We were sitting in the showroom on ground level when the earthquake started, we ran to the middle of the road knowing that if the buildings came down we probably would get crushed, but Tokyo is a place of buildings and few open spaces…
The tarmac and buildings shook, and the telegraph poles flapped overhead. I was holding tightly to Masako, our Head of Design’s arm, shouting about whether our whole team were safer on the 3rd floor or in the road with us. (It was like in a movie, I was waiting to see the tarmac open in front of us).
The team were under their desks when we got up there. It went on and on, all afternoon, all evening, and the next day there were constant tremors.
We are the lucky ones. The people who run our Japan website are seriously affected. Two shops stocking People Tree have disappeared, over 6,539 people have perished and 10,354 are still missing. Hundreds of thousands are homeless, hungry and cold in shelters. Transport networks are in chaos.
Everyone is being so brave dealing with their own shock and grief, getting food where it is running out, and working around power cuts. We’re also dealing with news about nuclear accidents “don’t forget to buy a raincoat in case it rains radiation Safia!”
There is a 70% chance of more earthquakes in the next days, and despite all this, we’re all trying to plan so that People Tree can survive. The people of Japan are amazing!!
My back is as hard as a plank of wood due to stress. I hope you will want to help Japan in some way…thanks for all your messages of support too!
People are asking me is there any way to help other than donations? As People Tree UK and People Tree Japan are part of the same company, and Japan is in turmoil at the moment, it helps to buy from People Tree UK as that way we can help Japan in the difficult months ahead. You’ll also help the Fair Trade movement survive in Japan and help sustain orders to Fair Trade groups too!
You can support the British Red Cross (which we are doing through a 10% donation of People Tree UK sales) and our office is also supporting Second Harvest (2HJ) which is a food bank helping here in Japan. Link below:
http://www.2hj.org/index.php/get_involved/donate_money
2HJ distributes donated food, all of which is good for consumption, but would have been disposed of otherwise. The organisation is gearing up for emergency relieve right now to the direct victims of the earthquake and tsunami. However, their efforts are already looking further down the road, and they are committed to support victims also on the long run. For that they are as we speak building a network of distribution points across the affected area, which will not disappear once the earthquake is out of the news.
