President Peter Smith's Column

Last week, unfortunately, I was unable to be in attendance and to hear PDG David Croft talk about his and Margaret’s travels to South America and in particular their experiences in Wild Patagonia. By all accounts a great trip - and as always an informative and entertaining presentation by David.

This week/tonight we are pleased to welcome Amanda Woods – who is the District’s Rotaract Representative – as our guest speaker. Amanda is a member and Past President of Gunargarang Rotaract. Gunargarang - besides being hard to say and difficult to spell – is unique it that the club meets at alternate venues – Leonay and Blaxland. I am sure Amanda will inspire us with her well known enthusiasm.

Japan’s Earthquake, Tsunami & Nuclear disaster: I had intended making some comment about Emily Peck. Those at the Bathurst conference heard her tell of her experiences during those horrifying events. I think you’ll agree that Emily’s own words tell her story so much better:

My name is Emily Peck, I am 27 years old. I am from Bathurst, however for the last 7 months I have called a small town named Okuma my home. Okuma is a small coastal community located in Fukushima prefecture in Japan, Okuma is also home to the Fukushima Dai-ichi Power Plant. I was at Okuma Junior High School on Friday March 11^th when the Great Tohoku Earthquake struck, then the tsunami and of course the nuclear disaster.

When the earthquake struck it was a scene of confusion and terror amongst the teachers. When we realised the size of the earthquake we ran outside and ducked down and held on for our lives, the ground beneath me was cracking and I was watching parts of the outside of my school crumble. The structure itself held up well and the teachers were really amazing. We had many aftershocks in the 12 plus hours after the quake and we truly were terrified.

I spent the night with 5 teachers and a student who couldn't find his family after the tsunami; I have since found out that he was reunited with them a few days after I fled Japan. We slept on the floor of one of the teacher’s houses, huddling together to try and keep warm in the freezing conditions, no water, and no power. I was with non–English speakers for 48 hours, which in itself was terrifying, as I had no idea what was going on. The teachers kept reassuring me that it was fine and everything would be ok.

At 6am Friday morning we found out that we had to evacuate Okuma because the nuclear power plant had a serious problem with its cooling system and that they had been badly damaged when hit by the tsunami. This was a horrifying time. We had to wait outdoors for 4 hours for a bus to evacuate before we then made the decision to go in our cars and to flee to Koriyama city.

When we got to Koriyama city we found that my colleagues Grandmother had died the day before in the earthquake, he was in disbelief and this was a very upsetting time for me. I eventually managed to escape to Tokyo on the Sunday and fly home with the help of two British friends. It was not easy to get to Tokyo, fuel was an issue, the roads were cracked and crowded but I made it.

I am now faced with the guilt of leaving, concern about the welfare of my friends, colleagues and students who are still in Fukushima and the uncertain future of Okuma. I have friends who have lost their homes, parents and also a friend whose father is working at the nuclear plant desperately trying to fix the problem with the reactors. I also found out today that a lady I know is missing and her 15 year old daughter is confirmed dead.

I want to use my horrible experience to get the message out there to the people of Australia to please help if they possibly can. Care packages, blankets, money etc will all help the people of Japan. I intend on returning to my town as soon as it is safe to do so to help rebuild the lives of my dear friends.

Emily 19/3/2011

The Information Night next week (6/4/11) is a “must support” event that is the initiative of our Membership Development committee – and I am advised that it not too late to invite perspective members. There is no need for a formal written invite – just bring your guest along on the night – but please let Rod McDougall or Ray Wilson know no later than Tuesday 5^th for catering and administrative purposes.

President Pete