Another day here in this devastated village.
Our main goal from the medical perspective is to gain the trust of the Japanese people and physicians.
Israel is the only foreign team on the ground. Generally both at the people level and the municipality, there is restraint from foreigners. Still we are gaining popularity here, which is a bit surprising. We are seeing more and more patients, and it seems we are turning out to be the local referral center. Physicians from all around are coming with their patients for consults with our specialists, for blood tests and x-rays. Pregnant women are coming for ultrasound as well, as this is a service they don’t have.
As always, the personal stories are the interesting ones. Learning how the patients heard about us … hearing about the elderly lady who walked a long distance to reach us … Gasoline is still a major issue.
We are getting excellent coverage from the media here, so the feeling is that we are on a humanitarian mission while also providing good PR for Israel.
We do have daily earthquakes, but like everything in life, you almost get used to them. We assembled the hospital close to the shore on one hand but in an elevated area. In this, way if G-d forbid another tsunami will occur, it will not reach us. It is amazing There are houses which are 100 meters above the sea level which were not damaged by the quake, but everything below was destroyed.
On a personal level this is another amazing experience. Although a very different mission than last year in Haiti, it is a challenge to run this clinic efficiently and to be able to merge with such a different culture. I am very satisfied so far with our achievements.
We can all learn a lot from the Japanese about preparedness for these mass casualty events, and this is another personal gain.
Warm regards to all
Ofer
