We conducted a tour to the Oshika Peninsula area of Miyagi Prefecture.
This was JILCA’s second time to visit the area.
Usually, JILCA coordinates our activities with the volunteer centers of the places which we visit.
But in Oshika, there is no volunteer center associated with the municipal government.
Instead, a person from Yokohama who has been active in the area for a long time is entrusted by the municipal government to act in the capacity of the usual local volunteer center.
All of the staff members are individual volunteers.
That’s why there are not so many staffs at the center, and the turn over rate is high, which makes running the center a tough task.
The Oshika Peninsula is far off the highway exit.
After getting off the highway, we had to drive on local roads for along time to get there.
The place which we visited this time, Ayugawahama, used to be the most vital commercial center of the Oshika area, but now it is left with only a few temporary small stores.
In order to get to the nearest supermarket, we heard that it cost over 7000 yen (about US$90) for a one-way taxi ride.
Because it’s located in such a far-off place, it seems not too many volunteers visited here.
Instead, the few volunteers who stayed long-term in Oshika had worked very diligently.
The motto of the Oshika volunteer is “We serve not only those in the Temporary Housing Complexes, but also all of the surrounding residents.”
So when we conducted activities in the temporary housing complexes, we also reached out to residents in the surrounding communities to join us.
There are advantages and disadvantages to this approach, but it seems to be working out very well in Oshika.
When we were out walking around, residents would come up to us to say “Thank you.”
People on the side of the road would greet our bus when they saw it.
It seems volunteers are very much welcomed here.
The other side of the coin is that there are few volunteers here, thus the extraordinary welcome.
As JILCA, we will continue to visit Oshika.
…on to the activity report.
This was by far the most gorgeous tour JILCA has undertaken to date☆