Public service announcement

Well, I said it would be a few days and look! A miracle! Good, eh?

However, before you go on to the entry I just have something to talk about with everyone. A colleague of mine spoke to a guy from Shelterbox this morning, which is a charity which sends boxes out to disaster zones with tents and shelter, food, equipment etc. I don't want to bang on about donating when I'm sure everyone has been bombarded with places to donate for the past two weeks (I know I have) so I'm not telling you to give money, just to have a look at what they do. Here's a video for starters of their work in Japan at the moment:

This charity is working directly with Japanese local authorities in the hit areas, and according to the guy who was speaking to us on the phone it is so much worse than it looks on TV. And the problem is that now Japan has fallen off the headlines, it doesn't even make the evening news anymore that these evacuees are living in terrible conditions in school gyms and other public buildings designated as evacuation centres.

My Japanese colleagues have said they feel embarrassed that they are getting donations from countries like Pakistan that have their own flooding disaster to deal with. And the guy from Shelterbox said that at first the local authorities in Japan were reluctant to accept the boxes because 'we don't sleep in tents'. But the evacuation centres are full to the brim, there's little heating etc. the Shelterbox equipment would really make a difference to the lives of people on the ground there. If only by letting them have privacy in the form of their own tent. It's the little things that count.

So please take a look at the Shelterbox website here even if it's just out of curiousity. I'm not going to tell you to donate, but I personally think it's a good, practical way to help. I mean, look at all the stuff that goes into that thing! And you know exactly what your money buys: that box. That box is going to help someone, somewhere. And wouldn't that be great? If you enjoy today's translation then please take a minute to check it out.

OK! Lecture over! Today's translation will be up soon (^^)V

...or rather, it will be up today but not right now because I just deleted the draft entry it was in and I don't have the hard copy on my work PC. Curse you lunch time blogging! See you guys later!

EDIT: Local governments in Japan request ShelterBox.

EDIT 2: An article by the Japan Times blog on creative shelters for evacuees, including ShelterBox.