Former students do remember my two Japanese cats, Momo and Chouchou… They are now living with me near Neuchâtel.
I brought them back from Fukushima begin of January. The journey was quite long: it started at 2:30am, going to Narita airport by car from Fukushima, health check at Narita airport, about 13 hours flight, health check at Zurich airport and about 2 hours car drive to Neuchâtel.
After about 3 weeks, they are now nicely settled…
An idea just popped into my mind.
What if knitters all around the world would unify and knit warm blankets (using 100 % wool yarn) for Tohoku people who lost everything and are now living in temporary housing…. and show how creative they can be ?
Here is an example of mixing colors, using wool left overs…
This is the blanket I used last March in Fukushima city, when we were without electricity for a few days after the earthquake.
Follow my knitting challenge on my other site…
These are pictures of temporary housing in Fukushima city, Fukushima Prefecture.
There are about 20 such buildings and one building probably houses 3 families…
They are located near the Aeon mall.
* * * * * * *
We are now begin of 2012. A new year and, for some, a strong desire to forget how awful 2011 was. But although Tohoku is no longer in the international news, people there still suffer. These past 9 months have been very hard on these communities.
It is now winter, with very low temperatures and snow. Most people who lost their home are now luckily living in temporary housing. And they are grateful to finally have some privacy. But, at the same time, these walls can’t be tick enough in an area that can really get very cold. For those not in Japan: in general, Japanese houses made of wood tend to be insufficiently insulated (from a Western and even a Japanese point of view).
I am in contact with J., a foreign lady in Iwate prefecture who was spared by the tsunami. Through family relations, she got to know about small communities that lost everything and are still struggling.
Thanks to her connections, she receives items from friends of friends and can give them to these communities.
Items people still need: warm clothes (coats, jackets, sweaters, etc.), shoes, blankets, towels, etc.
Used items are OK, but they should be useable…
Warm fabric, knitted items, wool/yarn and knitting needles also welcome.
J. cannot pay for postage (NO chakubarai, please).
Contact me if you can send J. some of these items.
As for me, I am sending J. items that won’t follow me to Switzerland, including clothes, fabric, wool yarn and a sewing machine… A total of about 15 boxes…
あけましておめでとうございます。
去年、ありがとうございました。今年も、よろしくお願いします。
アンヌローズ