The Tragedy in Japan

Like many people, I have been drawn to media coverage of the recent earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan. The statistics alone are staggering: a 9.0 earthquake, a wall of water 30 feet high moving at the speed of a jet plane, thousands confirmed dead, tens of thousands still missing, perhaps millions made homeless, and the threat of nuclear meltdown at more than one reactor.

In addition to these horrific details I am closely following the news for a more personal reason- I have several close connections to Japan and the Japanese people.

I work for a Japanese company
Our parent company is large and well known in Japan. Friday morning our President sent out a company wide e-mail stating that while little information was available from Japan, what we had heard was promising- no significant damage to any of our parents company's numerous facilities;  the refinery on fire was not ours, though we do own one in the area;  all Japan-based staff seemed ok, and most of the Japanese staff at our company had been able to contact their families in Japan, and they were fine. Today we received another e-mail essentially confirming the details of the previous one with one happy addition- the final member of our expatriate staff in the U.S. was able to make contact with his family in Japan today and confirm that they are ok.

One of my really good friends is Japanese
We met when she used to work at my company. Her mom, brother, sister-in-law, and niece live in the southwest of Japan, so she didn't even try to contact them since she knew they were fokay. However, her sister, brother-in-law, and their baby live in Tokyo. They are fine. My friend told me today that her sister took the baby and went to stay with their mom over concern about the nuclear reactor situation. Her brother-in-law has had to remain in Tokyo due to his job.

I've been to Japan
It was 6 years ago this month that I had the tremendous opportunity to travel to Japan. One of my college friends lived in Japan for several years. I was able to visit her while she lived there. It was an amazing experience that I so enjoyed. The other night I was watching the news and recognized the Tokyo Tower in the background. Having actually been in the country makes the situation that much more real and heartbreaking.

Please keep the country of Japan and the Japanese people in your prayers. Please also consider a monetary donation to assist in the recovery from this massive tragedy.