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Peace Boat Launches Fukushima Youth Project
an article by Peace Boat
Tokyo-based international NGO Peace Boat has launched a project
to support children and youth in Fukushima, affected by both the
devastation of the earthquake and tsunami and the nuclear power plant
accident. 
click on photo to enlarge
As
the first action of this project, 49 Junior High School students from
six different schools in Minamisoma, Fukushima will spend two weeks of
their summer vacation onboard Peace Boat's ship as it travels through
Asia (Vietnam – Singapore – Sri Lanka).
In cooperation with the
Minamisoma Parents and Teachers Association (PTA), this project aims to
provide the children with the opportunity to spend their summer in a
healthy, dynamic and creative environment, where they can learn new
skills, enjoy new experiences and gain a fresh perspective on the
future, while enabling their parents to focus on rebuilding their
community.
Minamisoma is just 10-40 km from the Daiichi nuclear
power plant, and the southern half of the city has been designated as an
evacuation or control zone. Residents in other parts of the city also
face severely heightened levels of radiation and are advised to remain
indoors, an untenable situation for young children and their families.
The
youth will depart from Minamisoma on July 23, fly from Narita on July
24, and return to Japan on August 4. In the first port of call, Viet
Nam, students will participate in an exchange program with young victims
of Agent Orange/Dioxin. In Singapore, students will experience the
unique and diverse mix of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Arab cultures.
Finally, they will stop in Sri Lanka to put their experiences in
context, and participate in an exchange program with young people who
survived the 2004 earthquake and tsunami.
Accompanying the youth
will be a photo exhibition about the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami and
Fukushima nuclear disaster, thanking the host country and international
community for their support and raising awareness about the importance
of ongoing global cooperation; and Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor Mr
Nakamura Hiroshi, who will share his experiences and information about
the dangers of radiation with the students and people in ports of call.
ABOUT PEACE BOAT
Peace Boat is a Japan-based NGO providing dedicated disaster relief and
long-term support for the recovery of several cities in Miyagi
prefecture following the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 11.
Peace Boat is also long committed to education and advocacy efforts for
a nuclear-free world.
MORE INFORMATION
Peace Boat's relief activities: http://peaceboat.org/relief.
More information about voyages and Peace Boat's longstanding advocacy of
social issues, humanitarian causes and nuclear abolition: http://peaceboat.org/English
A blog of the Fukushima youth's voyage will be online here in Japanese: http://ameblo.jp/pbfukushimayouth.
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
Japan earthquake and nuclear disaster
How can we show solidarity with the people there?
Thematic forum(s) in which this article is being discussed:
SOLIDARITY - SOLIDARITE
Latest reader comment:
There are two CPNN articles on this topic:
Sending Love To Sendai: Tsunami and Earthquake Survivors in Japan;
Peace Boat Launches Fukushima Youth Project
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This report was posted on August 6, 2011.
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