A group of public school English teachers in the western region of Abu Dhabi will be organis ing a fundraiser for the victims of the earthquake that left an estimated 25,000 people dead in Japan in March.
We will be performing 108 sun salutations — a time-honoured sequence of yoga postures used to warm up and detoxify the body before meditation.
This will occur at 6am tomorrow at the Danat Jebel Dhanna Resort in Abu Dhabi.
For every round of sun salutations, we are asking sponsors to contribute some amount of money to the cause, which we have named ‘Japan Aishteru' (or ‘We Love Japan').
With all the chaos in the world, we are all blessed to be here in the UAE. Our Japanese compatriots in this global community need us now, so please join us in practice, thought, or donation on any day of the weekend of May 6.
Japan Aishteru participants will also be joined by supporters in Sydney, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Chicago, Mumbai, Banares, Rishikesh, Amsterdam, Tucson and Washington state at various times that weekend. This has truly turned into a global movement.
The initiative is organised by Project Surya — a home-grown community of teachers that are contributing to help people in need.
Japan Aishteru will utilise Direct Relief International, a highly regarded charity with more than 60 years of experience in international aid, to ensure the monies go to non-profits on the ground in Japan.
The charity has been rated 100 per cent efficient by Forbes magazine eight years in a row and has a four-star ranking on Charity Navigator.
With 160,000 homeless and billions of dirhams in damages, this is officially the most expensive natural disaster of the last sixty years, according to The Economist.
As if that weren't enough, on April 11, the Fukushima nuclear situation was raised to an alert level of seven — as bad, or worse, than the Chernobyl disaster.
This project holds a special place in my heart as my entire Japanese family is actually from Fukushima, where the nuclear time bomb continues to keep tens of thousands homeless.
Looking at the big picture, Japan is consistently ranked in the top five countries that give humanitarian aid, including the earthquake in New Zealand and the floods in Pakistan.
It's time for the global community to give back.
To donate through your PayPal account, visit: www.projectsurya.com and click ‘Donate now.'
For alternative means of donating, please e-mail AjarnJoanne@gmail.com.
— The reader is a writer and teacher, based in Abu Dhabi
Be a citizen reporter. Tell us what is happening in your community. Write to us and send us your videos and pictures at readers@gulfnews.com
