Every morning on the remote Oshika Peninsula in Tohoku, the sounds of the children from Ohara Elementary School can be heard as they get off the school bus outside the community centre. The principal stands by the bus door, greeting every single child as they step off the bus and run up the little hill to the school entrance. Half of these students come from the nearby town of Yagawa, which was completely wiped out by the tsunami.
Many of the children on Oshika have left the peninsula and moved into the city. The ones that remain now live in tiny temporary housing units, crammed in and with neighbours right next door. The children have little opportunity to express their natural propensity to run about or be noisy.
An exciting trip is being planned for Oshika children and their parents to travel to the big city of Tokyo, where host families will greet them and welcome them into their homes for two nights before the Tohoku families travel back to Oshika. The plan is for everyone to spend the day together at Disneyland—letting the children run riot and giving the parents lots to smile about—creating happy memories with some very special new friends.
If you are interested in hosting a family, please see http://www.carolinepover.info/2012/07/disneyland for more information. This is a wonderful opportunity to provide a very special experience for a family that has been through so much, as well as for your own family to have a unique experience.
