Japan

MSF will assist the construction of two temporary clinics in the tsunami-afflicted Miyagi and Iwate prefectures. 

Two months after the massive earthquake and tsunami hit northeast Japan, MSF psychologists are continuing to work with survivors.

A team of six MSF psychologists have started working with the survivors of the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit northeast Japan on March 11.

While treating patients with chronic conditions in remote parts of the disaster zone, MSF is also supporting psychologists carrying out mental health consultations.

MSF is providing medical consultations in evacuation centers in Minami Sanriku, where some 10,000 people are housed in 20 locations.

The Japanese Red Cross has not asked for financial assistance, though other branches of the Red Cross and other relief agencies are collecting money targeted for the country. But Japan is not Haiti in that it is a rich country with a disaster relief infrastructure in place. Some are arguing that individuals should not donate their money specifically for Japan. Jennifer Tierney, US Director of Development, explains why MSF is not accepting restricted donations for Japan.

"We tried to respond very rapidly. What we have looked at right from the beginning is a very small team trying to be flexible, mobile, modular."

MSF's 12-person team in northeastern Japan continued to work in evacuation centers and carry out assessments, while the Tokyo office planned shipments of food, water, and blankets.

MSF personnel in northeast Japan are working in a small community in Miyagi prefecture and assessing ways to assist the massive relief effort.

While MSF continues to assess the needs in Japan, we are not currently accepting specfically earmarked donations because the scope of our response is not yet clear.

MSF is finding serious needs in areas that had previously been impossible to reach by road.

An expanded MSF team in northeast Japan continues to assist the massive government-led relief efforts in areas hardest hit by the earthquake and tsunamis last Friday.

Two MSF teams arrived by helicopter to areas hardest hit by the huge earthquake and resulting tsunamis that battered Japan on Friday.

MSF teams are trying to reach areas of Japan that were devastated by a massive earthquake and resulting tsunamis.