The problems in the areas hit by 3.11.11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan are far from over.
The nuclear fall out continues at a dangerous level. Some people are living in the danger zone, after rejected by a relative in a safe zone. They returned to the zone to take care of surviving animals and desolate farm land. They know they are going to eventually die of cancer due to the prolonged and continued exposure to radiation. But they decided to live there, until they die.
Just today, I spoke with a man who was surprised to hear that the quake/tsunami sites in Japan were still in recovery a year later. In fact, the physical recovery of the towns and cities are estimated to take 5~10 years. But that's just at the 'visible' level of recovery. There are deeper, complex emotional issues, to which much more attention needs to be paid.
We have been doing a weekly QE for Japan for over a year now. My desire is to, someday, physically go to the sites and offer QE to adults and children who were affected by the last year's quake/tsunami.
Just today, I received this article. I'm posting a partial article here but I'm also listing the link to the full article. You want to go there to see the picture of this beautiful child in need. Look at his eyes. They touch your heart deeply.
Scroll down the article to see the picture of this beautiful child.
I'm also posting the link to a 1/2 hour documentary that's related to this article. You can see how important 'touch' is. As I mentioned earlier, not everybody can physically go to Japan to extend our touch. But thank goodness, we can all 'reach out and touch' all these people through QE. I appreciate those of you who continued to QE for Japan.
Planting the Seed: Nurturing Touch for Japanese Orphans
In March of 2011, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan, tearing open the earth and unleashing a 23 foot high wall of water that erased the ground below and destroying everything in its path. More than 15,000 people have been confirmed killed in the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan's northeast coast and damaged a nuclear plant, sending radiation into the surrounding environment. Many families are still homeless, and thousands are living in shelters.
Behind the smiling faces of thousands of children in shelters and orphanages, experts say there is often serious stress and anxiety as everything these children once held as normal, is suddenly not. The monsters that once scared them from under their beds have been replaced by the monstrous wrath of Mother Nature. We take for granted that the ground we walk on stays still, the water we swim in is calm and the air we breathe is safe. Children in Japan are concerned that the ground they play upon may shake, the water they swim in can morph into a wave of gargantuan size and the air they breathe might carry harmful radioactivity.
Many children in orphanages and shelters around the world may have food, clothing and basic care, but often they lack an essential ingredient for basic health and happiness — touch. Without it, children often feel discarded, forgotten and even untouchable, especially when their circumstances are complicated by the harmful effects of trauma. Children with trauma have significant emotional needs. Experience has shown that orphanages find it a challenge to meet the emotional and developmental needs of children, including personalized care and attention.
The long-term effects of not receiving safe, healthy and nurturing touch can have a huge impact on a child's stability for the future. Clinical research has shown that massaging a child can aid in their physiological and neurological development and function, help soothe common discomforts, promote restful sleep and increase healthy attachment and bonding. All of which are needed to encourage appropriate emotional, cognitive and physical development.
Volunteer pediatric massage therapist Wakako Kumagai's hometown of Yamagata, Japan, suffered in the earthquake. She lost many friends and members of her family. "Now it looks like everyone has gone back to everyday life," says Kumagai. "But, a friend of mine told me, that her child is still scared from a little shake of the elevator. Her baby cries and trembles at the sound of rain. I realized even several months after the earthquake, people still have trauma inside them. I want to do something to help these children."
My business name is A Touch of Life. I'm a therapist, a coach and a musician. I can touch people's lives in many ways.
But how do you touch the sound?
The first link below is a documentary about a deaf musician. A deaf musician? How could a deaf person make music? You will be absolutely amazed when you meet Evelyn Glennie, a master percussionist. After watching her make music, you'd wonder how a 'hearing' person could become as superb a musician as Evelyn is.
She doesn't just play music. She feels the Dynamics, and 'hears' the Pitch in different parts of her body. But it's her interpretation of music that she 'touches' that makes her performance so amazing. She is totally in the zone. She is totally aware of the inner stillness, out of which all things come forth.
Sound, the frequency, the specific arrangements thereof, is what the entire universe is made of, human lives included. Evelyn could teach us all how we can 'touch' the sound of life. Enjoy!
This request is from Gisela. I'm sorry I didn't see this request before our Skype session today.
My friend Renaud just came back from Africa where he successfully set up his project (he invented a machine making drinking water), but he became seriously ill in the plane back.
This is the link to the picture of this amazing invention.
