Rotary International 2530D district community service committee

Rotary International 2530D district community service committee

  Rotary International 2530 district reconstruction assistance

  Governor Sakuma

Gratitude for Reconstruction Assistance after Great East Japan Earthquake

Five and a half years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake struck on March 11, 2011. The quake, which registered magnitude 9.0, the highest ever recorded in Japan, was followed by huge tsunami of over
15 meters in height and an accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), where cooling power was lost, releasing radioactive substances into the air. Residents in Fukushima Prefecture, the Rotary International District 2530, especially those living near the coast, had no choice but to evacuate from the destruction and radiation.

  Immediately after the disaster, the largest such incident so far this century, warm support poured in not only from elsewhere in Japan but from around the world. Today, five years later, radioactive levels remain high, and many people are still unable to return to their own homes. At the same time, though, there are signs that reconstruction is making headway, albeit slowly.

We have launched this site in order to look back over the past five years, record individual experiences of the disaster, and express our sincere gratitude to Rotarians around the world for their immense support in the immediate aftermath. I know that really I should send a letter of thanks to each and every Rotarian, but I hope that this online report and expression of gratitude will suffice in lieu. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the many people,including Past Governors Kosuke Maki and Takashi Nakazawa,who ofered their guidance andco operation in the production of this web page.On behalf of RID 2530, I would like to thank you all very much indeed.

Eiichi Sakuma
Governor, RID 2530