Japan Earthquake Disaster Recovery

Thank you for your support!!

Peace Winds America and our local partner are very excited to tell you that we have completed building 42 sheds in five districts in Minamisanriku.  Your contribution played a critical part supporting over 100 fishing family members who have benefited from this project.

Fishing sheds binds family:

Before fishing sheds were swept away by 3/11 tsunami along with their houses, fishermen and their family members used their shed as a workplace for processing their catch (fish, seaweed), mending fishing nets, or preparing other tools and equipment. 

Because most fishermen and their families are still living in the temporary housing where there is no room to fish processing or storing fishing tools and equipment.  Many sheds were built on the land where their houses used to stand before tsunami took it away.  Now these sheds provide a center point for all of their fishing activities.

As the wakame seaweed season ramps up soon, the families will use the shed to process and package wakame, where sometimes three generations of family sit down and work together.  PWA acknowledges the importance of the shed to a fishing family.  To make sure the families had a place to work throughout fall, our local partner, Grace Mission Tohoku worked around the clock to build sheds before harsh winter hit the area. 

Livelihood support helps energize local economy: They want sheds more than houses

Wakame seaweed harvesting is soon approaching.  In Minamisanriku, wakame seaweed farming and processing is one of the most critical income generation opportunity.  Every family member pitches in together: harvesting, cleaning, processing, and packaging to be sold.  Everyone is preparing for the harvest season to start, however, those without fishing sheds are having to do work outside.

From the field, our local partner told us that “what is most critical for many of them is that they come up to speed on their livelihood and achieve a stable income before they can take out a loan and build themselves another home.  So that is why sheds are more important than houses right now.”

The need for sheds remains  high:  PWA will expand the shed program to four additional districts!!

Still many fishing families are without sheds.  A few fishermen areusing tents as makeshift sheds, but this measure is not secure to store their valuable equipment nor does it provide the essential  working environment.

PWA and our local partner have identified four additional districts in Utatsu region where the need for fishing sheds is high: Yoriki, Isatomae, Minato and Tanoura districts.  These four areas were  suffered the same magnitude of damage as our previously supported districts.

PWA hopes you will join our work in support of providing fishing sheds to four additional districts.   Please spread the word!