JAPAN RELIEF TESTIMONY BY MIWA YOKOYAMA

My name is Miwa Yokoyama, and first and foremost I feel very fortunate to be part of this opportunity, through which I can directly help and support the Japanese tsunami victims.

Today was such an eventful and inspirational day. It started off with us being assigned by the local government of Ishinogawa to dig and remove the mud that was surrounding the Abe family's home. It was a lengthy task, but I really felt like we became a lot more united as a team.

Mr. Abe told our team various stories about some of his friends killed by the tsunami, and about families and neighbors affected by the tsunami. We then had the opportunity to drive out toward the parts of Ishinogawa that were affected more severely. It was so deserted and mutilated that this whole experience felt surreal.

Seeing and experiencing the empty and desolate cities helped give me more of a motivation to give back.