The Great East Japan Earthquake: Providing Safe Drinking Water and Lunches for Children in Fukushima Prefecture

Following the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, concerns have been expressed about the safety of children’s drinking water and food in areas where high levels of radiation have been detected.

In many of the day care centers in Fukushima Prefecture, children are drinking bottled mineral water due to the concern over radiation exposure. Local governments provide safe drinking water to some communities, but unfortunately, this is not on a regular basis and the supply is limited. There is not enough water for children to drink at lunch and at snack time; nor is there a sufficient amount of safe water to mix powdered milk with for babies. By providing mineral water and installing water servers, AAR Japan has donated 16,480 liters of drinking water to nine kindergartens and day care centers in Soma, Minami Soma and Date City.

April 22, 2013 at Tsukidate Day Care Center in Date City - The mineral water donated by AAR Japan is used for cooking lunches and making powered milk.

Haiti: Reconstructed Disaster-affected Facilities for Children

Over three years have passed since the massive earthquake jolted Haiti in January 2010. AAR Japan has now entered its fourth year of aid operations in Haiti while continuing to support the country’s recovery efforts. In Haiti, many children are still enduring poor living conditions due to slow progress in the reconstruction of disaster-affected buildings and infrastructure. During a period from August 2012 to January 2013, AAR Japan supported the reconstruction of three devastated facilities so that children could live and study in better environments.

January 13^th, 2012 – Most children did not have notebooks or pencils to write down what their teachers said or wrote on the blackboard.