According to a VNA correspondent in Japan, many volunteer activities are taking place in areas affected by the earthquake earlier this year in Ishikawa province, as people in this Northeast Asian country are enjoying Golden Week, the longest holiday of the year.
After a 7.6-magnitude earthquake shook the Noto Peninsula, many roads were severely damaged and people in other areas were asked to refrain from participating in disaster relief activities to avoid traffic jams.
Now, after many efforts to overcome the disaster, access to the areas devastated by natural disasters has gradually become more convenient. Some volunteers have started to enter the damaged areas by personal vehicles and local authorities are busy preparing for a "wave" of volunteers just in time for the holidays.
According to a volunteer center in Ishikawa's Anamizu town, an average of more than 90 people signed up to volunteer every day from the start of Golden Week in late April to May 8, up 1.6 times from a week earlier.
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Tetsuya Furuta, from Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, came here in late April to help transport belongings from homes affected by the disaster. He said that in March, all volunteers had to gather in Kanazawa (the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture) and then travel by bus to the disaster-affected areas. However, now people can meet up right at the relief area.
According to the Ishikawa prefectural government, as of April 16, a total of 66,000 volunteers had participated in earthquake recovery efforts.
In late April, the Ishikawa branch of the Japan Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) sent volunteers to Iida Ward in Ishikawa's Suzu City as soon as water supplies were restored.
Volunteers went from household to household asking people if they needed anything as locals tend to refrain from offering help even when they really need assistance.
According to an official from the city's Social Welfare Council, the need for volunteers will increase even more once the construction of temporary housing for residents is completed.
According to VNA/Tin Tuc Newspaper
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