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Message
From the Chairperson
Dear friends and supporters,
Once again, it is the time for our
annual report, and I am honored to report to you on the activities that Peace
Winds Japan carried out during the fiscal year 2003. For Peace Winds Japan, 2003
turned out to be a busy year. We were engaged in a wide range of activities, including
emergency relief in Iraq where a tense situation has persisted, assistance in
reconstruction work in various devastated regions, and support to earthquake victims
in Iran. I am pleased to inform you that all Peace Winds Japan staff managed to
carry out their support work without incident, despite the perilous situation
in many of the areas in which we operate. I
appreciate greatly all of you who have supported our work. Without this, we would
not have been able to carry out our activities.
Peace Winds Japan began the year 2003 urgently advancing our emergency relief
operations in Iraq. When war broke out, we exerted maximum effort to maintain
the level of support that we had been providing in the country for the past seven
years, as well as to confront the new problems faced by the victims of the war.
Following the end of the war, we helped restore devastated hospitals in cities
including Baghdad and Kirkuk. The turbulent situation that has continued in Iraq
throughout 2003 did not allow us to complete such tasks easily. Nonetheless, exercising
the utmost care and precaution, Peace Winds Japan intends to stay on in Iraq to
meet the tremendous needs there.
We were also active throughout the year in Afghanistan, East Timor, Sierra Leone,
Mongolia, and Indonesia. Continuity of support is indispensable for the residents
of such areas who are taking steps forward out of destruction toward recovery.
However, people are apt to forget about such areas once the worst is over. Hence,
while continuing our support activities in the field, we have also put considerable
effort into continuing to report on the situation in these areas, to call attention
to the existing needs there.
At the end of 2003, when our staff were about to begin their New Year holidays,
a huge earthquake occurred in the southeastern part of Iran. Peace Winds Japan
promptly made the decision to provide help, and the next day our staff departed
for the site of the disaster. We distributed 500 tents before the year-end and
began emergency relief activities for those victims in distress who were forced
to live on the streets. Our reaction to this earthquake in Iran clearly demonstrated
Peace Winds Japan's ability to respond immediately and effectively to crisis situations.
The year 2003 passed rapidly, and Peace Winds Japan entered its 9th year of operation
in February 2004. It is our wish that, with your assistance and cooperation, we
shall be able to deliver "peace winds" and help solve problems wherever
there is need in the world. I am deeply grateful for your continuing support for
Peace Winds Japan.
Masaru Ishibashi
Chairperson, Peace Winds Japan
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