Firstly sorry for my absence lately. I've been keeping myself busy and trying to keep our life as normal as possible because we can. Ryo's family and our friends are all safe but their lives have been interrupted by the recent disasters in Japan. Living with aftershocks, lining up for groceries, living without hot water, trying to rebuild their lives ..I feel we owe it to them to keep on going.
to
not stop.
While we feel quite helpless there are many ways we can help and one of them is to raise money to help Japan. Donations can be made directly to the
Red Cross Japan Disaster Appeal.
Last night I attended the opening for
'The Reincarnated Kimono Project' at
Hanasho in West End. The
exhibition was curated by Melanie from
kimono reincarnate. The two vintage kimonos above were carefully dis-assembled and the fabric distributed to fifteen local artists, all to reinterpret in their own way. Gold coin donations were taken to raise money and part of the proceeds from sales of the works will also be donated to help Japan. The exhibition runs until 30 April, so please pop in to hanasho and view the artworks. ( I will write more about some of the artists soon)
Other artists raising money for Japan are included in the i heART japan auction organised by ceramic artist, Kenji and his wife Sonia. The auction has started and will end at 8pm Sunday 10 April. All the works in the auction have been donated by the artists. It's a great chance to collect art work while supporting an important cause.
A Japanese friend living in Scotland raised over 1000 pounds by baking and selling cakes with a friend! Awesome work Toshiko!
Tomorrow (Saturday 9 April) night the above event is taking place to raise money. More details about Jam for Japan can be found here. Ryo loves the didgeridoo so we are looking forward to seeing that act in particular.
It was such a relief to see some dear friends who live in Fukushima and arrived in Australia almost a week after the earthquake hit. They left their home and headed south because of what was happening at the nuclear power plant. With a young daughter they decided their best option was to head to Jacquie's Australian home. They have set up a bank account to help their city back in Japan. Here are the details in Jacquie's words:
We have done it!!!! We have set up an account at Westpac to raise money for our village. Westpac Kenmore have opened a fee free account and will cover all costs to send the money to Japan.They have also offered to have a free dress day at their branch and a sausage sizzle to help with raising money for Kitaibaraki.Our town is called Kitaibaraki, located at the very top of Ibaraki Prefecture, on the border of Fukushima Prefecture. 200 km north of Tokyo, 70 km south of the Fukushima nuclear plant. Not only was this town rocked by the earthquake, it was also hit by the tsunami, in which many people lost everything they own. During a phone call to Japan today we heard also that the school, in which half the township has evacuated to, is also badly damaged. We realise that many charities will be donating to Japan, but we would like to help with our community, which could possibly miss out due to size and location.We understand that there have been many disasters this year and in turn many charities asking for assistance but please remember that any donation, no matter how small, will help our family and friends over in Japan rebuild their lives.
Thank you very much, Jacquie
PS Please pass this onto anyone else you think may help.
Account name : Jacqueline Glover
Account Designator : Kitaibaraki Appeal Account
Branch Name : Kenmore
BSB / Account No. : 034055 / 265888
Well, I'm quite sure this has been the longest post I've ever written on my blog. There is a lot more I could say but am trying really to only focus on what we can do.
Melanie has done a blog tour of 'The Reincarnated Kimono Project' over here. The exhibition is held at Hanasho in West End and runs until April 30. 
