His Sister Lost to the Tsunami, Boy Clings to His Mother, Longing for a Place to Call Home

Ian Woolverton, Save the Children Media Manager

Ishinomaki, Japan

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Seina, 9, shelters with his mother, Yuriko, in the sports hall of a junior high school not far from Ishinomaki, where up to 15,000 people died. Sadly, his older sister is among the dead, washed away by the tsunami.   

Seina has been living at this evacuation center for nine days, and really wants to go home. “I sleep here on a mattress inside this hall. My older sister has been lost to the tsunami. Now it’s just me and mom left,” Seina says, wiping tears from his eyes. 

Seina and his mother Yuriko at the evacuation center where they have been living since the tsunami
Photo Credit: Ian Woolverton - Save the Children

“I really want to go home. In here, I play cards and read books with other children, but I would really like to play computer games.” But Seina cannot go home, or play his computer games. His home, and everything in it, was destroyed by the tsunami.

“The one thing I’m really worried about,” Seina says, “is what’s going to happen to us, and can we get enough money together to have a new house and have a life. The biggest thing that we want, and the biggest thing that we need, is to have a house and to live safe.” 

Apart from wanting a place to call home, Seina would like to have a bath. “We have water, but we cannot have a bath. I really would like a bath.” 

With nowhere else to go, Seina and his mother Yuriko will have to spend weeks in the evacuation center. Despite the dreadful events in his life, Seina is grateful for one thing. “I feel very safe being with my mom. I am really glad that she is here with me.”

_______________________

Learn more about our recovery response to the earthquake in Japan.

Help Us Respond to the Japan Earthquake Recovery. Please Donate Now.

Comments

[bgigpzcccx]

http://lvbags1207f2.blogspot.com/2013/05/home-improvement-goods-to-adore-your.html
http://motaeera5.blog.com/2013/04/08/birthday-social-gathering-fun/
http://juttamsc.blog.com/2013/04/08/botkier-taylor-crossbody-replica-louis-vuitton/
http://www.chbagsoutlet.us http://www.dbagsoutlet.us http://juttamsc3.blog.com/2013/04/08/blue-dior-cherie-big-bag-cheap-louis-vuitton-handbags/
http://lvbags1207e4.blogspot.com/2013/05/history-of-jamaican-coffee-background.html
http://lyleskra3.blog.com/2013/04/08/est-nappy-bags-what-may-make-a-very-good-diaper-bagbest/
00507bvpaqpyiyl

[http://www.amerisleep.com]

If your parents have the means, you will go to a private school in Petionville, a hilltop neighborhood of Port-au-Prince where some of the best restaurants are found. Someone will drive you to school. Your uniform will be washed with laundry detergent regularly and, each day before school, it will be ironed.

[Darshana Natarajan]

I really doubt I would be able to keep up with maintaining a
website like it! Fantastic work, I absolutely would
like to see you keep up with it for a long time.

[solar power]

You are so wonderful!!! I have become obsessed with your blog and I spend most of my days reading all your posts.

And I signed up JUST to post comments. I wish I'd found you sooner, and I wish you updated as much as you used to! You must be super busy now though because you're so famous!
!

[android tablet]

It seems like you've gathered yourself quite the respectable following now! I'm pleased!

[Trudie Ferraro]

Great article you've written, is this your first website blog or have you been doing this a while?

[from japan]

so sad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrncY9oEEiY