A Xoogler in Tohoku - Two Months of Volunteering in the Disaster Zone

Google Tech Talk (more info below)
June 14, 2011

Presented by Ryo Chijiiwa.

ABSTRACT

On April 15th, I arrived in Ofunato to join All Hands Volunteers, a US-based NPO, to assist with the relief and recovery efforts in the tsunami-devastated areas of Iwate prefecture. During my two-month stay, I talked to tsunami victims, helped coordinate projects, developed custom software, led work-teams on carpentry jobs in individuals' homes, and was project leader on an isolated "satellite" project in another city, operating independently from the main organization. My activities took me through Ofunato, Rikuzentakata, and Yamada, as well as many smaller communities along the coast.

The goals of this talk are to share with you what I experienced, learned, saw, and smelled out in the disaster area, as well as to give a first-hand account of the conditions on the ground. I would also like to dedicate some time to discussing ways in which the tech industry could help, and will leave ample time for questions and answers at the end.

About Ryo Chijiiwa:
After spending 4 years as a software engineer in Silicon Valley at Yahoo! then Google, I left the cubicle life in 2009 and embarked on a journey. I eventually bought 60 acres of land in the backwoods of North-Eastern California, where I built a cabin, and learned to live mostly off of the grid. As I watched live footage of the March 11th tsunami from my cabin, I felt a strong desire to do something. A month later, I left my cabin, for an open-ended trip to Japan...

• Category

  Nonprofits & Activism

[Ryo Chijiiwa]

I hardly saw any Red Cross members during the 2 months I was there, and the few I saw weren't actually doing the kind of work we were doing.

[katakanadian]

I volunteered in Oofunato at the end of July. I think All Hands eventually had a really good relationship with the community but even so there were reminders every few days that we should consider how we were perceived by the neighbours and to be more respectful about noise and activity on the street.

[katakanadian]

All Hands has just started up in Mindanao and I hope to join them in July.

[elena31415926]

Thank you! Very informative about the fascinating practical details! and Thank you Ryo, just for being an amazing, intelligent and such a humble guy. Work like yours is what makes the world better in a real way :) You're a legend.

[mujkocka]

you might be right about bigger group with connections. but big groups are less efficient a lot of times. besides there are lots of good people who are not with any religion like myself. anyway, i have not heard anyone else who has done as much as these guys in terms of dirty work. hands up to them. they give results!

[mujkocka]

this is my life dream of doing something similar. i would have done very well for your work. haha with 5 feet of height. :-)

i want to know what you do with the garbage? recycle?

[Ryo Chijiiwa]

There are many ex-Yahoos working at Google. There was even one guy wearing a Yahoo t-shirt in the audience.

[Tim Landscheidt]

What I don't quite understand is why those small volunteer organizations keep popping up and then try to cope with the problems they face in foreign countries. The Red Cross has local connections worldwide, and if you are into religions, nearly every faith has its own network as well. I doubt that they would ask highly skilled people to clear debris, but it's surely more efficient for the people in need.