy peered uneasily from behind his mother, he soon started beaming when the team handed him pens and candies. Abe looked relieved.
Through the translator, Pinkert, 43, asked Abe questions about her labor with Mahiro.
The massive tsunami on March 11 did not reach Abe's house as it is located more than four kilometers from the coast. The six family members, including Abe's husband, escaped the disaster unscathed. But the general hospital in Ishinomaki where Abe used to go for treatment and consultation is now filled with disaster victims, so she is unable to make an appointment.
After the disaster, Abe grew extremely worried because for five days she could not feel her baby move in her womb. However, tears came to her eyes when she saw her baby move on a ultrasound monitor set up by the Israeli team.
Before arriving in Japan, Pinkert thought the Japanese seldom showed their feelings. He said he made a special effort to catch the subtleties of patients' feelings, particularly mental stress caused by such a disaster.
Abe smiled so happily after finding that her baby was in good shape that Pinkert said he felt it was worthwhile coming all the way from Israel just for that.
Because of the extent of the disaster, the government has allowed foreign doctors to work in earthquake-hit areas without Japanese medical licenses. Foreign medical staff--including doctors specializing in eight fields, such as internal medicine and infectious diseases--have treated or examined more than 200 people.
Besides the Israeli team, Minami-Sanrikucho has accepted foreign aid teams from Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand and Australia.
About 60 Israeli medical personnel started work at a gymnasium called Bayside Arena in Minami-Sanrikucho on March 28. They built six small prefabricated buildings, including one for X-ray examinations, in the gym's parking lot.
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Getting a boy to smileOne of the buildings houses a pediatrics unit. Its walls are decorated with illustrations of balloons and clowns.
Last Saturday at 3:10 p.m., 7-year-old Shun Sasaki turned up at the building with a cut on his right wrist that he sustained when he thrust his arm into some rubble. When the bandage was taken off his wrist, the boy said, "It hasn't healed yet."
Nurse Galit Bidner, 30, put a new bandage on his wrist and said: "OK, Shun. Well done!"
When she showed him an illustration of a cute boy she had drawn and then copied that drawing on his bandage, he smiled.
In pediatrics, Bidner believes gestures and smiles are important. When she visited quake-hit Haiti, she used her drawings to encourage children hurt both physically and mentally.
In observance of the Sabbath, strictly observant Jews are prohibited from working from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday except in certain circumstances. Medical personnel are allowed to provide essential medical treatment but are not permitted to engage in any other work, even an action as simple as carrying personal belongings.
On April 1, which was Friday, a rabbi accompanying the medical team fixed a ritual border around the makeshift buildings with ropes to create a space that was not restricted by these religious precepts.
Col. Ophir Cohen Marom, 46, the medical team leader, claimed that his team was the best in Israel and could provide superior medical treatment in the disaster area.
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Indian rescue team gives its allONAGAWACHO, Miyagi--At 2:02 p.m. on April 2, an Indian specialist rescue team found the body of Junko Sato, 59, who had been missing since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, under debris about 120 meters from her home in Onagawacho, Miyagi Prefecture.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry I left you behind," her 38-year-old eldest son Yukiyoshi said, crying and hanging onto her body.
Standing around him, about 10 members of India's National Disaster Response Force pressed their hands together in respect and closed their eyes.
Yukiyoshi said: "Over the past three weeks, I was impatient as I couldn't do more than look at the wreckage. I really appreciate [their assistance]."
He then bowed to the Indian rescuers.
It was the Indian team's first overseas operation since its creation in 2005.
Forty-six members arrived in the disaster-hit area on March 28 before completing their mission Wednesday. The team is trained to handle radiation leaks, chemical weapons and other situations requiring special skills.
Pankaj Kumar, the Indians' 34-year-old deputy commandant, said even though the disaster victims were found dead, returning the bodies to their families was meaningful. He said the team gave its all.
At the request of the Miyagi prefectural police, the team helped rescue efforts and cleaning in the district, which had been inaccessible, and assistance initially was slow in coming. Working with four volunteer interpreters, the team gathered information about residents unaccounted for since the twin quake-tsunami disaster, and narrowed the search area. In the six days after March 30, the team found six bodies in the debris.
As aftershocks continue to hit the Tohoku region, the search for missing people in damaged houses is a risky mission. On a site where timber and metal plates from destroyed houses lie jumbled over one another, Alok Awasthi, the team's 41-year-old commandant, kept his eye on the members and gave them specific instructions. On one occasion, he saw a member entering a partially collapsed building and immediately told him to stay away from the building.
"As they have specific expertise, they've been very helpful," a prefectural police official said.
The Indians set up camp in 12 tents in a parking lot of the prefectural athletic park in Rifucho, Miyagi Prefecture, where temperatures fell below zero in the morning. Even during the day, they had to work in cold, windy conditions. Many had difficulty adjusting to temperature differences from their much warmer native country.
The rescuers brought with them about 3,800 kilograms of spices, rice and other foodstuffs from India. Working under such severe overseas circumstances, they were comforted by daily servings of hot tea and curry.
Ajay Kumar, a 38-year-old inspector who was in charge of cooking for the team, said his job is to help the members keep fit. He said he used different curry spices to keep everyone from becoming tired of his prepared dishes.
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Massive amount of aid still pouring into JapanA massive amount of foreign aid is pouring into Japan following last month's earthquake and tsunami that caused unprecedented damage to the Tohoku region.
As of April 4, more than 1,000 rescue workers from 20 countries and regions had been dispatched to Japan, according to the Foreign Ministry.
In contrast, only two countries sent rescue teams after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
Twenty-nine countries and regions have sent aid, and Japan continues to receive generous offers of assistance nearly a month after the earthquake struck, ministry officials said.
After receiving offers of assistance, the government checks the needs of affected communities before deciding where rescue teams and aid should be sent.
South Korean rescue workers were the first to enter the disaster-hit region. Shortly after noon on March 12, the day after the earthquake struck, five rescue workers and two dogs landed at Haneda Airport.
A rescue teams from Israel is operating in Miyagi Prefecture, while an Indian team left the prefecture Wednesday after winding up its operations there. Rescuers from Turkey left the prefecture Friday.
The government initially received relief money through each country's Red Cross or Red Crescent offices. But after receiving many requests from those who wanted to make direct donations, the government began accepting donations directly or through its diplomatic missions overseas.
In China, many companies and individuals have made donations to Japanese disaster victims. "Japan helped us in the [2008] Sichuan earthquake. Now it is our turn," one person said.
At a school in Malaysia, 400 students spent two days making a collection of cards with messages and took them to the Japanese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. One of them read, "You're not alone."
In Spain and Egypt, some soccer players participated in matches with black armbands.
(Apr. 9, 2011)
