[Original by Hiroshi TANIYAMA, JVC’s President (March 12, 2016); Translated by Y. Nakamura] Five years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Decontamination and other arrangements towards reconstruction have been making progress in Minami-soma, where we have been providing assistance since April, five years ago. Last month, the City of Fukushima announced its policy that they would lift the ban on living in the area of Odaka, located within the range of 20km from the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. At first, the reconstruction looks to be progressing satisfactorily. However, the division among the people of Fukushima, which was…
A lot of problems in “Kaketsuke-Keigo” by the Self-Defense Forces in South Sudan
[Original by Hiroshi TANIYAMA, JVC’s President (February 5, 2016); Translated by Y. Nakamura] President Taniyama joined JVC in 1986 and has conducted activities in many local sites overseas. About the current issues around the world that should not be ignored, he is speaking specifically from a viewpoint of a NGO for international cooperation, which is familiar with the reality overseas. (Hiroshi Taniyama, JVC’s president, had been assigned to reside in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Afghanistan for twelve years in total. Besides being the president of JVC, he is also the chairman of JANIC, one of the most influential NGO for international cooperation with the type of networking in Japan, and…
Mr. Shah Muhammad (Driver)
[Original by Kenichi TAKEMURA, 2015 Afghanistan Project Intern (December 2, 2015); Translated by K. Takemura] Many things happened in my childhood… I was born in Kama District Zarshoyee village of Nangrahar province. My father was working with the government, but he passed away when I was three years old. After his death, my elder brother supported our family. When I was in the third grade of school, I heard the rumors that Russia attacks on Afghanistan. People started immigration to Pakistan. Jihad (holy war) started against Russian and those people who worked with the government. Mujahedeen* gave warning to my brother, who also worked with the government, to leave his…