After the tsunami and earthquake in Japan on 11 March 2011, I really thought about the orphans left behind. According to the July 2011 newspapers, 229 children under 18 years old lost both parents and 1295 children lost one parent in these disasters. Some orphans have yet to be counted because their relatives are still in refuges and are yet to be reunited.

Before we left the U.K., we had contacted several Japanese NPOs (non-profit organisations). They had given us a lot of good advice and helped us get in touch with the right orphanages. We brought chocolates, toys and Christmas cards for all the people we were to visit, including the staff of the orphanages. In Japan there is a very strict data protection law. Many Japanese NPOs do not have or give out information about individual orphan cases, so instead they pass the donation money to education authorities of a city or prefecture to give to the orphans. >> Read More