Some personal stories

Father and daughter - all the family survived, but the house and all their possesions, except for a photo album and the little girls favourite cuddly toy (Stitch), were lost in the Tsunami

This is Mrs Murakami (left). She, her husband and child Hibiki (pictured) survived, but sadly her 5 month old baby, who she was carrying in her arms at the time of the Tsunami, was swept away. She was holding her baby whilst running from the Tsunami, she thought she had escaped it, when a second wave knocked her over, she remembers hitting a car, and trying desperately to hold on to her baby, but she couldn`t manage to. She doesn`t know what happened to her legs, and this is the first day that she has had any access to medical treatment. Despite this tragedy, she seems unbelievably positive.

It was only after we were told by one of the medical staff that Mrs Murakami had a problem with her legs, that she showed us, we asked her earlier if she had any issues that we could help with, but she said she didn`t, and she was fine. It seemed that she didn`t want to make too much of a fuss about her problems, whilst there were bigger things to deal with. 

I got the impression that many people were taking this approach and that it might be a while until people decide to come forward for treatment, as this is not a culture where people like to make a fuss.

Hibiki was very amused by some of our acupuncture tools

Hibiki`s presence, and in fact the presence of all the children in the camp are helping to keep spirits up

This couple survived. The woman is 60 years old and has an idiopathic illness that is similar to Meniere`s disease, though she has been unable to take her medication since the Tsunami, she is suffering from dizziness and blurred vision, but doesn`t seem to think that it is such a big deal compared to everything else that has been going on. Their house was destroyed, but they seem happy to be safe and sheltered 

The man on the far left has diabetes and needs insulin and lost his house and wife, he has no family left, he was alone in the camp and knew nobody, but still kept smiling. The second man along`s entire village was wiped out, he helped pull around 200 bodies out of the watery wreckage. He has been staying in a very small building where they were packed in tight like sardines and only had ten day old drinking water - which he jokingly said was fine, and that he`s had no stomach problems.

This couple have just been in a camp where they were packed in like sardines, today was the first time that they had spoken to their daughter (who lives in Tokyo) since the tsunami (8 days ago). They both seemed completely overwhelmed by the situation, and again if they did require acupuncture treatment, they seemed to have greater worries on their mind.