I live in Tokyo, but last weekend I went north to help deliver food aid to one of the towns that was devastated by the tsunami.

The smell. That is what I noticed first as we got near. TV cannot convey that.
And the sheer amount of destruction is very hard to show within the confines of a monitor or screen.

While there a man came up and thanked me for helping. He started talking about how the tsunami hit his house and water came up to his neck and pushed him against the roof even though he was on the second floor. Miraculously, he survived.

His mother was on the first floor when the water came, and he never saw her again. 3 weeks later and he could not find any sign of his wife and child, but he hasn't given up looking because they might be alive in a shelter somewhere.

After he left the tears were streaming down my cheeks and I still need to fight them back just thinking about it now.

Still, I will probably go to volunteer again next week. The people there need all the help they can get right now.