TWO BOLD STATEMENTS
A personal reflection by Lowell Sheppard on efforts by survivors to return to Self Reliance and Sustainability in the stricken areas of Tohoku.
The former bureaucrat looked me in the eye confidently. “Most regions and communities have regained self sustainability,” he said.
It was bold to make a declaration that is dead wrong.
It is true that there is a lot of money is being thrown around in the stricken areas. Survivors have received cash payouts of between 500,000 – 3,000,000 yen per household. In some regions, there is full employment as the government pays to clear debris. We have been told that the government has even extended its policy of paying 60 per cent of salaries that were being earned prior to March 11th for another four months.
But this kind of economic activity is anything but sustainable!
Many communities are still grossly under-resourced and having to find the means to fund the shortfall from insurance and government funds. While these one-off funds are welcome, they are short-term solutions and prevent individuals from becoming sustainably employed again.
Many of the remote communities are struggling to regain not only their livelihoods but also their quality of life. Most derive their livelihood and self-perception from the sea and they cannot imagine doing anything else.
One community where we work, and where I took the bureaucrat to visit, had forty fishing boats that were swept away by the Tsunami. They now have one boat, which we helped them purchase, and they are now planting next year’s wakame (seaweed) crop. When the Tsunami struck, they were about to harvest 1,200 tons of wakame, their entire annual crop, but the disaster destroyed their produce and equipment. Prior to 3/11 the community was comprised of individual seamen who competed with each other. In an effort to recover their livelihood they have banded together and formed The Aqua Farming Association. With the one boat, they hope to harvest 400 tons next March. The bureaucrat told me after the visit, that he had learned a lot and had changed his mind. He sees how much this community has lost and how hard they have to work to truly become self-sustaining.
The flow of government money is also causing social problems. Recently, I spent an evening with several small business owners who reported difficulties hiring staff because people are not in need of money. Many workers are happy to receive their 60 per cent salaries and earning good money clearing debris.
They told me that day-time drinking is on the rise, and pachinko parlors are doing a roaring trade. I have been hearing this same report for months.
This current “cash rich” environment is anything but sustainable, as eventually the debris will be cleared and the government funds will cease.
The business owners also reported that communities are growing tired of volunteers coming in doing jobs that are not really needed and taking employment away from locals. People, they say, have also tired of the festivals organized by outside groups trying to do good. Locals would rather return to organizing their own traditional festivals without the help of outsiders. Volunteers have been needed no doubt, but there is an increasing chorus of pleas that we work hard to transition from volunteerism to tourism.
The disaster that tragically struck Tohoku on March 11th, and the ensuing efforts to aid and assist has reminded me of the importance of bottom-up development, where local people are listened to and resourced rather than told what to do by outsiders waving wads of cash.
A few days after my conversation with the former bureaucrat, I met with a friend who is an influential businessman in Tokyo. At the end of our conversation about the recovery efforts in Tohoku the businessman made a bold statement of his own:
“Dumb money always chases away smart money and government money is the dumbest money there is.”
He has a point.
Smart money breeds self-reliance and not dependence. Smart money strengthens society; it doesn’t tear away at its fabric. Smart money builds for a better future and does not simply delay the day of reckoning. Smart money creates long-term employment, and helps ignites new businesses. Smart money creates a sense of dignity and hope.
The day will come when the flow of dumb money in Tohoku will stop. Let’s hope there is still some smart money around to help survivors not only rebuild, but rebirth their communities.
In the meantime, we must continue to be thoughtful and compassionate in reaching out to our friends and partners in Tohoku, seeking to use our limited resources wisely and strategically, enabling people to return to self reliance.
Lowell Sheppard
November, 2011
NOTES: The information in the article above is based on the information gleaned through regular and frequent contact with friends and partners in the stricken areas. However, sometimes information can be incomplete or even conflicting. Please find below additional information and links to source documents.
- Payments to householders:
According to an Asahi Shinbun article in April, everyone who lost their homes were going to receive a lump sum of 100万 from the government. It also says that in May the government was going to assess the damage to each area/home and then distribute money accordingly, approximately 50万-300万 yen.
Even though this is an old article and the amount of money there passing out might have changed, the 100万 was passed out according to our business contacts in Ishinomaki.
According to Sendai City, the range of grants to householders would range from Another article in the Sendai 75万 — 300万 Yen http://www.city.sendai.jp/hisaishien/1-3-1saiken.html
- Debris Clearance
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries provides finances to of Japan finances associations of five or more fishermen. There is money for daily wages and rental of boats. Wages are 12,100 yen day or 5050 per half day.
There is a three step process
- Form a group
- The group prepares a plan and presents to the local fishery association
- Local fishery association submits plan to prefectural authorities
- % of Salaries. It is not easy to wade through the conflicting information on `welfare` payments made to those who can no longer work. On the ground we are being told by some leaders that it is 60% of a salary and the term of 6 months has been extended to ten months.
- Red Cross Money: According to our sources, The japan red cross has been giving out lump sums of money. 35万 to houses which were completely lost, family members who lost a relative in the tsunami, and people directly affected by the nuclear radiation. 18万 to those who were assessed to have 'half' damage to their homes.
- Social Fabric: Daytime Drinking and Gambling are not the only tears being made in the social fabric. Communities are splintered that they are in their temporary housing units, literally with neighborhoods being separated and sent to housing units that are far from each other. Such that many of the daily amenities of life may have been provided but the social support systems have been unraveled.
- Volunteers: This is a sensitive and complex issue. Without a doubt the Tohoku has needed and benefitted from volunteers. It has been encouraging to see many people with good hearts wanting to help. But not all volunteerism has been SMART VOLUNTEERISM. Some organizations are simply geared to mobilize and manage volunteers, but there are many reports where the locals have not only grown tired of the sheer numbers of volunteers coming and doing tasks that they could themselves could perform, but also survivors have felt patronized by what are good intentions, but result in reinforcing the view a negative self view of the survivors. Also, there is not doubt that the workers who have come have also done valuable work that locals can do in due course and for wages
