ENIL Press Release
May 26 , 2011

DON'T FORGET OUR JAPANESE BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

It happened on the 11th of March 2011. An extremely heavy earthquake before the coast of Japan was followed by a devastating Tsunami. The destruction was complete; the numbers of death and missing people kept on rising. On top of all this came the horrible disaster with the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The end of this distress is still not in sight and won't be tomorrow either.

After more than two months all of this has evolved from being in the focus of the media and the News, being almost completely filled with the Japanese drama, till little messages about the level of radioactivity in the back of the newspaper. People forget quickly, ... unless of course you are living in the disaster area yourself.

Such a devastating attack on the infrastructure and on the whole of the community will hit people with a disability even more than others. You will need more support than usual while the availability of support is substantially or even completely reduced. With a little empathy we can imagine the degrading and life-threatening situations our Japanese' brothers and sisters are still faced with.

Your personal assistant can't reach you because the roads aren't repaired yet. Due to a ruined electricity grid you can't recharge the batteries of your wheelchair or your persons lift. What if you're out of fuel for the generator for your respirator? Key figures of your personal network are dead or missing. What if you have autism or a mental disability and you have to deal completely on your own with the sight of your ruined house and neighborhood? What if your guide dog is missing since the Tsunami? Maybe you aren't born yet, but caused by the nuclear contamination you might be deformed or suffer from chronicle diseases for the rest of you life.

This is why ENIL calls on you to support disabled people in the Japanese disaster area. We will not and can not forget them. There is a huge need for lot of money. This is no matter of charity but a matter of emergency aid and essential support. ENIL stands for SOLIDARITY between disabled people all over the world. Through our extensive network we have identified two possibilities for donations where your gift will be used directly and fully by Japanese organizations for disabled persons, to help their brothers and sisters in the disaster area. After all they know, better than anyone else, the highest and most urgent needs. Support the initiatives below with a small or a
big donation, or maybe organize an event to support this cause. Show us that people with disabilities can be generous donors.

* call from Japan Council on Independent Living Centers (JIL)

* call from the ASL Liga

Peter Lambreghts
ENIL Western Regional Team Coordinator

Belgian Version