American stays to help disaster-stricken town. (near Fukushima)

[stockholmer]

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201105010110.html



"SHICHIGAHAMA, Miyagi Prefecture--A week after the Great East Japan Earthquake, Marti McElreath, an American working at Shichigahama International Village in Miyagi Prefecture, was notified that the U.S. Embassy had recommended the evacuation of U.S. citizens living within 80 kilometers of Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The embassy said a bus would leave Sendai the next day. McElreath's supervisors and co-workers encouraged her to leave, saying, "Please go, or your family will be worried."

But McElreath, 23, who speaks Japanese, decided she wasn't going anywhere.

"Last summer, I was welcomed by the people here," she said. "This is my home. I couldn't imagine just leaving and getting special treatment." Shichigahama is a coastal town with a population of 20,000. McElreath has been in charge of the town's international exchange program since last summer......................................."

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a hat-tip to a great human

:thumbsup:


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edited to add pic

[AsahinaKimi]

1. There were quite a few Teachers from outside of Japan

who stayed and helped Evacuees. Many of them were Americans. They went there to help people with the language of English, and stayed to help them keep their spirits up!! Congrats to them, Omedetou!! おめでとう!