We all looked on as the disastrous events of March 11^th unfolded in the Tohoku region of Japan, and collectively our hearts sank.  For those of us who have family and friends in Japan, it was a time of great sorrow and worry.  But, in the aftermath of great tragedy can and has come great good.  Little time has passed since the earthquake and tsunami shook the Tohoku region, but the world has responded with overwhelming support for the people of Japan.  RMJETAA, being a member organization comprised of professionals who lived and worked in Japan, will be joining in the effort to help those people and towns most affected by this disaster.  As the dust settles, there will be many opportunities for you to offer your support to organizations sending relief to Japan, and I would like to personally invite you to join with us in these efforts.  JETAA is currently collecting donations on a national level, and if you would like to be a part of the JET Alumni response to the earthquake and tsunami, please go to the following website for details on how you can donate:

http://www.jetaausa.com/fund/

Also, RMJETAA is planning to hold a benefit event that highlights the music of Japan in late April or early May.  The proceeds of this event will go directly to the relief effort.  There are many other local and national ongoing efforts happening, so please give your full support to Japan in this time of great need.  Thank you, and may Japan and its people have a speedy recovery!

~John McMillen

President – JETAA Rocky Mountain Chapter

Denver JETs in Shimane-ken, Leonard Large, Kyle Opitz and Lauren Hale, along with other JETs from Shimane, Hiroshima, Tottori and local residents of Japan took part in a Charity Hike up Shimane's Mount Sanbe to benefit the Japanese Red Cross and other charities supporting those affected by the Tohoku Disaster.

Lauren Hale, a Shimane JET from Denver said “Japan has been such a great home to us all and we were so glad that we could be a part of the relief effort.  We raised over twice the amount that we had originally hoped for!”

On May 15th over 60 ALTs and CIRs and 50 Japanese people took part in a sponsored ‘Charity Hike’. The hike took place on Shimane’s highest mountain: Mt. Sanbe in Oda City, Shimane. It was attended by people from 14 countries: America, Ireland, France, England, Jamaica, Canada, Scotland, Kenya, China, Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In the weeks leading up the event particpants raised $21,023 USD (¥1,715,338) from local and international donations (via the internet). At the summit of Mt. Sanbe, the participants held a photo opportunity and called out a strong message of support for the people of Tohoku and Japan from the international community. Please see the photograph below. In the week after the event, the money was transferred to the Japanese Red Cross (70%) and ‘SMILE and Dreams; Tohoku Kids Project’ (30%).

Check out the project website for video coverage and photos: www.sanbehike.com

As of COB on March 14th after many hours of emailing and calling parents, all in-country JETs who either processed or departed through Denver have been accounted for. We had several people in the Tohoku region, some of whom have been displaced due to the current situation, but they are all doing OK.

If you are looking for an in-country JET, CLAIR NY has a list of US and Canadian JETs who have thus far been accounted for. The list continues to grow, so please keep checking back if you don't see the name of the person you're looking for.

Other online resources that have come into play with connecting people are Facebook and Twitter. There are several Facebook pages set up to connect people- some general and some broken down by prefecture.

This is a link to the Japan Meteorological Society website for the earthquake that occured at 2:53pm JST on March 11th, 2011. If you scroll down the page, you can see the affected towns and the magnitude at each location.

If you are looking for information on the safety of US or Canadian in-country JETs, please visit the CLAIR NY website. They are posting official information on the current status as they find time. They also have a list of all US and Canadian JETs that have been accounted for (pdf document).

Other good sources of information are the US Embassy in Tokyo website and AJET (to see how JETs in Japan are responding). You can also access the prefectural AJET chapter websites/ forums through the main AJET website.   Facebook has been an online resource many JETs and families of JETs have turned to as well as Twitter (although the information tends to be less official on both those.)

This site gives some basic information about the earthquake and tsunami as well as some means of inquiring about missing persons and making donations to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

Click here to visit the site.