ASIJ Tohoku Hallween Party- October 29, 2011

On Saturday, October 29th, I had the opportunity to join some ASIJ Teachers and High school Students in putting on a large scale Halloween Party for the kids in Ishinomaki City. Ishinomaki city is about a 7 hour drive north from Tokyo, so we left at 3am, and didn't return until about 11pm that night.

The city was among the most seriously affected by the earthquake and tsunami. A tsunami about 10 meters high traveled 600 meters inland and destroyed about 80% of the houses in the coastal areas, with about 46% of the city inundated by the tsunami.Ishinomaki city was the first city that allowed the ASIJ community to help after March 11th- delivering over 400 desks, school supplies, food, care packages, clothing, etc, and ASIJ has kept continuing its help over the past 7 months. The roads we drove on were covered by the tsunami, but most of the cleanup, at least in the areas we were in, has been done. The Tohoku Halloween party was a way that the ASIJ community could help bring a little bit of happiness to these kids and families that have experienced so very much since March 11th. I was so grateful to get the opportunity to help- it really was a phenomenal experience for me. I had the chance to play photographer all day, which was quite a treat. Many of the people that attended (over 600) lost everything- photos, possessions, valuables, family members. I was given a Polaroid camera and took photos of families, kids, grandparents- everyone and anyone that I could. They were so happy to have pictures to take home with them, which made my day completely worth it!!

The Bag Decorating Table. All the kids in the Elementary, middle and some a few from the  high school decorated one side of the trick or treat bags, and the kids who came got to decorate the other.