On the last day of the program Thursday, May 30th, we first visited the Nisseki Ishinomaki Hospital after traveling from Sendai to Ishinomaki. When we got to the hospital we first received a lecture on the Tohoku Earthquake and the hospital’s response to the disaster. They walked through every decision that was made with timestamps. It was incredible to see how prepared the hospital was for the disaster and how fast they were able to begin treating patients after the emergency triage. There was also a resident surgeon who went over a number of common health issues that they saw during and after the disaster. Once we finished the lecture section they had a number of exhibits set up to show how they stocked the emergency shelters. For example, they had a sleeping tent with cardboard beds which could hold a whole family. There were also bathroom tents on display with special toilets that bagged the excrements for easy disposal without running water. After we finished rotating through the exhibits we boarded the bus and stopped for lunch at a mall nearby. Once we ate we started our drive towards the site of the Okawa Elementary School. When we arrived the first thing that we saw was the shell of the former building. Concrete walls had been knocked down and reduced to rubble and there was twisted rebar hanging all over. When the wave came it destroyed almost everything in its path. It struck the building with incredible force, there was nothing left unscathed. As we continued our tour our guide continued to share the story of the disaster and the actions that the children were taking to try and save themselves before being called back by their teachers. We were shown the spot where the tsunami caught up with the evacuating students and teachers and our guide told us about how after the tsunami parents went to the school and had to pull their kids’ bodies out of the ground. He then showed us a path that was used by the school to get to an outdoor learning area up on the mountain that a handful of students attempted to use. It was here that he showed us how high the water rose and how far students would’ve needed to go to reach safety. The distance to safety was much closer to the school than the route that the students and teachers finally took and if they had decided to go up chances are every one of them would’ve survived. It was a horrifying disaster and the whole situation left a sick feeling in our stomachs. For the entire drive to the train station I don’t think any of us said a word. This was truly something that I will never forget.
