KID’S HEART PROJECT REPORT 8/2011
As Japan wrestles the eastern coast from the strong arm of the sea, Kids Hurt Too extends a gentle hand with the Kid’s Heart project. To some of the unaffected, the devastation areas seemed like a side show as tour buses crowded the parking lots during our first visit to do trauma and grief work in Japan. To others, nature’s unyielding assault on the coastal cities of eastern Japan represented a call to action, a call that moved hearts in Japan and around the world to bring an unparalleled outpouring of support. Our answer to the call was to organize Japanese/English speaking community members in Hawaii to identify how the trauma and grief work expertise and experience of Kids Hurt Too could help children impacted by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. The group established the Kid’s Heart Project with goals to bring grief and trauma work to victims and training to assist with developing local volunteer driven support programs for children and families. The Kid’s Heart team took steps to raise funds, recruit volunteers, train, collaborate, network with local communities, and offer grief and trauma work and training in both Hawaii and Japan.
Much gratitude goes to the first three major donors, Reiko Amano, Masaharu Ito, and anonymous donors who made it possible for our first visit to Japan in August 2011 exactly five months after the devastation. Their generosity enabled us to send four people that included two specialists in children’s grief and trauma, Cynthia White, M.Ed. and Masahiro Ito, MSW, and two volunteer translators, Aki Morita, Psy.D., and Michael McDermott, B.A.
For our first visit, we were blessed by the offer to stay in the home of the Okamoto family in Sendai, saving on hotel costs and giving us a nurturing place to stay. We also received donations for other expenses from Kintetsu International Hawaii Company, Mr. and Mrs. Furuya, and Mr. and Mrs. Ishibashi.
Just days before arriving in Japan we received notice of a grant from Japan Lutheran College, the Japan Lutheran Relief Fund. After arriving in Japan, we received a donation from the Franciscan Sisters of the Annunciation.
We are grateful to Bikki no Kai, the hula school: Hui Lehua, Mr. Sugawara of the Higashimatsushima City Council, and Ms. Sakashita of the Hawaiian Shop Hula Hula in Sendai. We relied on them for guidance and support in introducing us to victims. The help of many volunteers from the Hula classes in the Tohoku area, International Budo University alumni, and the 204 willing participants made the first outreach a success. Our deepest appreciation goes to all the donors, supporters, participants, and the Kid’s Heart Project team for giving Kids Hurt Too the capacity to extend support to Japan.
This report will not reveal the names and specifics of those children, teens, and adults who put their confidence in us to hold sacred and honor with our silence the depths of their personal traumas. Instead, we will report on our activities and summarize. One thing was clear, the needs for trauma and grief work are great. Kids Hurt Too has been successfully providing services to grieving and traumatized children for more than ten years in Hawaii and has the expertise needed by the children in Japan. The Kid’s Heart Project is a natural growth for our organization.
The impact of this first visit seemed positive and was welcomed. Outcomes will be known over time as we continue to engage with children and families who will guide us as we work together to heal the young hearts of children in Japan.
A picture cannot evoke the gut wrenching sight of twisted cars and skeleton houses that lay sideways with curtains flapping in the wind carrying the salty smells of rotting fish, rusty appliances, and moldy mattresses. Pen and paper cannot convey the stories told by tiny voices quivering from lips of children; lips that hold the breath of life while remembering those who could not escape the churning blackness of the tsunami that hit eastern Japan on a cold March 11. Lips that revealed the sacrifice of a grandmother who begged to be let go so her granddaughter would live. Lips that told of a child’s heroic hands snatching her little sister from the strong arm of the sea; of rescued parents watching from roof tops as their houses collapsed with lips screaming the names of lost sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives; lips that prayed for the bodies floating by as eyes turned to comfort children on cardboard beds huddled under a single snow covered blanket whimpering in the darkness as they waited for light.
In tales of hopeful searching among mountains of debris, the indomitable strength of the Japanese people shines. It is a light that now flickers in the aftermath. It is this flickering light to which the Kid’s Heart project is drawn like a SOS in the vastness of trauma and grief. It is a rescue for the broken hearted who wait in polite silence for the voice of hope that is carried on the breath of lips sharing tragedy and triumph.
For those who are affected, it is a nightmare reality that numbs their hearts and challenges their will to live. The supports they need seem endless like lines of people hungering for a bowl of rice, a warm bed, a place to live, and someone to hear their pain. Trauma and grief work are needed now and in the years to come, which is why the Kid’s Heart Project aims to be a long term service.
The three year commitment of Acura of Honolulu to raise funds for doing grief and trauma work with children in Japan came as a joyful blessing. Together we work and invite all those willing to help awaken the children’s voices so the dark dream fades to a distant memory of stories told and the flickering light once again is a steady beam that guides children toward a brighter future.
The Kid’s Heart Project started by first collaborating with other groups in Hawaii that were inviting victims in Japan to visit Hawaii. Then we reached out to people in Japan that shared an interest in helping children like Japan Lutheran College. Community training was scheduled in Honolulu to inform others about the needs of traumatized and grieving children. Japanese speaking volunteers were recruited and trained to work with child victims. The Executive Director of Kids Hurt Too met with organizers of the Maui Aloha Initiative and Japan America Society of Hawaii (JASH), offering to provide grief and trauma training along with working with the children and families that were invited to spend time in Hawaii. JASH invited Kids Hurt Too to participate in their effort called Rainbow for Japan Kids, which is an educational tour. The first tour took place in late July and early August. Bikki No Kai, an organization in Japan started by Muneyuki Sato, a famous singer and helping children through music, collaborated with JASH on the Rainbow for Japan Kids project, working as the Japan point of contact for middle school applicants and providing chaperones during the youths’ travels. Hiro Ito, MSW, Kids Hurt Too Program Director and a specialist in children’s grief and trauma, and Kyoko Tomita, MSW, a trained Kid’s Heart volunteer with a master’s degree in social work, also accompanied the youth on the first tour. Along with chaperoning for eight days and nights, they provided opportunities for the youth to talk with them about their losses, participate in group sharing circles, and engage in therapeutic craft activities. The youth said they liked the sharing circles. Kyoko even did their laundry. Thank you Hiro and Kyoko for going above and beyond your role to help make the first Rainbow for Japan Kids tour a great experience for the youth.
After the youth returned to Japan, Bikki No Kai staff, Masami Kanaya, coordinated meetings with Kids Hurt Too and the youth from the first Rainbow for Japan Kids tour. The first meeting was with four youth and a youth’s older sister in Iwaki, Fukushima, an area also impacted by the nuclear disaster. The second visit was with four youth in Sendai. And, the third and final visit was with nine youth and four of their parents in Kesennuma, an area also devastated by fires. The nine youths and their parents expressed a strong desire and willingness to participate in support groups so they would be able to continue to share with others in similar situations. The parents said they were surprised and happy about how open their children were with each other.
We also met a school counselor in Kesennuma who drove from Ofunato. The counselor came to discuss the needs of students at her school.
In each location, there was a distinct difference between the three groups, helping us to understand a little more about the uniqueness of each community. We also gained a sense of the level of resources and needs of the areas. All of the nineteen youth we met had lost their homes and were living in temporary housing.
The Kid’s Heart Project discovered an unexpected and special partner in a hula school, the Hui Lehau, headquartered in Sendai. The administrator, Mr. Kitagawa, and head teacher, Yoko Shidara, were moved to action by the destruction of their coastal class rooms, the deaths of students, and the burden on their hula teachers and students to rebuild a new life. They thought about giving up on teaching hula but were encouraged by their students to continue teaching as a way of healing. They told us that continuing hula lessons gave those who survived a sense of continuity in their lives when everything else was damaged or destroyed. With the help of the hula teachers and a member of the city council of Higashimatsushima City, meeting space was found and participants recruited for therapeutic sessions with individuals, families, and groups that included hula students, a school administrator, staff, and children, other children, and other community members. These sessions were conducted in some of the most devastated areas of which we were also given a tour.
The tour provided a backdrop for the trauma work ahead. It became evident when listening to stories of survival that these were not just narratives of tragedy but tales of triumph. The extent of the damage we witnessed made the fact that anyone survived seem like a miracle.
One hula teacher, Ms. Sugawara who taught in Ishinomaki and was in her 60’s, shared that after evacuating her students to safety and as she locked the door of the now destroyed classroom, she was swept away by a muddy wave. She managed to swim back holding onto debris until she was stuck in mud so deep she could barely move. Miraculously she was rescued. She glowed as she spoke of being glad to be alive and able to support her students by teaching hula. She joyfully expressed gratitude that we were there to help her support her students by doing a therapeutic workshop.
The hula teachers and students exhibited a capacity and the heart for delivering grief and trauma support to children. And, they needed support too.
Each person waited patiently to share, shedding tears, and nodding in connection with the suffering of others. All who shared were grateful to be encouraged to talk and have a place where they could speak openly about their experiences, connect with other stories, and find a supportive intimacy that could not be achieved without our presence. They showed the spirit of aloha to us and to each other. After the last workshop with hula students, they blessed us with a dance.
Mr. Kitagawa, Ms. Shidara, and their friends collected donations, delivering clothes, dishes, and shoes to their students. They worked tirelessly doing everything possible to meet the needs of their hula community.
The city councilman from Higashimatsushima, Mr. Sugawara, put a lot of time and energy into helping us meet with trauma victims in his community. He took us to see the concrete slab remains of his house. His wife and son were killed when the tsunami hit as they heroically raced to warn others. The fact that he survived is certainly a miracle. As he drove through the narrow streets in the coastal community warning residents to move to higher ground, his car was lifted by the black wave moving like a bullet train. He jumped from his car onto the second story balcony of a nearby house where he was trapped. Every house surrounding him was destroyed. The forest that once hid the ocean vista was cleared as pine trees became giant darts propelled through plaster walls stopped only by the rock wall where many bodies were found after the water receded.
Because of his position in the community, Mr. Sugawara was offered temporary housing but declined, choosing instead to live in the shelters where he could do the most good.
For many, survivor’s guilt challenged the will to live. Multiple losses left a deep wound. Mr. Sugawara lost sixty pounds since the tsunami. His daughter and working to help others in his community keep him moving forward. His compassion for the people of his city is central to the success of the Kid’s Heart Project. We need more partners like him. His selfless devotion wins the trust and respect of all those he meets. He may not fully understand why he was saved when others perished. He is using the time he still has to restore hope to a city in ruins.
It is an honor to partner with such extraordinary people. They exemplify the compassionate dedication to care for others that needs to be duplicated in more communities so that grief and trauma work for children exists in every city.
The Kid’s Heart Project discovered an unexpected and special partner in a hula school, the Hui Lehau, headquartered in Sendai. The administrator, Mr. Kitagawa, and head teacher, Yoko Shidara, were moved to action by the destruction of their coastal class rooms, the deaths of students, and the burden on their hula teachers and students to rebuild a new life. They thought about giving up on teaching hula but were encouraged by their students to continue teaching as a way of healing. They told us that continuing hula lessons gave those who survived a sense of continuity in their lives when everything else was damaged or destroyed. With the help of the hula teachers and a member of the city council of Higashimatsushima City, meeting space was found and participants recruited for therapeutic sessions with individuals, families, and groups that included hula students, a school administrator, staff, and children, other children, and other community members. These sessions were conducted in some of the most devastated areas of which we were also given a tour.
The tour provided a backdrop for the trauma work ahead. It became evident when listening to stories of survival that these were not just narratives of tragedy but tales of triumph. The extent of the damage we witnessed made the fact that anyone survived seem like a miracle.
One hula teacher, Ms. Sugawara who taught in Ishinomaki and was in her 60’s, shared that after evacuating her students to safety and as she locked the door of the now destroyed classroom, she was swept away by a muddy wave. She managed to swim back holding onto debris until she was stuck in mud so deep she could barely move. Miraculously she was rescued. She glowed as she spoke of being glad to be alive and able to support her students by teaching hula. She joyfully expressed gratitude that we were there to help her support her students by doing a therapeutic workshop.
The hula teachers and students exhibited a capacity and the heart for delivering grief and trauma support to children. And, they needed support too.
Each person waited patiently to share, shedding tears, and nodding in connection with the suffering of others. All who shared were grateful to be encouraged to talk and have a place where they could speak openly about their experiences, connect with other stories, and find a supportive intimacy that could not be achieved without our presence. They showed the spirit of aloha to us and to each other. After the last workshop with hula students, they blessed us with a dance.
Mr. Kitagawa, Ms. Shidara, and their friends collected donations, delivering clothes, dishes, and shoes to their students. They worked tirelessly doing everything possible to meet the needs of their hula community.
The city councilman from Higashimatsushima, Mr. Sugawara, put a lot of time and energy into helping us meet with trauma victims in his community. He took us to see the concrete slab remains of his house. His wife and son were killed when the tsunami hit as they heroically raced to warn others. The fact that he survived is certainly a miracle. As he drove through the narrow streets in the coastal community warning residents to move to higher ground, his car was lifted by the black wave moving like a bullet train. He jumped from his car onto the second story balcony of a nearby house where he was trapped. Every house surrounding him was destroyed. The forest that once hid the ocean vista was cleared as pine trees became giant darts propelled through plaster walls stopped only by the rock wall where many bodies were found after the water receded.
For many, survivor’s guilt challenged the will to live. Multiple losses left a deep wound. Mr. Sugawara lost sixty pounds since the tsunami. Both his daughter and working to help others in his community keep him moving forward. His compassion for the people of his city is central to the success of the Kid’s Heart Project. We need more partners like him. His selfless devotion wins the trust and respect of all those he meets. He may not fully understand why he was saved when others perished. He is using the time he still has to restore hope to a city in ruins.
It is an honor to partner with such extraordinary people. They exemplify the compassionate dedication to care for others that needs to be duplicated in more communities so that grief and trauma work for children exists in every city.
After meeting with 81 children and 123 adults, it was not surprising to learn that few had shared their experiences with others. Parents had not shared with their children. Children had not shared with parents. Co-workers, fellow students, husbands and wives, all but a few had not shared their personal experience. The Japanese value of gaman (not burdening others with your troubles) was no obstacle when permission was given to share. The Kid’s Heart team conveyed that a person’s experience is a strength for others not a burden; by sharing your experience, your story becomes a source of connection and support that helps to bear the burdens of trauma and loss. A burden shared is a burden relieved. It is the provision of safe peer support groups where people can share their trauma stories that will be a catalyst for the healing power embedded in the experience. Trauma needs must be addressed before grief.
Six adult therapeutic workshops were held for a combined total of 101 people. Tears held back by stoic reserve flowed like mountain springs after a rain, cleansing the hearts of those whose courage to show their suffering inspired others to share their stories. Stories of confusion, numbness, flashbacks, and fear were welcomed openheartedly by young and old. There was time to hear from everyone and to provide therapeutic direction like reframing and teaching relaxation skills to manage fear and anxiety. We appreciated their courage to show emotions and reveal the truth of their unique and individual traumatic experiences.
The most therapeutic interventions for trauma are art/play therapy and group therapy. We tried to be cautious with inviting people to share their stories in the group sessions. The first time a loss or trauma story is told can be very difficult. But as a person shares his or her story again and again, the difficulty is replaced with insight, connection to others that relieves a sense of isolation common to sufferers, and strength to keep moving forward. Still, since it was the first time for many to share their stories, there was concern for how they would cope after we left. It is important for us to continue to provide opportunities for ongoing trauma work and from that, we believe, leaders will gain strength to take the next steps to be trained and organize local support programs for children and families.
Working to provide emotional safety while sharing, three strategies were employed. First, we used art therapy by inviting participants to make a heart on which they wrote what was close to their hearts or important for their lives. Then we asked them to share what they wrote. After that, participants were instructed to rip their hearts into pieces. Once they ripped up their hearts, they were instructed to put them back together using a second piece of paper for a foundation, and using glue and tape. This activity provided a metaphor of healing the heart after the tragedy of loss. The heart provided a tangible object that made visible the invisible process of recovering from trauma and loss. Our organizers were surprised at how much was shared.
The second art therapy strategy was to engage participants in selecting and sanding a pendant shape carved from koa wood. As they sanded the shapes, Mr. Ito taught how the different types of sand paper were like the process of coping with trauma and loss, comparing the roughest paper with the beginning process of coping with trauma that is the roughest time. Then like the paper goes from very rough to smooth, coping skills are gained that smooth over the rough times like the paper smoothes over the rough edges. It is important to do trauma and grief work like sharing with others, getting support, and accessing the resources you need. It is doing the work on yourself that will smooth things over. Then, like the smoother papers used on the wood to bring out the patterns in the grain showing the woods beauty, your experience becomes a gift that can be shared. The koa wood pendant becomes something you keep like the experience of loss or trauma but you determine what you want to do with it and its’ value.
The third strategy was to display a large poster of trauma symptoms and give out handouts of the poster. After a discussion about the symptoms, we asked participants what they noticed in themselves. When a symptom was identified, we taught a skill for coping with that symptom.
The most common symptom for adults was numbing; whereas children mostly identified fear and flashbacks. We explained that numbing was a protective mechanism. One participant expressed relief from knowing about the symptom of numbing because she thought she had lost her heart. She shared that after the tsunami she walked passed many dead bodies but felt nothing. She said that when the children talked about their trauma, she didn’t feel anything. Knowing that her response was normal seemed to encourage her to believe in her capacity to care again.
When adults and children expressed having flashbacks of what happened during the disasters, we taught the technique of thought stopping, which is a simple and easy to do strategy. The other skill we taught to many who expressed being afraid, especially children, was deep breathing to calm themselves and reduce anxiety.
One child, we were told, suffered from nightmares every night. Mr. Ito worked directly with her making a dream catcher and telling the story of how a dream catcher catches bad dreams. When we return we will ask the child how the dream catcher worked for her. We have a high success rate with dream catchers relieving nightmares in children.
Four and five year old children seemed to be the most open, prompting a school administrator to accept Mr. Sugawara’s recommendation for us to visit the school. We met with the children, 19 workers, and 2 caregivers at the kindergarten.
This school had children and workers from two other schools that were destroyed by the tsunami, tripling the number of students and staff. When children were evacuated not all of them made it to safety. One bus filled with students was swept away by the merciless wave. Staff rushed children to the evacuation areas. But soon, the buildings were filling with water that lifted them up to where others pulled as many as they could to safety on the upper floor or rooftop. Because not all were saved, those who survived suffer with guilt for not being stronger than the sea.
Putting their own needs aside, workers and parents focused on the children asking how to respond when they spoke openly about their losses. As they related what the children were saying, it became apparent that the workers were also traumatized. All of them had lost homes and people close to them. Every day they have to face the debris that was once their community. We provided them with information and normalized their trauma responses as best we could in the short time we had with them that day. Our time with the kindergarten was too short to sufficiently meet the needs. It became clear that future visits need to concentrate time and resources on the areas where the impact was the greatest and where there are fewer resources like in Higashimatsushima, Kesennuma, Nobiru in the Miyagi prefecture and Soma and Iwaki in Fukushima.
Stories of those directly impacted by the tsunami echoed how they survived, who they saved, who they couldn’t save, who died and how or if the bodies were found, what was lost or found in the debris, and how they were helped or hurt by the actions of others.
Those who were less or indirectly impacted talked about being inspired to provide care and assistance. They re-told the triumphs of victims. They recounted the help that was given to meet the immediate needs and expressed gratitude for those who were involved in providing assistance.
A common story we heard was that due to the destruction of many schools and homes, families relocated and children were required to attend schools that had not been affected by the tsunami or nuclear power plant accident. Sadly, several youth talked of being bullied so severely that they no longer attended school, had considered suicide, or developed stress related health problems. Most of the children had the dim look of fear and despair characteristic of traumatized and grieving children. Some of the very young children held tightly to their surviving caregivers who spoke of sleepless nights in crowded beds. We have more work to do.
I am told it will take years for the rice fields to recover from the invasion of sand and salt. Countless hours will be spent plucking pavement and blue ceramic tiles from the mud. Armies of men and women will be needed to rebuild thousands of homes and businesses taken by the sea. But who will save the children? Who will steady the flow of light from their hearts? As revealed by the older sister who saved her younger sister from the strong arm of the sea, children can help each other. In order to access the healing power of children helping children, teens helping teens through peer support programs that are local and organized by volunteers, four tasks must be fulfilled in each community. The tasks are: 1) to begin strengthening traumatized adults through peer support groups, 2) to organize strengthened adults and train them as volunteers, 3) to collaborate locally to obtain resources like funding and space, and 4) to dedicate the community to providing safe places where children experience continuity of care by meeting on a regular basis to heal and find hope in the knowledge they are not alone. These are the activities that helped create the Kids Hurt Too program. And, this is where the Kid’s Heart Project can help.
The disasters on March 11, 2011 caused such extensive damage that it is likely to change the culture of Japan. The question is “What direction will that change take?” The resources for individual therapy are not available in most of the impact areas. One to one therapy is simply not the most effective way to speed recovery from trauma. It is costly and slow. Instead, the Kid’s Heart Project offers trauma informed care that utilizes peer support and can be done by trained volunteers. It does not require a professional. It requires courage; the courage of individuals to take on the responsibility of providing this resource to the children in their community.
It is apparent that Japan has the capacity to create peer support programs for children. This fact is demonstrated by the Sendai Grief Support program whose volunteers facilitate children’s groups in Sendai and Ishinomaki, and by other similar local programs around the Country. One of the largest resources is Ashinaga Ikuekai.
Ashinaga Ikuekai could support the development of local community and volunteer driven programs for children in Japan. It is a successful 30 year Japan based organization. The company has a history of raising millions of donated dollars for the purpose of providing support to orphans in the form of scholarship loans and annual camps. Part of the mission is to provide emotional support to children impacted by natural disasters.
During our visit, Ashinaga staff attended an advanced training conducted by Kids Hurt Too Hawaii. The advanced training was provided at the request of the volunteer Sendai grief support program and held at Sendai Seiyo Gakuin Junior College. Ashinaga staff showed a strong desire to participate in grief and trauma work so desperately needed by thousands of children victims of the earthquake and tsunami. But, it seemed that the need for volunteer driven support programs in Japan is not the focus of Ashinaga’s administration, which was disappointing to learn because the organization could be a great resource for this development.
Cynthia White, who was the Training Director at The Dougy Center for seven years, is founder and current Executive Director of Kids Hurt Too Hawaii, and is the author of this report, was involved in training staff of Ashinaga Ikuekai from 1996-1999. There was a concentrated effort to train staff of Ashinaga in the Dougy Center model, an internationally used model for peer support programs for grieving children. Mr. Nishida, the Director of the Tokyo based Rainbow House was a participant of a research group led by Ms. White that studied how Japanese children grieve and if the Dougy Center model would be effective for these children. The outcomes of the research were very positive. Kids Hurt Too Hawaii successfully applies the Dougy Center model with traumatized children.
The volunteer director of the Sendai children’s grief support program who is also a professor at the College, Mr. Sato, seemed capable of setting up local volunteer driven programs. The volunteers of the Sendai program had received training from Ashinaga staff to increase their skills. However, there were differing ideas on the needs of children, which prompted the request for an advanced training.
A review of Ashinaga’s website and history indicates that the organization is focused on raising money through donations. The funds are then used to leverage income like giving scholarships in the forms of loans that are paid back by students who also are required to work without pay to help raise more money. In the U.S., a scholarship is freely given and does not require the student to pay it back. Ashinaga used donated money to build two buildings for the purpose of doing grief work with children but they are mostly used for offices and housing for international students who pay a small amount in rent and work for free. It is a clever approach to fundraising and sustainability.
Ashinaga’s focus on fundraising may explain why free services for grieving and traumatized children are a lower priority. During discussions at the training, it was not clear what role Ashinaga would take in the development of local support programs in Japan. Although this organization has a mission to provide emotional support for children, the report on how many children in Japan benefitted over the past ten years was shockingly low. While networking with current resources in Japan, we learned there was also considerable doubt that Ashinaga was actually doing all they claimed.
The potential for Ashinaga to facilitate the development of local programs for children by sharing their resources cannot be ignored. Ashinaga could help by giving grants for starting programs, paying for local groups to get training, and assisting with fund raising to support local efforts. Ashinaga has the potential to become the National center for grieving and traumatized children in Japan. By doing so, it would be revered for changing the culture so that volunteer driven local children’s support programs would grow throughout Japan. If Ashinaga continues to operate as usual, progress for grief and trauma work will be slow but nonetheless continue. Thousands of children who need support to cope with this trauma deserve our attention. The communities of Japan must come together as one voice, bringing attention to the worthy direction of locally operated support programs for children. Japan’s future depends on it.
In the meantime, Kids Hurt Too Hawaii will continue to heed the call to heal young hearts in Japan through the Kid’s Heart Project. The Project relies on the aloha of our heroes who made it possible to reach so many on our first trip. More allies are needed for this work.
Kids Hurt Too Hawaii will do ongoing fund development in Hawaii and Japan, collaborate with whomever will help, and stay connected with those in need of support. Acura of Honolulu, whose owners have close ties to Japan and big hearts for the plight of the children impacted by the disasters, has greatly encouraged this project by devoting three years of support. The Kid’s Heart Project plan to outreach to Japan for years to come is possible with the generosity of all who understand that the children need trauma informed continuity of care to become productive and happy adults with a heart for helping others.
Thank you to all who made it possible for a small grassroots Hawaii based non-profit to do the healing work in Japan that we do for children on the Island of Oahu.
November Visit 2011
11/19: On the second visit, we were invited to observe the Sendai grief support group held at the Sendai Seikyo College. There were 16 children and two teens participating. The volunteers outpouring of love for healing the children’s hearts transformed grave despairing faces to bright eyes and smiles of delight. 20 adult volunteers and 1 media person followed the play from floor to floor going up and down the college elevator to classrooms that were transformed with tatami pillows, stuffed toys, craft supplies, balls, and other toys that children may need to express the indescribable pain of their losses. Mr. Sato, the volunteer director of the program, showed great kindness, respect, and compassion as he went from room to room directing volunteers and program activities. He was inspiring. Hiro could not resist joining the children as they played. We were generously invited to offer feedback but praise was all that was needed. I left feeling hopeful for the dream of support programs for children in Japan.
11/20: We rented a car and headed to Shinchi Ogawa-cho to join Atsushi of Move 4 Japan who was cooking yakisoba for 400 victims at a temporary housing site that had 110 units. It was inhabited by an entire community that moved together because they knew each other, and so the children would not have to change schools. We learned that every site had a community building that provided a place for people to gather. We also helped Atsushi deliver food to a nearby temporary housing settlement with 45 units.
We provided direct services to 20 adults and 14 children at this location, engaging them in Koa wood crafts and sharing the metaphor that trauma could be transformed like the rough wood into a smooth and meaningful keepsake. We sang and danced together. We played until the sun went down. The children inspired hope, motivated us all, and lifted everyone’s spirit with their playfulness. We also conducted private individual and family sessions during the day, providing therapeutic guidance.
We were invited to go with a lady whose house was lost to the sea along with hundreds of others. There we found a rusty tea pot and clock that had stopped at the exact time of the earthquake. We heard more miracle survival stories and learned of the deep despairing grief that many face every day. We were grateful that people opened their hearts to us. The support of Atsushi who connected us with this community was a blessing.
11/21: We visited a family with 2 adults and 3 children that we had worked with during the August trip. They lived in a temporary housing community with 243 units in this city of metal boxes. They were from Nobiru, a beach town that was completely destroyed. Their family business had been destroyed but since August they had received donations of furnishings for and a temporary unit in which to conduct their business. The father expressed gratitude for the resources we had provided in August, saying they had put him at ease. They still had the flier on trauma symptoms posted on the wall. The mother shared that she was participating in community meetings at which the residents complained that the manager of their unit was not welcoming them to gather in the community building. She said it seemed that he was using it as his private residence even though he could live in his damaged house. His exclusivity was preventing others from having access to support and other resources. She had become an activist for her new community.
11/22: We did another follow-up visit with 10 preschool staff members and 34 children ages 4-6. We had a second visit with a grandmother, doing another private session. She expressed new concerns and gratitude for our support. On this day, we also spent time scheduling family sessions and more work with the preschool staff for another day. We stopped by the home of the city councilman who had been instrumental in the first visit. He was ill and unable to meet us so we left gifts and shared gratitude for his role in bringing resources to members of his city.
11/23: Traveled to Soma with a carload of donations for families who came to a workshop. We worked with 6 children and 7 adults, handing out a trauma symptoms flier, having a discussion about grief and secondary trauma. We facilitated sharing by doing a Koa wood activity and shared information about differences in children’s way of expressing grief. During our debriefing, we realized we needed to get feedback and create an evaluation for future work.
11/24: We returned to the preschool to conduct private sessions and work with the rest of the staff. One private session was with a widower who had two children. Another father we met lost three children and his wife. He was clearly distraught and had a 14 year old daughter to care for. He shared that talking about it wouldn’t change anything and seemed uncomfortable in the preschool office environment. So we offered to meet him and his daughter later in the privacy of their temporary home, if she agreed.
We received word that we could visit and were given directions to the housing unit where they lived. The darkness of the unlit roads made it challenging to find the little temporary village stuck back in a wooded hollow. It seemed we were divinely guided. Upon arrival at their unit, we were invited to pay respects to the four deceased at a shrine where pictures and offerings were placed. We lit incense and prayed. After that, we invited them to do a Koa wood craft activity. I noticed that the dad had four deep scarring burns on his hand. They seemed to symbolize the enduring memory his pain. I commented that the burns looked painful to which he agreed while staring at them for several minutes. We sat in silence as they sanded the Koa wood pieces. Then the daughter opened up about the struggles she had, what she experienced during the tsunami, missing her family, and adjusting to school. The father listened to her intently before sharing about the changes he made leaving his job as a truck driver to work selling bentos so he could care for his daughter. He talked about how his sense of values had changed. He related that he had been driving a truck and was away when the tsunami. He described his desperation to find his family. It had taken several days before he located his only surviving daughter who was in the care of strangers. The heaviness of their hearts remained with us during the late night drive back to our host family.
11/26: We met up with Atsushi again to help prepare and serve yakisoba and give out donated clothes. Hiro met the manager of temporary housing units and made plans for us to visit there at a later time. Then we met three girls and a mom at a hotel in Ofunato. These were young teens who participated in the Rainbow for Japan Kids project of the Japan America Society of Hawaii. They were happy to see us and have a chance to share with each other again. This time we did the time ball craft including the parents that attended with their children. This gave the parents a chance to hear their daughters share and to share their own stories. We spent the night in the hotel that had recently opened after restoring the first two floors damaged by the tsunami. The community in ruins was the view outside our window.
11/27: Then we visited a temporary housing facility with 85 units and over 200 residents, mostly elderly. We brought donated toys and set them out on picnic tables in front of the community building. A woman came by and saw the toys. When she learned they were available for free she quickly ran to a nearby unit. She brought out six elderly residents who seemed thrilled to have the toys. They took almost all of them. It was unexpected and I learned that even the elderly would benefit from trauma work using play. These seniors were the few remaining survivors of a nursing home that had been destroyed by the tsunami. Soon after the elderly left with their toys, we met with one child of 9 living there at this facility. We were told that 95 people died in this small community. We met a man who volunteered on the weekends doing traditional kadomatsu with the residents. He talked about the importance of doing traditional craft activities and wanting to help give the victims a sense of cultural pride.
Then we met up with Atsushi who guided us to where volunteers were cleaning up the bay. We learned about their efforts to restore the bay, coming down on weekends to dive into the icy water and bring up debris one man at a time. It was a valiant crew.
After visiting with the volunteers we headed to Kesennuma to meet five youth who we had seen in August and who were also a part of the Rainbow for Japan Kids project. We gathered in a meeting room at the hotel where we stayed and engaged the youth in doing a time ball. The activity was done to encourage them to share how things had changed for them since the tsunami. The parents did not stay for this meeting but brought gifts to thank us for seeing their young teens. Later that evening one of the mother’s invited us to dinner. She wanted to share how our visits had encouraged her daughter and talk about her own struggles. She took us to a restaurant that was in a part of the town that was not damaged by the tsunami. It was strangely eerie to cross over from the areas darkened and muddied by the damage to activity filled city lights.
11/28: We traveled far to Kamaishi to meet with Jun of HANDS, an organization working with the relief effort for the more northern areas. We shared about the Kid’s Heart Project and how we could be of service, giving translated information and the Kids Hurt Too Hawaii video. We learned that this area had 27 children who lost both parents and two of those children lost their whole families. Those two children were under the care of Ashinaga Ikuekai. The others were being care for by relatives. After meeting with the organizers we headed back to Sendai.
11/29: We went to a temporary house to meet a bereaved mother whose 5 year old son died in the tsunami. She shared her deep pain showing us pictures and memorials to him. From there we visited with the Yokota parents again, and then went to the Higashimatsushima volunteer center where we shared information about the Kid’s Heart Project. We hope to be able to return to provide training for their volunteers. As we shared, it became apparent that one of the volunteers who talked of sleepless nights and anxiety about being alone was suffering from trauma. We offered her resources and information to help her cope with her symptoms.
It was also our privilege to invite five families to visit Hawaii in March. This opportunity came from a successful business man in Japan who wanted to do something to help victims. We were asked to coordinate their visits during which we will be able to provide more healing activities and fulfill two children’s dream to see Hawaii.
On this trip 86 children received direct services and 14 received indirect services. 17 children have been seen twice. 47 adults received direct grief and trauma care services and 23 received indirect services. We also helped with delivering donations and preparing food to feed 85 adults who were either volunteers helping to clean up or who were living in a temporary shelter.
We visited 6 temporary housing facilities, one school, and four volunteer centers.
Cities in which we worked include Sendai, Soma Chi, Shinchi, Higashimatsushima, Kesennuma, Rikuzentakata, Ofunato, and Kamaishi.
June/July 2013
During this trip we worked in 7 cities in Tohoku; presented to 203 people at 3 lectures; trained 38 people in three 2 day trainings; provided direct services to 22 children; networked for funding support of this project and future outreach. This outreach of the Kid’s Heart Project was supported by funds from Acura of Honolulu’s Ai on Japan Golf Tournament and Benefit Concert Banquet, the Japan Lutheran Relief Fund of Japan Lutheran College, lectures and training conducted in Tokyo, and donations from individuals.
After we arrived safely in Tokyo, we gave two lectures, one on 6/25 at Meiji Gakuin University where we were provided a lovely apartment for three nights. The other lecture was on 6/26 at Japan Lutheran College where Cynthia White first did workshops on children’s grief as Training Director of The Dougy Center in 1995. Japan Lutheran College’s Social Work Department hosted many opportunities to learn how to work with grieving children including a research project on grief in Japanese children. To read the research outcomes go to the Kid’s Heart Project link on the Japanese page where you will find a link to Japan Lutheran College. The colleges Japan Lutheran Relief Fund benefitted the Kid’s Heart Project last year and this year with a generous grant. Thank you Japan Lutheran Relief Fund and Ichikawa-sensei, President of Japan Lutheran College.
While in Tokyo we conducted a two day Children’s Grief Facilitator training on 6/23-24 for AIMS, a new group support program for children whose parents die of cancer. Check out their website and read about the inspiration for this program. Will insert link later.
The work in Tokyo helped bring awareness to the trauma and grief needs of children and fund this outreach in Tohoku along with Accura of Honolulu’s Ai on Japan Golf Tournament and Benefit Banquet happening August 18th. Golfers needed so sign up now.
We traveled to Sendai on 6/29 meeting up with Nana Horoiwa, Kids Hurt Too Hawaii board of directors member and volunteer. She linked us to AIMS and Meiji University having professional connections to both. Thank you Nana for your greatly needed assistance at the trainings and lecture.
While in Sendai, the three of us were welcomed guests of the Okamoto family. They provided nurturance and emotional support for which we are deeply grateful.
A free 2 day Children’s Grief and Trauma Care Facilitator training was conducted in Higashimatsushima on 6/30 & 7/1 with 16 participants. The training included 13 local people and 3 from another area. Two of those three were Mr. And Mrs. Okamoto who are our gracious hosts from Sendai.
Move 4 Japan organized a special lunch break on Saturday, 6/30, featuring Hanako Oshima Shigeharu Sasago who gave a touching performance for children and local residents. Move for Japan also provided yakisoba for lunch. Thank you Atsushi Takebayashi, founder of Move for Japan, and friends.
Training in Higashimatsushima.
The next two days, 7/2-3, were spent providing private consultation with three families and a foster care home.
It is now July 4th in Japan. On a personal note, Cynthia White, the Kids Hurt Too Hawaii executive director, received news on 6/23 that her sister died. The next day she developed sciatica, a painful condition. Still she moved forward fulfilling her commitment to grief and trauma care for children. Ten days later she was treated with acupunture and is on the mend. Hiro Ito, Kids Hurt Too Hawaii program director, was resourceful and diplomatic as he balanced the needs of the ED and work commitments. Thank you Hiro.
July 5th, we traveled to Morioka where 75 people attended our lecture on Children’s Grief and Trauma set up by Mr. Nishida who is the founder of a new organization, Grief Support Station, aka TetoTetoTetoTe (te means hand in Japanese and the child friendly version represents holding the four hands of child, guardian, facilitator, and social support). He was trained by Cynthia White while a staff member of Ashinaga Ikuekai. He is well respected and quite capable of having a positive impact on grief support for Tohoku’s children. And, we will work together, hand in hand, to develop children’s grief support in Tohoku. Thank you Mr. Nishida.
July 6 & 7, were spent traveling north to Kamaishi where two days of training was conducted at a Caritas Volunteer Center, which is an international organization helping with the relief effort in Tohoku. Mr. Nishida accompanied us and participated in the first day of training. His presence was helpful and he gained a few new strategies to incorporate into the training work he is doing.
The training was planned in collaboration with HANDS, another volunteer relief group. Thank you HANDS. We connected with HANDS through a local Hawaii colleague, Debra, who was volunteering for the organization. She introduced us to Anna Thomas, an English teacher in Japan and volunteer with Debra. Anna introduced us to Jun-san who we visited during our November trip. Networking is a key component to the Kid’s Heart Project. And, with the assistance of many, the project grows like a cherry blossom.
12 people attended the training at the Caritas Center. The Center first offered emotional support to adults by listening over tea. Soon children from a nearby temporary housing site started to come by and now attend regularly. They had a practice to not talk about the tsunami with the children. And, when children talked about a death, they didn’t know what to do. The training seemed to have a profound impact. They were enthusiastic about changing how they work with children. Nana Horoiwa joined us for the second day, helping with skills practice. Thank you again Nana.
At the end of the second day of training, six girls came to the Caritas Center. Hiro was able to model open communication skills while engaging the children in a Koa wood craft activity. The staff and volunteers were accomodating and welcoming. We met two city employees who were there to see about the children. The center’s director, Seiko Ise, offered to help us connect with all the Caritas Centers in Tohoku and gave us a publication about their relief effort. Thank you all at the Caritas Center in Kamaishi.
Nishida-san, Ise-san, Cynthia White, & Hiro Ito at Caritas Center in Kamaishi.
We drove to and stayed in Kesennuma on July 7th where we met with a family and tried to network locally but were unable to get a reply. The main harbor showed dramatic improvements since last year. Many of the nearby homes and businesses seemed untouched. Areas where stately homes once stood were under water. The smell of rotting fish and rusted steel choked our throats.
The next day, July 8th, we drove along the coastline. Hiro learned from a student volunteer who attended our training that there was a Christian Center doing relief work in Minamisanriku. The tsunami impact on these small rural towns seemed to be frozen in time. Their high vulnerability to the sea provided little escape when the waves came crashing over steep hills and open beaches along the shoreline taking out bridges and railways like they were tinker toys. As with our first visit, we were awe struck at the sight of total destruction.
All that is left of a building in Minamisanriku nearly half a mile from the ocean.
Our focus on providing supportive care in rural areas is well founded. The needs are equally great in all the areas but resources are scarce in towns far from the big cities. There were new bridges along side the twisted remains of the old ones for without these bridges, no one could reach these small towns. The only apparent changes along the coast was rusted metal and grass growing where homes used to be.
The Christian Center in Minamisanriku is a small structure on a hill surrounded by destruction.
After networking in Minamisanriku, we headed to Shinchi to visit children we met in November while participating in Move 4 Japan, the relief outreach started by Atsushi Takebayashi. At the time of our arrival a group from Kyoto was finishing up from cooking yakiniku. They brought Kyoto style ginger rice and sake making for a lively group.
Hiro Ito gave out donations from Duck Tours Hawaii and Aloha Wave, a Tokyo based company. After receiving donations, the children got to work on a Koa wood craft. Reimi made a necklace with beads spelling out her deceased mother’s name. This temporary housing site has managed to create a community, bringing residents together at the community center for craft projects or movies, welcoming outside assistance, and preparing knitted gifts for those who provide assistance. They have pictures, writings, and children’s art all over the walls keeping a record of all they do together and all who come to help.
Children who ran to greet us when we arrived.
From Shinchi we made our way to Soma to reconnect with a Hui Lehua hula teacher. Soma is an area that was being monitored for radiation. She shared that they took the radiation detectors back and it seemed there was no more efforts to clean up the radiation. Listening to her stories, it seemed the news reports and local experience did not match. But she could not leave. This was her home.