*Guest blog by Kathy Mueller (of London, Ontario), International Federation of Red Cross Communications Delegate in Japan. Kathy just arrived in Japan and will be providing updates for us.
It is my first full day in Japan. I arrived from Pakistan late yesterday afternoon where I am working on flood relief operations for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Had a bit of trouble falling asleep last night. Thoughts of aftershocks kept surfacing; questioning how I would react should an aftershock rouse me from my sleep on the seventh floor of my Tokyo hotel.
Aftershocks is one of the main topics of conversations among my colleagues at the Japanese Red Cross headquarters. The building is a hub of activity as local staff, dressed in their grey and red emergency gear, coordinate everything from the logistics of engaging in such a large scale relief operation, to determining where to next deploy their medical teams.
The fear of radiation contamination from the Fukushima nuclear plant is also a popular topic of discussion. Today I head into the field; towards Fukushima to meet with one of the Red Cross disaster management teams working in the area. My supervisor reminds me that if I am at all concerned, I don’t have to go.
I wonder what I will see during the long six hour drive. I wonder how reality will compare to the images I have seen dancing across television screens. I wonder how it will affect me. But most of all, I wonder about those who survived the massive earthquake and tsunami, and their ability to show so much grace and dignity during such a difficult time.