Volunteer Voices

The culture of Showa-mura in Fukushima was traditional and small. Due to the depopulation of both the youth and middle-age adults, I was able to understand the underlying struggles of the elderly and how their farms are part of their lives. Within that, their farming culture represents a lifestyle of sustenance and a return or preservation of nature\'s simplicity. We worked from 6am to 12 noon everyday, and I wouldn\'t change it for any other time as the temperatures would reach a new kind of heat during midday. The work was real, helpful, and exciting; however, it was tiring as well. Our jobs included cutting grass with weed-eating machines, cleaning out by cutting edges and inclines between rice fields, harvesting small native plants, taking care of small farms and native plants, cooking three times per day, and watching out for each other while out in the fields.

All in all, it was beautiful. I would gladly do it again, but I need time to learn more Japanese as I was staggering with the demand of the language. That was, however, part of the beauty of immersion and how it readies acquisition of language concepts and natural grammar.\"

M. Wasson~ Japan 2011