good morning. 3:30 am and i just got up in our freezing car. i have
4 layers of clothes on but still can’t seem to get my body warm. one
of our guys Kazu-san is sleeping outside on the ground in the parking
lot. i have my digital dosimeter around my neck and when i’ve been
looking at it over and over since the day i got it. it’s been
recording 0.000 serveits until last night when i seen something
different. it was 0.001 so there is some radiation in the air as
we’re 3 hours away from the nuclear plant. i know my dosimeter alarm
will go off sometime today but hopefully not before we get there. i
think we’ve all decided that radiation or no radiation, we’re going in!
we had a meeting last night and made a plan. 2 cars are going to the
front line, which is minami souma. the radiation levels are pretty
high and it’s kind of risky but 5 out of the 8 of us are going in
anyway. just like typical surfers, we’re monitoring the wind decided
that 9-12 pm would be the best. for me, my mind was set. how can you
not go in and help when you know a whole city is living there right
now? kids too. they are instructed not to go outdoors? how do they
get food? we will soon find out.
yesterday i was overwhelmed by the support. i posted on my blog for
donations and so did other friends of mine. there were people
dropping off supplies and donations all day long. people we knew, and
people we didn’t. total strangers just wanting to help. our 2 vans
and 1 truck are full. i don’t know how to thank everybody. when a
japanese national that you don’t even know tells you “thank you for
doing this for japan,” it’s emotional and i don’t know how i’m
holding back the tears. i’m sure i will crash someday and hopefully
nobody will have to see it.
when our group was sitting down last midnight on the ground in the
parking lot forming a small circle in the freezing cold. we were
talking about surfing, life, and why we were here. 5 of them i
already knew, and 2 people i met for the first time. we’re all here
for the same reason and i’m amazed by the courage in each and every
member. you can just see it in their eyes. it’s pretty heavy…
we have a mission. we have to help. and we will help. whether we
are passing out supplies, being there for support, reporting to the
world what’s happening, or giving hope, we’re all in this together.
we all come from different walks of life, but WE ARE ONE….
well, better get going. oh, wanted to thank Hawaii News Now, NHK,
Yomiuri newspaper, Mainichi newspaper, and everybody else who is
getting the word out. doomo arigato gozaimasu from the bottom of my
heart…..
