The Cause
Cheer for Fukushima is raising money towards the building reconstruction of Iwaki Ikueisha, an orphanage in Iwaki, Fukushima.
At 14:46 JST, March 11th 2011 an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 hit the Tohoku region of the north east coast of Japan triggering a powerful tsunami which devestated the coastal area. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station suffered a meltdown of three of its six reactors which released large quantities of radiocative materials.
The extent of the damage was severe. Recent statistics state that nearly 20,000 people lost their lives, over 6,000 were injured and a further 2,500 are still reported to be missing. Around 340,000 people were evacuated from their homes and over 1,000,000 buildings suffered structural damage of which Iwaki Ikueisha was one.
Following the disaster in March 2011, Iwaki Ikeuisha suffered unimagineable hardship. The children were evacuated from the home for two weeks between March 18-31 after the disaster due to food shortages. Situated 21 miles away from the power plant, there were also concerns about radiation exposure which led to health screenings of the children. On their return to the home in April the children could not play outside due to concerns about raditaion exposure. Despite the difficulties the children and staff faced they remained positive and received support from the local community and abroad.
Since 2011, the living conditions at Iwaki Ikueisha have deteriorated severely. The 85 year old building and its faciltities are beyond repair and a new building is scheduled to be reconstructed later this year. Among the many problems includes the piping system which was damaged during the disaster causing the failure of the boiler system which had provided the home with heating. Since then the children have survived with warm bedding and hot water bottles with access to portable heaters which are costly. The thirty-three children that currently reside there and the staff members try to save on electricity and water where possible to contribute to the cost of rebuilding Iwaki Ikueisha but are way short of their target.
The cost of the reconstruction is likely to cost around ¥300,000, 000. The local government has provided a maintenance grant which covers 60% of the cost at around ¥200,000,000. The remaining ¥100,000,000 Yen will hopefully be found through donation.
Cheer for Fukushima aims to raise as much as possible from the event and online donations in pursuit of the remaining ¥100,000,000.
Please help us in our efforts by donating and raising awareness.
Thank you
For further information please use these links:
http://www.fkshk.sakura.ne.jp/ikuei/kaitk.htm
http://www.nhk.or.jp/japan311/311-disaster2.html
http://www.nhk.or.jp/japan311/311-nuclear.html
http://www.nhk.or.jp/japan311/4years/index.html
