“Rescue scene bringing tears to folks across Japan. After being trapped for 3
days, beaming old man, says ‘Daijoubu! Let’s rebuild!’ Words of those
old enough to remember destruction of WWII carry special weight.” via Mimi
“Rescue scene bringing tears to folks across Japan. After being trapped for 3
days, beaming old man, says ‘Daijoubu! Let’s rebuild!’ Words of those
old enough to remember destruction of WWII carry special weight.” via Mimi
Toshihito Aisawa’s father, mother, grandmother and two cousins are all missing. For days the 9-year-old has been desperately searching for them at evacuation centers in the Japanese city of Ishinomaki, holding up hand written signs pleading for information. On one is written their names, on the other the simple message “I will come again tomorrow.”
Photo credit: Kuniaki Nishio / Asahi Shimbun via EPA
Toshihito Aisawa’s father, mother, grandmother and two cousins are all missing. For days the 9-year-old has been desperately searching for them at evacuation centers in the Japanese city of Ishinomaki, holding up hand written signs pleading for information. On one is written their names, on the other the simple message “I will come again tomorrow.”
Photo credit: Kuniaki Nishio / Asahi Shimbun via EPA
Many of us feel paralyzed in the aftermath of Japan’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami. As the number of dead or missing nears 22,000, the fate of the country’s nuclear reactors remains grave, and widespread images make the March 11 disaster agonizingly real, the magnitude of the event is positively crippling.
A massive disaster requires massive response, and online giving makes it easy. But Good reminds us, “After the initial disaster relief, and the initial spike in donations, there will still be a lot of work to be done.”
Many of us feel paralyzed in the aftermath of Japan’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami. As the number of dead or missing nears 22,000, the fate of the country’s nuclear reactors remains grave, and widespread images make the March 11 disaster agonizingly real, the magnitude of the event is positively crippling.
A massive disaster requires massive response, and online giving makes it easy. But Good reminds us, “After the initial disaster relief, and the initial spike in donations, there will still be a lot of work to be done.”
This is Hideaki Akaiwa. When the Tsunami hit his home town of Ishinomaki, Hideaki was at work. Realising his wife was trapped in their home, he ignored the advice of professionals, who told him to wait for the army to arrive to provide search and rescue.
Instead he found some scuba gear, jumped in the raging torrent – dodging cars, houses and other debris being dragged around by the powerful current, any of which could have killed him instantly – and navigated the now submerged streets in pitch dark, freezing water until he found his house. Swimming inside, he discovered his wife alive on the upper level with only a small amount of breathing room, and sharing his respirator, pulled her out to safety.
If he had waited for the army, his wife of 20 years would be dead.
Oh, and if that’s not enough badassery for one lifetime, Hideaki realised his mother was also unaccounted for, so jumped back in the water and managed to save her life also. Since then Hideaki enters the water everyday on a one man search and rescue mission, saving countless lives and proving that two natural disasters in a single day – and insurmountable odds – can’t stand in the way of love. This man is my hero.
Awesome. I pay to be a strong as this man one day.
This is Hideaki Akaiwa. When the Tsunami hit his home town of Ishinomaki, Hideaki was at work. Realising his wife was trapped in their home, he ignored the advice of professionals, who told him to wait for the army to arrive to provide search and rescue.
Instead he found some scuba gear, jumped in the raging torrent – dodging cars, houses and other debris being dragged around by the powerful current, any of which could have killed him instantly – and navigated the now submerged streets in pitch dark, freezing water until he found his house. Swimming inside, he discovered his wife alive on the upper level with only a small amount of breathing room, and sharing his respirator, pulled her out to safety.
If he had waited for the army, his wife of 20 years would be dead.
Oh, and if that’s not enough badassery for one lifetime, Hideaki realised his mother was also unaccounted for, so jumped back in the water and managed to save her life also. Since then Hideaki enters the water everyday on a one man search and rescue mission, saving countless lives and proving that two natural disasters in a single day – and insurmountable odds – can’t stand in the way of love. This man is my hero.
Awesome. I pay to be a strong as this man one day.
Hello friend, I’m in a bit of a bad situation right now and would really appreciate some assistance. You can definitely help without spending any money, so please take a minute to read this post!
What’s going on is that I am expecting a baby in August. His name is Finn and he’s adorable. Here’s a picture:
Obviously that’s an ultrasound, since he won’t be born for 2-3 more months, so you can’t really see his face or anything. Trust me, though, he’s adorable. His dad, unfortunately, got on some heavy drugs and took off when I was about four months pregnant and since he’s now a homeless drug addict who has disappeared into the great beyond, he is useless to do anything to help with this baby.
Which leaves me a single mother. I currently live with two roommates which keeps the cost of living affordable, but they need to move in August and I’m unable to come with them. Therefore I need to get a new apartment by August, which you may recall is the month that my precious baby child is due. Obviously, I need to be moved and have my place set up BEFORE Finn makes his grand entrance into the world, which means I’m pretty limited on time.
In case that wasn’t all fun enough, I’m a waitress. This is especially bad because since it’s a physical job that requires me to be on my feet for my entire shifts, there are only so many hours I can work at seven months pregnant. Plus, I will be medically obligated to go on maternity leave after Finn is born so there will be an entire month that I am physically unable to work. At the same time that I will be moving into my new apartment and paying more for rent.
My saving grace is that I write short comedy stories which are free to read BUT I do take donations on the site where I post them. I need to supplement my income with those donations in order to survive, especially in my current situation. The only problem is that my stories and website are still mostly undiscovered and lack of readers/views = lack of donations.
So please check out my stories and donate if you can, or signal boost and encourage others to do the same. Even if you aren’t personally able to spare anything (and I understand that money’s tight for almost everyone) just visiting the website or spreading the word would help immensely in getting me closer to making enough on donations to afford the basic costs of living, at least up until I’m able to return to a normal number of working hours.
If you wouldn’t mind helping out, it would really mean a lot to me (and my baby son, once he’s old enough to understand the concept of gratitude.)
LINKS Stories Writing Blog Facebook Donate (this link keeps breaking – the e-mail used to send a donation is jestersathenaeum@gmail.com)
Guys PLEASE signal boost this. I managed to move into my permanent apartment but between the cost of that and my parents suddenly demanding $600 out of spite, I have almost no savings left. I have to go on maternity leave in less than a month and with the number of hours I’m able to work in this condition I’m averaging about $100 a week. I can’t save up almost anything at that rate and there’s going to be 1-2 months where site donations are the ONLY form of income I’ll have to support myself and Finn. If you have any possible way to help spread the word and bring attention to this site, we REALLY need your help.
Continuing to spread this as much as I can while there’s still time, cause Finn’s due on August 18.
Hello friend, I’m in a bit of a bad situation right now and would really appreciate some assistance. You can definitely help without spending any money, so please take a minute to read this post!
What’s going on is that I am expecting a baby in August. His name is Finn and he’s adorable. Here’s a picture:
Obviously that’s an ultrasound, since he won’t be born for 2-3 more months, so you can’t really see his face or anything. Trust me, though, he’s adorable. His dad, unfortunately, got on some heavy drugs and took off when I was about four months pregnant and since he’s now a homeless drug addict who has disappeared into the great beyond, he is useless to do anything to help with this baby.
Which leaves me a single mother. I currently live with two roommates which keeps the cost of living affordable, but they need to move in August and I’m unable to come with them. Therefore I need to get a new apartment by August, which you may recall is the month that my precious baby child is due. Obviously, I need to be moved and have my place set up BEFORE Finn makes his grand entrance into the world, which means I’m pretty limited on time.
In case that wasn’t all fun enough, I’m a waitress. This is especially bad because since it’s a physical job that requires me to be on my feet for my entire shifts, there are only so many hours I can work at seven months pregnant. Plus, I will be medically obligated to go on maternity leave after Finn is born so there will be an entire month that I am physically unable to work. At the same time that I will be moving into my new apartment and paying more for rent.
My saving grace is that I write short comedy stories which are free to read BUT I do take donations on the site where I post them. I need to supplement my income with those donations in order to survive, especially in my current situation. The only problem is that my stories and website are still mostly undiscovered and lack of readers/views = lack of donations.
So please check out my stories and donate if you can, or signal boost and encourage others to do the same. Even if you aren’t personally able to spare anything (and I understand that money’s tight for almost everyone) just visiting the website or spreading the word would help immensely in getting me closer to making enough on donations to afford the basic costs of living, at least up until I’m able to return to a normal number of working hours.
If you wouldn’t mind helping out, it would really mean a lot to me (and my baby son, once he’s old enough to understand the concept of gratitude.)
LINKS Stories Writing Blog Facebook Donate (this link keeps breaking – the e-mail used to send a donation is jestersathenaeum@gmail.com)
Guys PLEASE signal boost this. I managed to move into my permanent apartment but between the cost of that and my parents suddenly demanding $600 out of spite, I have almost no savings left. I have to go on maternity leave in less than a month and with the number of hours I’m able to work in this condition I’m averaging about $100 a week. I can’t save up almost anything at that rate and there’s going to be 1-2 months where site donations are the ONLY form of income I’ll have to support myself and Finn. If you have any possible way to help spread the word and bring attention to this site, we REALLY need your help.
Continuing to spread this as much as I can while there’s still time, cause Finn’s due on August 18.
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