My name is Tran Vu Dung. I came from Vietnam. I am going to study in Tokyo Metropolitan University as a research student from October. I went to Tokyo in the middle of April, one month after the big disaster.

　In the second week of March, I was waiting for the visa to go to Japan, feeling really enthusiastic as my dream to study abroad would come true in just one month time. However, as you all knew, in March 11th, the double disaster suddenly struck the country creating huge damage of human lives and properties. Moreover, nuclear crisis at Fukushima plant after the tsunami made the condition became worse. The world was shock and my family was no exception. In such a short time, the atmosphere in my family has completely changed, the pride and excitement was then replaced by the worry and scare. My parents advised me to delay the arrival. For me, days after the disaster, I used almost day in front of my computer to update information about the situation and to keep in touch with my professor, my friends who was living in Japan at this moment. In addition, it was a disastrous time that made me truly realizes the Samurai spirit of the Japanese. People, surprisingly, still remained calm. The whole country initiated the rebuild program immediately after the catastrophe with no sign of panic although the fear, the pain and the loss still dominated them deep down inside their heart. It seemed clear to me that Japanese have chosen the way to move on and healed the pain rather than staying behind and letting the pain defeat them. As a result, with extraordinary efforts, Japanese people overcome the first terrible time and, as I was told by my friends, after 3 weeks, the life in Tokyo mostly returned to normal. At that very moment, my decision was made; Japan would be the place where I should be.

　Like most of the young generation in Viet Nam, I first knew about Japan through many popular "mangas." The stories of Doraemon, Dragon BallZ and Captain Tsubasa once rooted deep inside our heart. Through all those comic books, we imagined a beautiful image of the country and also the friendly people living there. After watching the devastating sight on TV about the north eastern part of the country, I really wanted to revitalize the picture that I always keep in my mind when thinking about the country. I wanted to contribute my effort to help rebuild the country that has become an important part of my childhood and is now providing me a chance to have a higher education. I wanted to help ease the pain and the loss of the people in those affected areas. But I do not know what I can do and how to do that? Fortunately, through the introduction of a friend, I knew about the Volunteer program of Nippon Foundation. Therefore, with no hesitation, I joined the program and started my work in the first week of the summer holiday.

　The program gave me a lot of lessons about the value of life, labor and human love. There were 70 participant including 60 Japanese and 10 international students. We went to Ishinomaki and Tashirojima island of Miyagi prefecture, where we began the work of debris removal and sanitization. The cleaning up work was a new experience to us all. Wearing thick anti radio-active clothes, working under the burning sun can't prevent us from engrossing in the work because we knew there would be a lot to do. All the coastal line of Tashirojima, where survived 60 people, was destroyed. Among the 60 residents of the island, most of them were old. However, old age was not an obstacle for those people. Together with us, over 100 people have cleaned up a corner of the beach in 2 days. Although this was a huge effort from all of us there was still a lot of work, needed to be done. Therefore, through this report, I hope that there will be more and more volunteers coming to this area to help clean up the beautiful Island.

　The next five days, we moved on to Ishinomaki city, which also suffered huge damages from the tsunami last March. Besides the cleaning up effort as we did in Tashirojima Island, we also took part in a very meaningful activity, the Lantern (Toro) festival. Blended in with the local people, we sent our hope for a better future in Japan through the glowing lanterns. Thousands of lanterns floated on the water, drifted along the river, carried with them the commemoration for those who lay down and the strength for those who survived the disaster to overcome the loss and to rebuild the country.

　After the 7 day volunteer program, what impressed me most was a fresh new look about Japan and its people. Before the event, we were all appreciated Japan and the Japanese as our country – Viet Nam and many developing countries such as Chile, Brazil, and Ecuador have received a lot of help from Japan in term of economic development as well as technology. Through the program, we recognized the indomitable spirit from every single Japanese person. From a young university student to a 70 year old grandfather, all were working diligently hoping for a better future. This hope, I believe, will never be faded away in them. It will become the strength for them to keep the smile in their face, the friendly attitude in the way they talk to people and the discipline under any circumstances. The disaster can take away from them many valuable things but as long as they keep a faith, I believe, a brighter day will definitely come.

　The trip ended in a tearful morning. Many goodbyes were exchanged between the local resident and the volunteer, between the volunteer and the organizers and between the international students and Japanese students. However, we all agreed that it was not the last goodbye. We will come back again and hopefully by that time those affected places will completely change and quickly return to its golden time in the past.