MIYAGI-JONET: A look at some of the wooden temporary accommodation

What is Miyagi-Jonet?

MIYAGI JO-NET (Miyagi Women’s Support Network) is a non-profit organisation supporting women in the Tohoku area that was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. We aim to connect the women in the affected areas with women and supporters from around Japan and the world. To this end, we are cooperating with various other women’s and relief organisations. Our many projects are designed to help women individually in reconstructing their lives and livelihoods. We thereby hope to brighten their everyday a little bit. We also collect relief/support goods and other donations to distribute them among the women and families affected by the disaster. Through regular meetings, our ‘salons,’ and consultations, we gain insight into women’s needs and concerns, and propose adequate measures to local and regional administrations.
Many of Miyagi Jonet’s members are women affected themselves by the disaster.

日本語　JAPANESE

29 Oct 2011

A look at some of the wooden temporary accommodation

A local carpenter provided some timber, free of charge, for the town’s last temporary housing, which he built rather experimentally. We spoke to a couple of men about the temporary homes. One lives in a prefabricated house and the other in a wooden home. People have been desperate to move into accommodation as soon as possible and homes have been built at lightning speed; improvements have been made little by little resulting in non-uniform homes. One of the men is surprised by the discrepancies in his prefabricated home and, despite feeling a little envious, concludes that rather than enforcing uniformity, making sure no one is left without a roof over his or her head is of overriding importance. No matter what home one has, its difference from others is not paramount.

The kitchen boasts a extractor fan!

Each room has a ventilator.

The air in prefabricated temporary accommodation tends to be unpleasant. In this home, plenty of sunlight streams in and the air is comfortable making one want to bask in it.

The man who lives here lost his mother and wife in the tsunami. Adding clean water to the tank and feeding the fish, that is by taking care of living beings, he hopes to fill the hole in his life, which the loss of his loved ones caused.