Caravan of Goodwill to visit quake-hit area in Japan in June

All hands are up as ASEAN Secretariat searched for volunteers for the ASEAN Caravan of Goodwill to visit survivors in Ishinomaki city, Miyagi Prefecture in Northeastern Japan, on June 3-5, a press statement said here on Wednesday.

The area was devastated by massive earthquake and tsunami in March, 2011.

What started as a simple idea to lift the spirit of and show comradeship with the survivors by the Secretary-General of ASEAN Surin Pitsuwan, and agreed by the Special ASEAN-Japan Ministerial Meeting on April 9 in Jakarta, received tremendous response.

"We've had to double the number of participants, from 30 to over 60, while asking others to show their support in other ways. After all, it's our Japanese friends in the center of this effort - - and the last thing we'd want is to overwhelm them -- though well intentioned," says Dr Surin.

The Caravan is a joint initiative by the civil society, business community, celebrities, the media and others such as Secretariat staff and survivors of natural disasters.

The Secretary-General will lead the Caravan that will include survivors of the 2004 tsunami in Aceh (Indonesia), ASEAN youth, selected ASEAN Secretariat staff that can, for example, speak Japanese, sing, dance, play instrument, entertain children, or sympathize with the hosts through similar experiences in the past, as well as artists from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

"The Japanese government is ensuring necessities for her citizens. We just want to show our friendship through our culture and experiences. Participants are willing and ready to do what is needed, may it be cooking ASEAN cuisines for them to taste a bit of our culinary tradition, cleaning, singing, dancing...or simply listening! They just want to be there in person, share personal experiences and spend quality time with the survivors and friends - - as fellow Asians, as fellow humans," Surin said.

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