{"id":8890,"date":"2011-06-05T17:11:47","date_gmt":"2011-06-05T08:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=8890"},"modified":"2011-06-05T17:11:47","modified_gmt":"2011-06-05T08:11:47","slug":"mainichi-american-teacher-in-sendai-stays-in-japan-to-help-with-volunteer-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=8890","title":{"rendered":"Mainichi: &#8220;American teacher in Sendai stays in Japan to help with volunteer efforts&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_8577\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8577\" style=\"width: 149px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/inappropriatecoverthumb150x226.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8577\" title=\"inappropriatecoverthumb150x226\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/inappropriatecoverthumb150x226.jpg\" alt=\"IN APPROPRIATE, A novel of culture, kidnapping, and revenge in modern Japan, By ARUDOU Debito\" width=\"149\" height=\"226\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8577\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">New novel IN APPROPRIATE by ARUDOU Debito<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/handbook.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1298\" title=\"HANDBOOKsemifinalcover.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/HANDBOOKsemifinalcover.jpg\" alt=\"Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants to Japan\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.francajapan.org\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1705\" title=\"franca-color\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/franca-color-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Foreign Residents and Naturalized Citizens Association forming NGO\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/tshirts.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1701\" title=\"joshirtblack2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/joshirtblack2-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\\\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/joshirtblack2-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/joshirtblack2.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 75px) 100vw, 75px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/japaneseonly.html#japanese\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1700\" title=\"jobookcover\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/jobookcover-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/japaneseonly.html#english\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1699\" title=\"japaneseonlyecover\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/japaneseonlyecover-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"JAPANESE ONLY:  The Otaru Hot Springs Case and Racial Discrimination in Japan\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cinemabstruso.de\/strawberries\/main.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2735\" title=\"sourstrawberriesavatar\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/sourstrawberriesavatar.jpg\" alt=\"sourstrawberriesavatar\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?cat=32\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4921\" title=\"debitopodcastthumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/debitopodcastthumb.jpg\" alt=\"debitopodcastthumb\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nUPDATES ON TWITTER:  arudoudebito<br \/>\nDEBITO.ORG PODCASTS on iTunes, subscribe free<\/p>\n<p>Hi Blog. \u00a0Here&#8217;s one that got lost in the shuffle between debates; was going to put it up around May 10. \u00a0My commentary is a bit old, but might as well put it up for the record:<\/p>\n<p>In apposite to the debunkable claims of &#8220;Fly-jin&#8221; NJ, here is an article in the media with a survey of how NJ are actually by-and-large NOT being &#8220;Fly-jin&#8221;. \u00a0Good. \u00a0Hope these cases have sunk in with the Japanese public by now. \u00a0Arudou Debito<\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>American teacher in Sendai stays in Japan to help with volunteer efforts<br \/>\n(Mainichi Japan) April 25, 2011<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/mdn.mainichi.jp\/mdnnews\/national\/news\/20110425p2a00m0na011000c.html\"> http:\/\/mdn.mainichi.jp\/mdnnews\/national\/news\/20110425p2a00m0na011000c.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>PHOTO CAPTION: \u00a0<em>Greg Lekich, far left, and other volunteers are pictured in Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture, on April 20. (Photo courtesy of Greg Lekich)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong> SENDAI &#8212; With the nuclear plant crisis and continuing aftershocks, many foreign assistant English teachers have left Japan to return to their home countries, but one assistant language teacher (ALT) here chose to stay behind and do what he could for volunteer efforts.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Greg Lekich, 31, is an American ALT who teaches English at a high school in Sendai. Together with around 10 others, he has been doing volunteer work such as shoveling mud and helping clean people&#8217;s debris-filled houses. He says that he has many friends and students he has taught in Japan, and has grown used to where he lives now. He says he does not have plans to leave the country any time soon.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Lekich was born in Philadelphia. He spent a year of college learning Japanese and came to the country in 2004. After teaching English in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, and other locations, he started work as an ALT at Miyagi Hirose High School and Miyagiken Technical High School from 2007.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>When the earthquake struck on March 11, Lekich was in the teacher&#8217;s room at Miyagi Hirose High School. It was his first experience of a large earthquake. Following the instructions of the school staff, he evacuated to the athletic field outside. After walking for three hours to return home, he used the Internet to check on the safety of his foreign friends.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>As the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant was added to the list of disasters, many foreigners in Japan began leaving the country. However, Lekich stayed in Sendai. His father, a former nuclear plant safety engineer, told him that under the circumstances, he didn&#8217;t think his son needed to worry so much about the radiation. His mother said she was worried, but asked him to do what he thought was right.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Lekich decided to volunteer. Together with other teachers in the prefecture, he made the website &#8220;<\/strong><\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.teachersforjapan.org\/\"><em><strong>Teachers for Japan<\/strong><\/em><\/a><em><strong>,&#8221; through which he and the others have posted English videos of the disaster-hit areas and collected money for those orphaned by the quake or tsunami. He also helps with relief work such as cleaning debris in houses three or four days a week in Wakabayashi Ward in Sendai and the cities of Ishinomaki and Tagajo.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>He says that on the night of the earthquake, his Japanese girlfriend and her mother brought him food and water because they were worried. He says it made him feel strongly how people should help each other out in trying times.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Class at the high schools will start again at the end of the &#8220;Golden Week&#8221; break at the start of May. Lekich says that having class as always will help people return to their normal lives. He says he hopes the fact that he, an American, stayed where he was will bring courage to his students.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>However, many ALTs have not stayed behind. According to the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR), which every year mediates the contracts of around 4,000 ALTs at local authorities around the country, 44 ALTs quit their jobs after the earthquake. Over half of them were at schools outside of the hardest hit Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. At least one had been working in Kyushu.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>From this spring, English will be a mandatory subject for fifth- and sixth-graders at elementary schools. Minato Ward in Tokyo, which employs ALTs at all of its schools, has been unable to secure a complete number of ALTs in April, which delayed the start of English class by a week.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>At one ALT dispatching company in Tokyo, over 100 ALTs have returned to their home countries and not come back to Japan.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>&#8220;We are searching for substitutes (for those teachers who left) 24 hours a day. Among teachers who have left Japan but want to come back, many seem to have been held back by family,&#8221; said a company spokesperson.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>ENDS<\/p>\n<p>Original Japanese story<\/p>\n<p>\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f\uff0f<\/p>\n<p>\u6771\u65e5\u672c\u5927\u9707\u707d\uff1a\u4ed9\u53f0\u3092\u96e2\u308c\u305a\u3000\u7c73\u56fd\u4eba\uff21\uff2c\uff34\u3001\u652f\u63f4\u306b\u596e\u95d8<br \/>\n\u6bce\u65e5\u65b0\u805e\u30002011\u5e744\u670823\u65e5\u300011\u664201\u5206\uff08\u6700\u7d42\u66f4\u65b0\u30004\u670823\u65e5\u300012\u664239\u5206\uff09<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/mainichi.jp\/photo\/news\/20110423k0000e040021000c.html\"> http:\/\/mainichi.jp\/photo\/news\/20110423k0000e040021000c.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u5916\u56fd\u4eba\u306e\u4ef2\u9593\u305f\u3061\u3068\u30dc\u30e9\u30f3\u30c6\u30a3\u30a2\u3092\u3059\u308b\u30ec\u30ad\u30c1\u3055\u3093\uff08\u5de6\u7aef\uff09\uff1d\u5bae\u57ce\u770c\u591a\u8cc0\u57ce\u5e02\u3067\u3001\u672c\u4eba\u63d0\u4f9b<br 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 With the nuclear plant crisis and continuing aftershocks, many foreign assistant English teachers have left Japan to return to their home countries, but one assistant language teacher (ALT) here chose to stay behind and do what he could for volunteer efforts.<\/p>\n<p>Greg Lekich, 31, is an American ALT who teaches English at a high school in Sendai. Together with around 10 others, he has been doing volunteer work such as shoveling mud and helping clean people&#8217;s debris-filled houses. He says that he has many friends and students he has taught in Japan, and has grown used to where he lives now. He says he does not have plans to leave the country any time soon.<\/p>\n<p>Lekich was born in Philadelphia. He spent a year of college learning Japanese and came to the country in 2004. After teaching English in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, and other locations, he started work as an ALT at Miyagi Hirose High School and Miyagiken Technical High School from 2007.<\/p>\n<p>When the earthquake struck on March 11, Lekich was in the teacher&#8217;s room at Miyagi Hirose High School. It was his first experience of a large earthquake. Following the instructions of the school staff, he evacuated to the athletic field outside. After walking for three hours to return home, he used the Internet to check on the safety of his foreign friends.<\/p>\n<p>As the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant was added to the list of disasters, many foreigners in Japan began leaving the country. However, Lekich stayed in Sendai. His father, a former nuclear plant safety engineer, told him that under the circumstances, he didn&#8217;t think his son needed to worry so much about the radiation. His mother said she was worried, but asked him to do what he thought was right.<\/p>\n<p>Lekich decided to volunteer. Together with other teachers in the prefecture, he made the website &#8220;Teachers for Japan,&#8221; through which he and the others have posted English videos of the disaster-hit areas and collected money for those orphaned by the quake or tsunami. He also helps with relief work such as cleaning debris in houses three or four days a week in Wakabayashi Ward in Sendai and the cities of Ishinomaki and Tagajo&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,12,13,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-good-news","category-immigration-assimilation","category-media","category-nj-legacies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8890\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}