Carpenters?

Any carpenters out there? There's plenty to do with Samaritan's Purse in Kesen-numa, one of the devastated cities. The areas by the shoreline and along the river are stark reminders of what happened here. A large ship, fully intact, has settled onto the ground. It looks perfectly serviceable, but the price to move it is exorbitantly high. So there it sits among the bare foundations.

The destruction takes forever to end. We turned a corner and the buildings resumed. We headed into the business district, and store after store was just a shell. Only several blocks later did we see intact businesses. 

This city is one of the places where Samaritan's Purse is helping with the rebuilding process. We stopped by to help for the afternoon, and helped remove drywall from the first floor of a house. Once the floor, drywall, and ceiling are removed, the carpenters install a basic floor and new drywall for free. 

All finishing work is done by local Japanese carpenters at the going rate. Samaritan's Purse wants to help, not hinder the local economy. 

One of the staff told me that within an hour of here, there is a community where houses sitting ON TOP OF a 20-meter cliff (60 feet high) got damaged by the tsunami. Houses at the base of the cliff are simply gone. 

The city next to Kesen-numa, Rikuzen-Takata, is blank. Just nothing left. A few shells of buildings here and there. It was already dark when we drove through. I caught myself being thankful for the limited visibility. But I'll eventually have to see it in the daytime. 

We met a lady today who lost her childhood home that was in Rikuzen-Takata. She's far from alone in that experience. 

We've settled in at a volunteer center in Ofunato, where we'll stay for the next few days. Tomorrow, we start learning what we can about this city.