I know it’s been well over a week since the earthquake struck.  Many people came to me with their concerns for the well-being of my family.

Thank you.  My family is OK.  None of us live in the hardest-hit areas, though my family is spread around the greater Tokyo area, so I’m sure they are well-affected by the uncertainty and fear of radiation and chaos.

The reason I haven’t posted anything up to now is because I was frankly overwhelmed.  This reveals my complete lack of maturity, but while my heart ached for people affected by disasters in Haiti and southern Asia, to see my homeland, the neat and organized Japan, get obliterated was quite a shock.  At once I was overtaken by the desire to throw everything I have to help the people affected, and another voice that said “there’s not a damn thing you can do.  Whatever little you do won’t mean a thing.  It’s best if you just do nothing.”

Well, neither voices were acceptable to me, but I didn’t know what I was going to do.  An article on NPR that advised on appropriate ways to help was useful in bringing in a bit more realistic perspective.

In the end, I decided to donate to American Red Cross.  I know that Japanese Red Cross is a well-established charitable organization and its web site says donations to the local chapter of Red Cross will go toward the disaster relief in Japan.

Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers.  Please do what you can to help those affected.