Children in Gaza Fly Kites to Remember 2011 Disaster in Japan

Cairo, March 8 (Jiji Press)--About 500 children in the Gaza Strip flew kites this week to remember the victims of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan and to wish for the reconstruction of the affected areas.

The kite-flying event was held on Tuesday in a district of Khan Yunis where schools, health centers and houses have been built with financial aid from Japan through the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA.

The UNRWA-organized event began in 2012 to show solidarity with those affected by the disaster in Japan.

This time, participants also planted bamboo, inspired by children in the city of Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, one of the three northeastern Japan prefectures hit hardest by the disaster.

After joining the event, Tolin Al-Taibi, 14, said that she was thinking of disaster-affected people while flying a kite, and expressed her gratitude for Japan's aid, noting, "They always support us."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]