JAPAN – The severed bow of a fiberglass fishing boat jutted out from under a huge pile of mangled ropes and rotting fishing nets. Under mounds of smashed plastic crates and pieces of foam were fragments of countless other boats. These vessels, once afloat and filled with fishermen’s catch, were now in a boat graveyard filled with the wreckage of the local fishing industry. In a separate pile, mangled metal had been separated for recycling.

It has been six months since the Japan tsunami, and now a patina of rust had painted the wreckage orange. Outboard boat motors were piled on top of each other; their bent propellers will never again spin in the ocean that destroyed them.

The residents of the coastline villages have been working alongside volunteers to sift through the endless piles of debris, slowly sorting things into salvageable piles. The metal smelts will be busy for years to come, yet still much of the debris can only be hauled to huge landfills.

After six months I expected to see real progress on the clean up in these rural areas, but the main focus has been on repairing the roads and power infrastructure. This has given us access to see even more places that were affected by the disaster, and in some ways I’m more shocked than ever.

The narrow coastal road winds in and out of tiny towns and villages—mile after mile there are still mountains of debris. After each bend in the road, there is a small cove where fishermen once lived. Now the only evidence of those lives are the concrete slabs where their homes stood.

Everywhere you look there is some remnant of fishing equipment strewn in the trees and bushes. At sea level, you can gaze upward and see fishing nets stuck in trees 30 feet in the air, a chilling reminder of the height of the tsunami (in some places it reached a height of 130 feet). Broken boats litter the landscape, some deposited far inland. The tsunami decimated local businesses and industries but none as widespread or damaging as the impact on the fishing industry.

The Japanese diet famously revolves around seafood. With such high demand, the Japanese fishing industry is one of the best established in the world. But across the 300-mile stretch of coastline affected by the tsunami, fishery infrastructure was obliterated. In many small fishing towns the concrete harbor walls were literally swept away and boat ramps smashed into pieces and dragged into the sea. For thousands of fishermen, livelihoods were destroyed in mere minutes, leaving them with nothing.

In the days and weeks following the tsunami, Operation Blessing began working with fishing communities to meet their urgent needs. We provided food, water and even generators for power. As the emergency needs began to wane, we started to dialogue with fishing guilds on how to get fishermen back to work. OBI provided computers, printers and office supplies to a fishing guild on the Urato Islands to enable them to communicate with the mainland and with our Japan team. Thanks to the communication line, we began to compile lists of equipment needed to get fishermen back in business.

The islands are home to conventional fishermen as well as oystermen and seaweed farmers. Since the tsunami Operation Blessing has delivered a variety of equipment to the islands, everything from anchors to fishing nets, ropes to floats. But as vital as those things are, there is one tool at the heart of the profession that is the lifeline to every waterman—their boats.

With at least 10,000 boats destroyed, Japanese boat builders were quickly flooded with orders and a backlog formed. There has probably never been this much demand for small fishing boats at one time in world history and that means a long wait for thousands of fishermen, assuming that they could afford a boat in the first place. Many lost all of their possessions, including their homes, so the prospect of purchasing a new boat and equipment is daunting and fishing guilds are reporting that many fishermen are simply giving up the trade.

Operation Blessing wanted to help find boats for fishermen but with all the manufacturers tied up, purchasing new boats was not an option. So we needed to get creative. Our Japan team started to scour the nation in search of used boats. The team began to locate and purchase boats as far away as the southern city of Okinawa. Some boats were purchased from individuals and some from dealers who would give us a great discount after hearing about the cause.

With so much need we had to make the decision to focus our effort on one community. At one of our free eyeglass clinics in the town of Oya-Motoyoshi, the town mayor requested that we specifically help them find boats, so we agreed to focus there. After several weeks OB Japan had managed to locate and purchase 42 boats and motors and we alerted the fishing guild in Oya-Motoyoshi that we were ready to donate them to fisherman as soon as possible, the prime fishing season was fast approaching.

On September 4, 2011, the sun was shining despite Typhoon Talas looming to the south. There was a strong breeze, which made 42 crisp, white flags flicker and dance. The flags were on poles in each boat and on each flag were the Japanese characters meaning “Big Catch,” a traditional expression used during the launch of a new fishing boat to wish it success. The boats were arranged in a long line, their bows all pointing out to the sea, ready for action. As the start of the ceremony grew near the fishermen and their families began to arrive for the celebration.

There was lots of hustle and bustle as last minute registration decals were being added to some boats and out-board motors were fuelled up. Journalists and TV crews began to jostle for position and with a series of bows and handshakes the ceremony was underway.

The local mayor remarked about how thankful he was that these fishermen could get back to work so quickly. Then Operation Blessing’s president, Bill Horan, took the microphone and gave a rousing address. Bill spoke of how he, his father and his grandfather were fishermen and how he had lost his boat to a hurricane. The words resonated with the fishermen. They were ecstatic that Bill could relate to them and that an organization from America had come all that way to help them.

Each fisherman took to the stage to receive an official certificate of donation from Operation Blessing. One man who could speak English let out a huge, “Thank you” and shouted, “I love you!” much to the amusement of his comrades. But he was sincere and it was clear to us that all of these men, having lost so much, were extremely grateful for the gift. One fisherman, Mr. Mura Samu, tried his best to hold back tears as he said into the microphone, “You have provided in us a spark of hope that will become a fire.”

At the close of the ceremony there was an unexpected surprise. The stage was quickly transformed with painted wooden cutouts of waves and boats and a large group of fishermen and their wives took to the stage—the men in their fishing overalls and the women wearing bright traditional costumes. A line of men began to pound the stage in unison with long wooden oars. They started to sing a hearty, joyful chant and some men reenacted the pulling in of nets. In the nets were three giant stuffed tuna that they pretended to haul into their boats. In the foreground the women danced and smiled at their husbands having landed such a “Big Catch.”

We were told that the dance was traditionally done at the end of a great day of fishing to celebrate prosperity; it was the first time the community had performed the dance since the tsunami. I think that for the whole community, to see the dance and sing the chorus of celebration, their spirits began to lift to a place they haven’t been since the tsunami. This was no longer a town overcome by disaster; it was a town returning to normal.

After great applause, the moment everyone came for was upon us. Each fisherman took position at his boat and called his friends to help him roll it into the harbor. In a flurry of cheers, waving flags and the putter of starting motors the boats began to glide into the sea. I managed to climb aboard one of the boats just before it splashed into the water. The fisherman had a huge beaming smile on his face and with the snap of his wrist the out board motor revved up and we took off to join the armada.

The fishermen weaved and dodged each other laughing as we circled the bay. Some of the boats were having friendly races while others slowly cut through water, their captains taking deep breaths with closed eyes, happy to be back on the water. The fishermen chuckled and sped around the harbor a few times before returning to the dock to celebrate with their families. They greeted the OBI team with such gratitude; some of them had tears welling in their eyes as they thanked us.

It was a special day for everyone, for the fishermen who had regained their livelihoods, for the OB Japan team who worked so hard to make it happen and for Bill and myself who were fortunate to witness and document the events. Thanks to our donors we have been able to transform the lives of many fishing families who lost everything in the tsunami. Ours was the first big distribution of boats since the tsunami and for the recipients, hope has been restored.

The need is still huge and our OB Japan team is gearing up to do an even bigger boat distribution in the near future. We are launching an “Adopt a Boat” program where a donor can purchase a boat for a fisherman or join others in purchasing a boat. And in an interesting turn of events, OBI has teamed up with a boat builder in Maine, U.S.A., to design and build boats for Japan. The American boat industry is going through a difficult patch so any work we can offer them is greatly appreciated.

Operation Blessing is connecting the dots between struggling boat builders in the United States with Japanese fishermen unable to purchase boats because the boat builders here can’t meet the demand. With our help many more fishermen can get back to work, enabling them to support their families and rebuild their communities. Through donating to Operation Blessing, the ability to help these tsunami survivors reclaim their lives is a “Big Catch” for you and for me.

QINGHAI, China – In the wake of the Qinghai Province earthquake, OB China launched an immediate relief response and began partnering with local churches to gather and distribute supplies to victims in the disaster area.

A truck with 10 tons of supplies was sent to Yushu on April 17. The supplies included tents, quilts, water, medicine and an electric generator. These items were sent to Jieguzhen (the center of the earthquake) and were distributed to victims with the help of the local Red Cross and volunteers.

Anny from the OB China team also traveled to that area and journaled about her experience:

“It started to snow early in the morning of April 21, in Xi’ning city.  When we arrived the snow stopped, but we could still feel the chilly wind.  The weather of the plateau changes so fast!

Operation Blessing China staff were concerned for victims in the disaster area and so we visited the victims in Xi’ning to help them with practical needs.

After we landed, we immediately went to the Women and Children Hospital of Qinghai Province, accompanied by several local volunteers. The volunteers helped us connect with this hospital, which had treated 107 children victims from Jieguzhen, the hardest-hit area.

Some children had been seriously injured and remained in the ICU. The injured children were accompanied by their parents or relatives, but some of the children lost their parents in the earthquake and they were being taken care of by volunteers.

Many volunteers from the university were in the wards and helped with Tibetan translation between the injured children, families and doctors. After speaking with some of the children’s parents, we learned that what was most needed was clothing and bedding.

OBI purchased and distributed blankets to 196 victims and clothing to 98 children in partnership with local churches and volunteers.

We then went to the Chinese Medical Hospital of Qinghai Province. The hospital had treated over 70 wounded. The needs of the wounded there have been met, but now the patients are concerned about starting a new life after going home.

Tomorrow we plan to go to the Red Cross Hospital and First People’s hospital and assess the needs of the wounded in those places. Our plan is to coordinate with volunteers of Xi’ning city to buy relief supplies and deliver them to those who have been injured.”

YAO JIN VILLAGE, China – It’s the weekend but there has been no rest for the weary. Our machines have been ploughing through rubble, 10 hours per day. On Friday our excavator dug a huge trench around the backside of the village. The trench will divert water away from homes (the old trench was destroyed by the quake).

It was raining quite hard on Saturday and already I could see the benefit of the draining trench, water was flowing off the mountain and the ditch was serving its purpose well. But the trench needs to be lined with bricks or it will erode and collapse. So on Saturday I was amazed to see the villagers working on their largest clean up initiative so far. Almost every villager was out ferrying cinder blocks from collapsed homes and depositing them on the side of the trench ready for fitting.

The villagers use a type of wicker basket for daily tasks such as collecting crops from the fields; they wear it like a back pack. These wicker baskets have come in quite handy during the clean up. Villagers have used them to carry shards of wood, scrap steel, baby pigs and just about anything they can find in the rubble.

On Saturday they got inventive and all turned their baskets upside down. Then they would get loaded with a cinder block and trek across the village to the drainage ditch where they would lean to the side and dump the block into a pile. This went on hour after hour, even the older women, some in their 70′s, were involved. Some villagers were walking side by side talking and laughing, some would whistle.

It was amazing to see this all happening; the villagers of Yao Jin are so committed to getting their village back. They are all in the same boat, everyone lost their home, everyone is sleeping in temporary shelters and everyone wants their normal lives back as soon as possible. When OB came to Yao Jin we gave the villagers the head start they needed, a boost of motivation and the tools and services they needed to help themselves. Now they are doing just that, full steam ahead.

While the villagers stream steadily back and forth carrying cinder blocks, we have 5 trucks roaring in and out of the village carrying away debris. The plan is to save a certain amount of useful debris and get rid of the rest.

I am constantly astonished at how motivated the villagers are. One day we will make a decision to do some ‘back breaking’ task and the next they are doing it, en masse.

In anticipation of the “big push” of rubble, there is lots of last minute shuffling and scavenging going on. Pigs continue to be relocated, some dragged by the ear, some squealing in a basket strung between two men.

In all of this there is definitely a real sense of fun. It is as if the villagers are really enjoying the clean up. There is a lot of laughter as they work and I’m sure this disaster, however destructive, is bringing the community closer together.

This afternoon we met with the central coordination office for the humanitarian response. When we arrived, the office chief instantly recognized Operation Blessing since he had seen the TV broadcast of our ribbon cutting ceremony in Yao Jin. He told our team he was very impressed by what we have accomplished and asked if we would visit some badly hit villages that he would direct us to.

We visited Yang Yim where they have completed the latrine facility. As we continued to press on about the water issue the village leader asked us to inspect the spring and collection tank that has been producing more water during the last few days.

When we arrived at the tank the water level was higher than before, but still not what I would call a good reserve.

When we first came to the village a few weeks back we thought about piping water from this supply over to the camp, but were concerned about the amount of water in the tank, we didn’t want to drain it. But now that the water seems to be flowing better we are reconsidering.

On Monday, Mr Xu is going to work with the villagers to plan the potential route of the pipe from the spring to the village. The current estimate is we need 1,000 meters of pipe which should cost around $1000, a small price to pay to get water to a camp of 300 villagers.

Having water on site will greatly improve their hygiene and allow for them to be far more productive by saving hours of back braking water collection each day.

On Saturday, James Moo and I borrowed motorcycles from some villagers and followed the trucks to the dump site. It is the most beautiful dump in the world, framed by high bamboo covered mountains and a winding river. This is the final resting place for what is left of the villager’s homes. But there is one last scavenge before the debris is laid to rest. As the trucks pull up and dump their loads a group of people rush to grab anything of value, electrical wire, small bits of rebar etc. A group of women with hammers sit around smashing concrete off bits of metal, nothing goes to waste.

By this time next week Yao Jin should be completely clear!