--,;?7"- 7

Dr. Gilat Raish, far left, guides

Japanese teachers through a

recovery course in Wateri, Japan.

Aid Continues

Sue Fishkoff
Jewish telegraphic Agency

San Francisco

I

n northeastern Japan, the area hardest
hit by the devastating March 11 earth-
quake and tsunami, a team of Israeli
post-trauma experts guided local teachers
and officials through their lingering pain.
One kindergarten teacher broke down
in tears as she related how another teacher
saw the great wall of water approaching her
school and tried in vain to save her young
pupils. Eight of the children were washed
away, along with their valiant teacher.
"People were not aware how much
the disaster affected them',' said Shachar
Zahavi, the founder and executive direc-
tor of IsraAid, a Tel Aviv-based nonprofit
that is running post-trauma courses in the
town of Watari, as well as providing other
much-needed material and emotional aid
in the region.
"It's not like the scene in Haiti:' said
Zahavi, referring to the many interna-
tional agencies, including several from
Israel, that poured into the quake-stricken
Caribbean island in 2010. "Most of the
other agencies have left Japan by now
A lot of people, in Japan and Israel, are
amazed we're still there
The Jewish Federations of North
America has raised more than $1 million
for Japan. More than $800,000 has come
from individual federations. Most of the
money is funneled through the American
Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and
its local agencies on the ground.

The JDC, the Home Front Command
and Medical Corps of the Israel Defense
Forces, and IsraAid all rushed to the scene
of the disaster, offering emergency aid as
well as ongoing help.
The JDC has raised $2.1 million for
Japan aid. Much of it went to emergency
supplies sent to the stricken region by for-
eign agencies, including Chabad, UNICEF
and the International Rescue Committee.
It also helped fund the IDF field hospital
set up in Minamisanriku, where half of
the 17,000 residents died in the tsunami.
With the American School in Japan, the
JDC bought desks and chairs for three
schools in the city of Ishinomaki; and, in
tandem with Tokyo English Life Line, is
providing psycho-social support services
and training to mental health profession-
als who work with children and the elder-
ly. Geller said that more than 100 people
will be trained by mid-June.
When the IDF medical corps pulled out
of Japan in early April after treating 234
patients in its field hospital, it left behind
much of the specialized medical gear they
had brought.
The team also donated the six prefabri-
cated buildings it set up for its field clinic,
which has become the area's main medical
center.
At first the Israeli team was escorted by
medical personnel from Japan's Foreign
Ministry. Within a few days, however,
the locals and the Israelis were working
together, consulting on the same patients.
It may take up to three years for the
region to rebuild, including constructing a
new hospital.

Months later, Jewish groups
and Israel still help Japan.

IsraAid still has three or four staffers
working in Japan, said Zahavi. The orga-
nization rehabilitated two kindergartens
and distributed toys and school supplies
to children via six shelters in Watari,
Yamamoto and Sendai, and completed a
10-day post-trauma course for some three
dozen teachers in Watari.
It's the post-trauma help that is most
unique, Zahavi told JTA. Israel's lengthy
experience with war and terrorism, he
explained, makes it particularly qualified
to offer the fruits of that knowledge to
others. In Japan, where emotions are not
typically displayed publicly, the teachers
seemed grateful for the help; and the orga-
nization is receiving much support from
the local community and government
officials.

"It's the first time these people have
gone through post-trauma sessions where
they could share their individual experi-
ences and talk about their feelings',' Zahavi
said. "There was a lot of crying, a lot of
emotion.
"But it's not just about talking — we
teach how to express feelings through
touch, drawing and writing as well. That
was new for them."
IsraAid will offer another course this
month with a broader focus, he said.
IsraAid's emergency relief program in
Japan is supported and funded by the
Jewish federations of Toronto, Chicago,
Miami, Los Angeles and Washington,
D.C., as well as the JFNA, the American
Jewish Committee and B'nai B'rith
International. 11

An Israeli staffer with IsraAid conducts a post-trauma recovery course with

teachers in Wateri, Japan.

June 23 2011

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