誰かが言わなきゃならない

1. Living space improved in the Big Palette

The Annex Building has significantly changed its inside for better living
environment of refugees: Three rows of partitions separated by a corridor in
between. The new partitions are built by paper-made pillars and cloth walls. All
external eyesight is blocked. The open roof keeps the inside bright by the ceiling lights.
The paper-partitioned structure is very Japanese. A volunteer paper architect designed it and volunteer students built the “houses.” The floor inside is covered by mattresses. A family nameplate is put on each partition wall and shows who lives inside. It looks as though we walk through a corridor of a primary school.
Each family’s privacy is much better secured than before. Cloth walls have sound shielding effects, too. If a power source is available, it will be fairly
comfortable as a living space. The space will be acceptable, as a kind of studio flat for a four-member family. Clothing can be hung from the beam frames.
Families in the wall side partitions are even more fortunate. They can lean or
hang their clothing on the wall. The environment is much better than the previous ones, more appropriate for a prolonged evacuation life. After some families moved to this annex, the space in the main building can be shared by less people. The number of “residents” on the pathways decreased and the pathways could be a bit broadened.

2. Rent houses not popular

About 700 applications were received for rent houses as of April 22. But only about 100 families could have found a good one and moved out, according to a person in charge at the town headquarters. A priority goes to a family with an aged member or a member under nursing care.
The budget is secured for 1,500 families, but … Properties available in the market are limited: March/April is a high season for people’s migration, especially those in the private industry; good number of properties in Koriyama was also damaged by the earthquakes and needs repair work before rent.
Primary and junior high schools started their new semesters in April. It is not practical to change the school for the children just after they started new lives. To avoid the change, their families have to find a rent house near the Big Palette. Houses for those families should have been reserved in March by all means.
They have to stay here for the months to come for their children, unless appropriate rent houses can be found for them near the Big Palette. Families with a pet have an extreme difficulty. Appropriate properties for them are quite limited in Koriyama.

3. First meal from a convenience shop

A box meal was delivered for the first time after one month. At the moment, the meal is only for the evening, but the balance in nutrition is a bit improved. It took more than one month since we filed our complaints about imbalance of nutrition. The meal is still cold with no microwave oven at hand, but the people must have wondered how we could have survived one month with
simple omusubi meals.
Evacuation camps for a good number of people for an extended duration like the Big Palette should be well equipped with adequate catering and dining facilities staffed for cooking balanced hot meals as at schools or on cruisers. But it may be impractical due to limited space.