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Relief Work in Wakayama- October 8
Our whole family went down to Wakayama with Be-One to help clean up after a huge typhoon went through the area in late-September. We helped to clean out an old elementary school that was under seven feet of water when the river flooded. The room that we cleaned out used to be the science lab for the school, so there were all sorts of interesting items waiting to be discovered in the pile of debris! A friend from church, Altus Greeff, joined us and a team of 12 for a day of work, fellowship and fun.
This is our team before leaving from the Be One house in Higashi Osaka. The drive to central Wakayama (via Tanabe City) took over 3 hours.
This is the school where we helped clean. At one point, this whole area was under 7 feet of water!
It is hard to see from the picture, but that whole back room is piled high with debris, cabinets and school furniture. Also, if you look at the white wall above our heads, you can see the line indicating how high the water was. Amazing huh?
Anika, Altus and Luke with some of the damaged items we found buried in the pile of debris.
We also found a real (stuffed) alligator. Or is it a crocodile? Either way, it was way cool. The owner said we could have it, but Chris said no (ha, ha!)
Hauling stuff to the trash pile on the other side of the school yard.
The water brought lots of mud and dirt into the school. It was hard to get rid of it all.
These are some of the big items we carried out of the room. The dump site for smaller trash can be seen in the background.
Somehow, Luke and Josiah were able to get Altus to push them around on this cart! They did this for probably an hour or so.
Here is what the room looked like after about 3 hours of work. Pretty nice huh?
A group photo at the end of the day. We had workers from 4 different prefectures.
After we finished, we went to an onsen (hot spring) to take a bath and get clean before the long drive home. It is always nice to soak in the hot water, especially after a long day of work.
Everyone is nice and clean!
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