JDC: There From Crisis to Recovery
From rushing in emergency phase relief to ensuring the long-term recovery of disaster victims, JDC's continuous, on-the-ground response in Japan has included:
- Supplying vital equipment for newborn babies and life-saving antibiotics and medications to support delivery of state-of-the-art medical care at the Israel Defense Forces Field Hospital
- Delivering emergency supplies such as food, water, fuel, hygiene products, blankets, and tents to evacuees from the hardest-hit areas
- Stocking special child-friendly spaces for Japanese kids with learning materials, teaching aids, and school supplies
- Providing psychosocial support training for mental health and education professionals and paraprofessionals working with children, adults and elderly affected by the disaster
- Furnishing of two Junior high schools and an elementary school, enabling affected youth to return to the classroom and have their sense of normalcy restored
- Purchasing a vehicle to dispatch medical relief equipment for treatment and care at four temporary medical stations and 153 evacuation shelters in the Ishinomaki area
- Helping deaf and hearing-impaired people in evacuation shelters in the Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures receive psychosocial support and recover their livelihoods
- Extending the services of a local after-school care center for autistic and developmentally challenged children to additional communities
- Equipping a temporary kitchen to prepare healthy meals for some 400 evacuees living in a school-based evacuation center
- Providing wheelchairs, beds, and much-needed appliances, including refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and computers for welfare facilities and evacuation centers servicing the disabled and/or elderly displaced by the disaster in the Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures
JDC’s History in Japan:
JDC’s history of working in and with Japan includes the rebuilding of a school in Kosovo with the Japanese government after the 1999 conflict; working in Kobe until 1941 supporting Jewish refugees fleeing war-time Europe; and supporting Jewish refugees in Yokohama between 1918-20, most of whom were fleeing Russia.