2011年4月30日土曜日

Japan's Quake orphans

Even more than six weeks on, it’s still difficult to estimate the number of children who have been orphaned by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11.

The Ministry of Health has registered around 100 confirmed cases, but the number is expected to rise as more of the people listed as missing are confirmed dead. For some of the kids left behind, the path to recovery will be harder than others and they are likely to end up in state care.
Support project

In Japan, fostering and adoption are still very rare. Without a living relative to take over their care, some of the orphans in Tohoku will be placed into group homes. Often, although staff care for their charges and are doing their best in a less-than-ideal situation, the homes are under-resourced, overcrowded and short-handed.

The founder of Smile Kids Japan, Michael Maher King, unloads supplies at a Kesennuma evacuation center.
The founder of Smile Kids Japan, Michael Maher King, unloads supplies at a Kesennuma evacuation center.

That’s why NGO Living Dreams, which matches volunteers with orphanages in the Tokyo area, and Smile Kids Japan, a nationwide volunteer network founded by British teacher Michael Maher King, have teamed up to raise money and volunteers to help out orphanages in Tohoku.

They've named their scheme the Tohoku Kids Support Project and are hoping to provide a lot more than just the immediate necessities.

“Having worked with many orphanages, I know how important it is for these kids to feel normal,” says Amy Moyers-Knopp, the project's co-director. “They need stability in their lives and dreams to look forward to.”

Read more: Japan's new post-quake orphan problem | C


Japans new post-quake orphan problem /a>

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