What you can do to help in Japan

As Julian of Norwich said, "Put your hands to work and your hearts to God." Praying for those affected by the disaster in Japan is good, but the works of the hands are needed as well.

At first, it would seem that donating money is the first and foremost thing to do and while this helps, there are certain things you must consider.

1)    Can you really afford to give? Whether because of personal financial situations or, due to a high need locally for monetary donations consider if this is appropriate for you to do. If it is not, you can help other ways. If you can give, please give only to the Red Cross or the International Relief Committee. Both of these agencies are experienced in providing targeted international aid, both are NGO members in good standing with the UN, and both carry one of the highest ratings of dollars donated to dollars delivers; 90 cents or more of every dollar donated to these agencies goes to providing aid.

Be cautious about donating food or stuffs to newly formed organizations or to drives that have been organized independently of those organizations. Providing aid in times is something very difficult to organize and effectively do well. Also, there are too many people willing to use a disaster to create a scam or, to advance personal agendas. Stick with the established aid groups.

2)    Offer compassion to those around you in the Japanese community who may be suffering. Almost all of our cities and towns have Japanese communities whether they are as noticeable as a "Little Tokyo" or simply the presence of foreign students. Go out of your way to say, "I am sorry for your loss." Even if they have not lost a friend or family member, they have suffered a kind of loss because of the nature of the disaster in hurting their nation.

A side note: take a moment to familiarize yourself with the modern Japanese culture before engaging a stranger. While many people who choose to live, for whatever reason, in another country, they will assume some of that culture; but in times of disaster in their homeland there is often a resurgence of identity with customs and beliefs from their home nation.

While many people offer prayers or to hold someone in the light, take a moment to find out more about spirituality and religion in Japan so you don't create an awkward moment. Your faith should be there to provide strength for you to then help that person find their strength within the context of their own beliefs.

Over 84% of modern Japanese claim no personal religion. 64% do not believe in God and 55% don't believe in Buddha. Religion and spirituality is not considered to be a large part of Japanese life.

The two major religions (which are typically a part of one's family heritage) are Shinto and Vajrayana Buddhism. Become familiar enough with them so that the person you are talking to doesn't have to stop their process of grieving and make the moment about you as they teach you.

When responding to a crisis it is never the time to either push your beliefs on someone or bring up political or social matters. We respond in crisis out of compassion and the shared bond of humanity. Remember that culturally, the Japanese are very different emotionally from Westerners. Westerners will look more for a physical reaction in the muscles of the face for emotional cues (the masque of emotions) and the Japanese will look for emotional cues in the eyes.

3)    If you know of someone in the armed forces who is in that area prepare to be extra emotionally supportive of them as they may be called in to help with the disaster recovery.

4)    Lastly, the extensive media coverage of the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan will trigger emotions in people who have survived or lost loved ones in the Chile, Indonesia, Haitian and US disasters (among) others in recent years. If you know someone lived through Hurricane Katrina, be willing to listen, even if they have told the story a thousand times before - part of grieving is going through the emotions again when they are trigger by a similar event.

And be prepared, many of the victims of these past disasters, like Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake and Haiti carry a great deal of anger inside of them for the way aid response was coordinated for those events. Let them be angry, it is very valid and very real, and most often - they just need someone willing to listen to them say it all to begin the slow process of healing that anger.

Also be aware that if you, or someone you know, has gone through a significant loss within the past year (job, home, family, loved one, pet, relationship, hope and so on) that the media attention on the disaster and loss may well trigger a resurgence in grief for these people. Be kind. Be there. Listen. Check in and ask how they are doing and if they ask you why, simply say, "What happened in Japan reminded me of how loss can happen so powerfully and I wanted to check and see if there was anything I could do for you."

Giving money is not the only thing you can do or necessarily the most important. Give yourself permission to wait, breathe and access what is needed in the moment and what you can best do.


c.2011 Cassandra Tribe. All Rights Reserved.