HOPE

Sharifah Farah Hasnuddin, 7yrs old

Tomato car, kazuhiro Takahashi

Healthy Earth, Mayumi Kosakai, 3 yrs old

Beautiful flowers, Kanako Imai, 5yrs old

I see myself losing hope lately.

We arrived in Tokyo on the morning of the earthquake. I had forgotten about earthquakes in Japan. The 4 years I was living here, I had only ever experienced slight earth tremors and it came as quite a shock.

We have our health, we have our family and friends and yet I see myself losing hope from the the happenings around me.

On TV a mother told her story of being in the library when the tsunami engulfed the building. She was with her 8year old daughter. They held onto each others hand as the water forced them up to the ceiling. She was pushed away from her daughter by different objects and she let go of her daughters hand. Her daughter was swept away. This all happened in seconds. She does not know where she is.

A man spoke of helping people up a hill to escape from the approaching tsunami. He did this until the last moment. He broke down in tears when he described the force of the wave and the people he saw being swept away, that he couldn't help.

Everyday we feel different earth tremors, see unbelievable images and hear heart breaking stories.

I keep reminding myself that we need to keep hope to inspire others to keep hope.

(all images from Kids Earth Fund)

xxx