nuclear-news

Hopeful Australian air revives Japanese children – victims of the nuclear disaster

“….Now, they are about to experience life on the outside – 12 high-school students from Minamisoma will spend a week in Australia, staying with local families, seeing the sights and even visiting a wind farm, the symbolism of which is obvious….”

March 10, 2013

Excited: Fukushima youth ambassadors are Australia-bound.

When they land in Australia in a fortnight, this will surely seem a land of simple, open-skied wonder to the youngest victims of Japan’s 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crises.

The kids of Minamisoma are living an unimaginable childhood in the middle of Japan’s radiation zone – a place poisoned by the 2011 nuclear crisis and which will take years to recover. At times they can be forbidden to even step outside for fear of contamination.

Now, they are about to experience life on the outside – 12 high-school students from Minamisoma will spend a week in Australia, staying with local families, seeing the sights and even visiting a wind farm, the symbolism of which is obvious.

”We really want them to have a holiday, but we also want it to be an educational opportunity for these kids,” Tomohiro Matsuoka says.

Matsuoka is a member of the Melbourne-based Japanese for Peace, which – with the Australian Conservation Foundation and other local groups – is a partner with Peace Boat, the international organisation behind the idea to take these ”Fukushima youth ambassadors” abroad.

In a statement, Peace Boat says of conditions in Minamisoma: ”Many places are still contaminated with a high level of radiation, and survivors are thus under tremendous pressure and stress: trauma, fear, separation from family and/or family breakdown, economic strains, community pressures, health concerns and anxiety. This is an untenable situation for anybody, but especially cruel for youth and for their … parents.”

The experience promises to be life-changing for the visitors – and potentially for locals.

Organisers are also hoping to offset some of the costs of the trip through donations. For more information, see jfp.org.au/en.

March 10, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized