It's been ages since my last post but please forgive me.
For it has been a very emotional and tough two weeks.
My whole family lives in Japan.
They live far from Miyagi, the area that was affected the most.
So when I heard about the earthquake,
I didn't know for sure, but wanted to assume they were okay.
But I couldn't get a hold of any of them for a whole day.
I could NOT sleep that night.
I finally heard back from them the next day, letting me know that they were okay.
But I still couldn't sleep very well for the entire week.
Everything (still) has been so uncertain, especially during that first week.
I had never been so scared in my life... not knowing if my family was going to be 100% safe
with the continuos aftershocks...the radiation..
And although (apparently) the news over here in America are saying less
about Japan now, we can't ignore the unbelievable death toll of over 10,000..
and 17,000 that are still missing...
250,000 are still without homes, living in evacuation centers
where of course, food/water and everything is scarce.
(Figures from: UK Telegraph)Yet there is still this POSTIVE energy all around Japan.
People are looking up now and moving forward...
We are realizing that we have to be especially kind to one another.
That we have to help each other out.
I've been trying to do everything I can from over here to help out.
Making donations...constantly posting things on Facebook to spread awareness and
inform others of news.
I also had the privilege to sing on a benefit song written/recorded by a singer friend.
I know there's more I can do and will continue to help in every way I can.
I'm trying to put together a benefit gig (live performance) featuring my self with
my amazing musician friends where
all of the proceeds will go towards the relief of this tragic event.
And hopefully soon they will be accepting clothes and other needed items
from overseas...
If you are reading this, I kindly ask you if you could make a donation
no matter how small...
Because every little help matters right now.
Click HERE for the Red Cross donation page. There are of course, many other organizations that you can choose to donate to. This is just one of them. Just be careful of scams though.
It was so great to see last week that Red Cross contributed an "initial 10 million dollars"..
which I'm sure will happen again. Hence the "initial"!
Each one of us can help out in some way or another.
And like I said, they need every help they can get.
I know it won't be long before everything is restored and
we get back on our feet again.
Let me share something with you...
A child was in line at a store buying snacks. As he/she got closer to the
front of the line, he/she decided to put the money she had in a donation box
and put the snacks back on the shelf.
A lady at a bakery in Tokyo was giving out bread for free..in the wee small hours of the night..
A group of reporters/tv crew heard a girl yelling at them.
They rushed over, thinking she was crying for help.
She was in fact one of the evacuees, trying to flag them down.
"You guys are working so hard. Please have some coffee"
And so the media crew was offered coffee.
At Disneyland in Japan, they were giving out snacks for free.
There was a group of high school students that seemed to be taking way too many snacks.
Later, they were seen giving out those snacks to children at an evacuation center.
I'm crying again as I read and type up parts of some #prayforJapan Twitter posts I have read
a million times already.
What an amazing country...
I'm sure that many stores are also doing what the lady at the bakery was doing..and that
many children and teenagers are learning to be caring and giving..
People are trying to help in any way they can.
The people in Miyagi are the ones that are suffering the most and yet,
they are still strong, resilient and CARING..
If there's one thing I can say about how I feel and how I have been feeling, it is that
I am SO PROUD to be Japanese.
Thank you for reading.
Please continue to pray for my people and help out in any way you can.
At times like these, we really need to focus on the smallest happiest things.
Happy things are ahead of us.
大丈夫。Everything will be alright.
