I had a pleasure to connect with some awesome people that are spending most of their time helping Kamaishi to regrow. Unfortunately Kamaishi was heavily damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in which 1,250 city residents were killed. Although city has been recovered partially but Kamaishi citizens still need more support. Government along with architects and engineers have helped many communities to move into temporary housings. One can argue that although these houses are built fairly well, but people still wish to have their own homes to get rebuilt in near future. Earlier in august, I met an architect, who presented her project in Pecha Kucha Tokyo. Ms. Yoko Takaike, worked for Toyo Ito San for many years. She currently along with her team, is working on an interesting community project in Kamaishi. This project is unique in a way that promotes horse therapy by bringing two horses into the community centre. Because of my high interest to give back to communities that have been experienced some tough times before and connect with amazing people, who are volunteering their time, I planned to support this mission. For a full weekend, I travelled to North East of Japan to help the process of a new family/community house that is getting renovated. Kamaishi is located 5 hours away from Tokyo. The city has been situated in a beautiful nature. There are many beautiful mountains filled by tall trees around the city. On the east side, city can access North Pacific Ocean. Moreover, I had an amazing experience working with everyone and I am happy that I got to get connected with many lovely people who travelled from all over the Japan to support this cause. These are some images that I am very happy to share it here. 

Hamid Shahi Volunteering

Hamid Shahi and Elina

Hamid Shahi and other wonderful volunteers