Team Effort: Student Volunteers Help in Earthquake-Hit Noto Peninsula

The members of the NFVC’s Group 6 had never met before, but worked closely together as a team. (© Kodera Kei)

A collapsed home in Takojima. (© Kodera Kei)

The volunteers remove debris and other tasks that do not require special skills. (© Kodera Kei)

Kawashima Hiroyoshi (second from right) giving instructions to the student volunteers. (© Kodera Kei)

A volunteer knocks down a broken wall with a sledgehammer. (© Kodera Kei)

A home devastated by the 4-meter high tsunami that struck the area. (© Kodera Kei)

Student volunteers dust off books before replacing them on the shelf. (© Kodera Kei)

Shōin Elementary School serves as a local shelter. Initially, there were over 500 evacuees, including those who slept in their cars. By the time of our visit, temporary housing had been built on the sports ground, and fewer than 40 people remained in the school building. (© Kodera Kei)

An evacuee receives a tender hand massage from a young volunteer. (© Kodera Kei)

The shed leans precariously to one side, threatening to collapse. (© Kodera Kei)

In a precious interaction, the man shows the bewildered students the workings of a record player. (© Kodera Kei)

Foot baths, shoulder rubs, and hand massages. (© Kodera Kei)