9-year-old girl, drawing a portrait of her missing mom

3 weeks passed.
Sakura (cherry blossoms) started to bloom belatedly across country, and the new fiscal year started in Japan as of today April 1, 2011.
Normally, April is the time for a fresh start for everything in Japan.  New semester, new textbooks, new friends, and new and young employees.  The whole nation is filled with festive mood in April.

However for this year, we have no time to be sentimental, enjoying transitional beauty of cherry blossoms.

For many of the victims in the tsunami stricken area, the whole situation they are in must be a terrible nightmare. 

Natsuki, 9 years old, drew a picture of her mother who is still missing.  She's taking refugee in Natori, Miyagi, with her 67-year-old grandmother.  Natsuki is reluctant to talk about her mother now, and hasn't shown any anger or saddness openly, which worries her grandmother greatly.    She must be fighting with harsh reality alone behind her weak smile.

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/news/110325/dst11032512490031-n2.htm

3 weeks passed.   More than 16,000 persons still missing.

・Here are the latest tweets from the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

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