For Japan With Love

I haven't said much anything about the terrible disaster in Japan that has unfolded since the country was hit by a massive earthquake last Friday. Of course, like everyone, I have been glued to the news reports and Japan and the Japanese people have been in my thoughts almost every moment of every day for the past week. There are so very many brave men and women from across the world who have volunteered their services and skills to the rescue effort. But for the rest of us, we are left feeling a little helpless as we sit and watch the events unfold. As such, I have decided to participate in the Bloggers' Day of Silence, an initiative which has been begun by Utterly Engaged and Ever Ours.

Additional note: it seems that there has been discussion over the merits of participating in the Day of Silence and what it can do to help those in Japan. I believe that everyone is entitled to their opinion and that those that feel like this have already spoken of the disaster and answered the call to action which we all feel at a time like this. For me, I have been truly horrified by the events I have seen unfold in Japan and yet, feel utterly helpless to do anything to help. For many of us, who have no skills or expertise to offer at a time like this, donating to those charities that do is often the only way to make a little bit of a difference in an immensely difficult situation. A Day of Silence isn't, in the grand scheme of things, going to make a difference. But it will demonstrate our solidarity with the people of Japan at this time. This post alone has given me the opportunity to explain my position and feelings. Even if only one person donates to any one of the many charities raising funds for the relief effort in Japan, then surely this will have been worthwhile. I hope you understand.

In addition, "in the real world", we often participate in a minute's silence, on Armistice Day or at other times to show respect for those who have lost their lives or have experienced great tragedy, A Day of Silence is, for me, my small way of showing my respect and solidarity with those, in Japan, who have lost their lives and those who are trying to survive in the aftermath of great adversity.

For all my UK readers here are the links to a few of the charities to whom you can make donations to help those affected by the earthquake and tsunami and ensuing disaster in Japan:

Médecins Sans Frontières;

ShelterBox;

British Red Cross;

Save the Children UK;

Global Giving.

I'd also recommend reading Jill of Street Style London's post: all the cherry blossoms. And also Kristin of The Clothes Whisperer's post: Pray for Japan.

Now, I will pass back to Utterly Engaged and Ever Ours to explain the idea of the Bloggers Day of Silence:

There are two parts to it.

Fundraising:

For Japan With Love has a direct link on the website to our fundraising page for ShelterBox. ShelterBox was one of THE first organizations asked by Japan to help and were on hand on the Saturday after the quake. Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items.

Please check it out and whatever you can contribute will be so appreciated.

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Bloggers Day of Silence:

Anyone that has a blog can help out with this one.

The aim is just raise awareness and respect and acknowledge the devastation going on in Japan.

The guidelines are simple.

1. This coming Friday, March 18th, no posts at all on your blog.

2. Please post a blog post about what you will be doing this Friday whenever possible in hopes to spread the word and whoever else would like to join in. You all can check out what Lydia of Ever-Ours did for her’s here or how we did ours here and do it your way if you’d like. We’ll be posting a reminder post on Thursday evening on my blog too.

3. Tweet and Re-Tweet the shiznit out of the link to http://www.forjapanwithlove.com please.

4. Encourage your readers to contribute to donate shelter to Japan.

Whatever anyone can contribute will be appreciated.

Every little helps.

Feel free to ask other bloggers you like to join in on this. Whatever impact we can make will be so awesome.

If you’d like to join in, please leave a comment with your blog name and a link too. We would like to acknowledge who will be participating and give them our thanks. Grab the flyer above and either of the badges below and feel free to use it in your post.

This means that there will be no Friend Friday and no 30 for 30 Challenge posts tomorrow. I hope you'll understand - and even participate. I will, of course, also be doing my bit for Comic Relief too and will let you know how I get on on Saturday. In the meantime, have a happy Friday!