Being here so long and tired, but grateful we are all alive

(by Ms. Keiko Niinuma, an evacuee at Senjuin, Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture)

I have three children. We continue to scrape by in the evacuation center. We’ve been here so long, and we’re all so tired. I try to keep the children out of trouble, which is another source of stress. But all in all, we’re grateful to be alive; finding anything at all to smile about. Every day is a challenge. If you ask me want I need, I can think of a thousand things, but I just can’t put them into words.



Ms. Keiko Niimuma

from NHK website "Those Affected by the Disaster: What I want to tell you now" on April 1, 2011

http://www.nhk.or.jp/dengon/photo/index40.html

Translated by Craig Dandridge