I got a chance to interview Jesse Mendoza of Jordan International Aid who is in Japan right now doing relief work. You can listen to the live interview, below. Numbers and reports from the area are changing all the time. Jesse gave me some idea of what it is like there right now in the affected areas. These photos are from his trip there, now, where they brought supplies, food and infant formula.
First Hot meal in the shelter since the earthquake
For those who can't listen in, here are some bullet points. It goes without saying, there are a lot of challenges.
NGOs are being asked to not come because of the lack of accessibility.
Because of the nuclear exposure, relief groups that had come have left again.
A single meal of a bowl of rice and some soup is what people are getting per day.
It is very cold and snowing.
There is no electricity.
Some water has too much radiation to be given to infants.
There is still a great deal of widespread fear and distress. Listen here:
Doc Gurley is a Harvard Medical School graduate and is a practicing board-certified internist, and the creator of the Memoriam app - the first, and only, app to allow disaster-relief workers to speak for the dead. You can follow Doc Gurley on Facebook. Get more health posts at www.docgurley.com, or jump on the Twitter bandwagon and follow Doc Gurley. Also check out Doc Gurley's joyhabit and iwellth twitter feeds - so you can get topic-specific, effective, affordable tips on how to nurture your joy and grow your personal wellth.