Category: Latest Posts

Our new HQ facilities !

NADIA is getting organized !

Adding to the 4F of the Suisan Bldg. that you know very well, we have now exclusive use of the 6F terrace apartment. It is large enough to lodge around 20 people in nice tatami rooms and has an all-round terrace with a view of Ishinomaki-by-the-sea! The nice breeze makes it very comfortable at night too.

On the 4F, there is another large room that will be transformed into a tatami room where another 10 people can rest.

Nearby, we also have 2 apartments with 2 rooms each, where an additional 20 people can stay.

All this will improve the convenience of getting up to Ishinomaki on Friday night or early in the morning of Saturday. Yes ! Bus riders will be able to take a nap before their hard-day work !

The bus will take us to a nearby “Michi-no-eki” with a beautiful onsen complex with retaurants and convenience store.

All you need : your sleeping bag and your favorite pillow

Optional: your teddy bear !

Welcome to NADIA HQ !

Black mud White dust Sturdy nails and Happy smiles!

NADIA wouldn’t be anything without the strength and vitality of all the volunteers who come along every week and work just as professionals.

img_0878

The work is visibly progressing in Ishinomaki and this is thanks to everyone’s effort. It is obvious that the uncertainty of future reconstruction plans becomes heavier every day that passes by. But our help definitely brings hope and motivates the community not to give up and imagine the bright nice and green environment coming up.

img_0868

Lots of houses remain to be cleaned out of mud and debris and we need to assure a constant presence in Ishinomaki. Lots of people now live in houses with open floors and are waiting their turn to get refurbishing help, that might not come before over 6 months at the earliest. NADIA is willing to give hands to accelerate this stagnating situation and is foreseeing the reconstruction steps that will begin soon. We are putting things into place to move further. Stay posted for our coming new plans !

img_0869

For the time being, we are moving on to offer cosy terrace-apartment lodging in the middle of port town Ishinomaki! Check-out our new PLAN 1 for July !

img_0895 img_0896

NADIA Information Session on Wednesday, June 22 in Tokyo

NADIA is an international volunteering group that brings direct manpower to help people affected in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture (soon to become an NPO).

We will hold a 45 minutes information session on Wednesday, June 22 to discuss:

  • Who we are
  • What we do
  • Feedback from our first 13 trips to Tohoku
  • Our plans for upcoming months and how you can support our efforts

Info Session Details:
Date & Time:           Wednesday, June 22, 2011 at 18:30
Meeting Location:   Deutsche Bank Group office, Sanno Park Tower, 19 Floor, Conference Room 1
Address:                   Sanno Park Tower, 2-11-1 Nagatacho, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 100-6171

To attend, please RSVP with your 1) name, 2) contact telephone number and 3) e-mail address to: nadia.volunteer@gmail.com

NADIA Team

NADIA needs your opinion !

We are considering changing our lodging location to HQ. This would mean cheaper trips and easier access and coordination, but it would also mean less comfort (we’d provide futons and fans), going to a public onsen and strict rules about cleaning and noise. In this case, which plan would you opt for? (tentative plans!)

NADIA has a new logo !!!

t nadia

Thanks to the kind efforts of Tom Sagiuchi, NADIA can now be identified with an original logo !

Green for hope, simple round letters for friendliness, and a globe to show that hands don’t have nationalities.  

Our logo creators:

On Namiki. Creative Art Director

Tom Sagiuchi Producer

Three months have passed

We may live close, we may have our office near by, we may have friends in common, but three months ago most of us were total strangers.  But today we are here at Ishinomaki for one purpose. To bring  “Hope” to Ishinomaki.

img_0330

47 crew gathered at our headquarter, some are veterans, some are new.  June 11 was the 3rd month since the tsunami wrecked the lives of hundred of thousands of people. It may not be in the TV news anymore, but people up there still need a lot of help. People are trying to keep their chin up and doing more than their best to go forward. Clocks in Ishinomaki city still point at 3:50, but their clock in heart never stops.

img_0336

The amount of work to be done may seem hopeless and our small contribution to this may make us feel helpless.

But every week we receive hundreds and hundreds of “Thank you” words from people at Minato school area. We had cleaned a main hall of a temple, and cleaned up a huge graveyard, which may not be directly connected to their daily life, but the chief priest told us that people are actually crying for what we’ve done.

When we visited minato elementary school for the first time, the weather was still cold and entire city seemed gray with debris and muds. But three months after tsunami, a clear blue sky welcomed us, it was clear and shinny enough to keep our head up.

img_0346

Our help is always needed.

img_0353

member of 11-12/June

 

Each one of you is the great one

There are several groups which have been making great contribution to nadia activity. Tokyo Canadians Hockey Club is one of them. They have been participating in Nadia activity since our very early stage. How many bags of muds were carried out by their leadership from huge Buddist temple last weekend..

The great one, Wayne Gretzky once said,

“A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be. ”

They always know what we should do next…

img_0290

“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”