“The International Orphan’s Conference”

Joint Declaration

We are the surviving children and orphans of the earthquake in Kobe 10 years ago, the 1999 Columbia, Turkey and Taiwan earthquakes, the 2001 India earthquake, the 2002 Algeria earthquake and the 2003 Iran earthquake. Most of us not only lost our loved ones, but also lost our homes and the life we knew. Immediately after the earthquake, we were traumatized and could not accept that our loved ones had died.

There have been over 150,000 victims in the Tsunami disaster and thousands and thousands of children have become orphans from this tragedy. We are asking people to provide food, clothing and a safe environment for these children. We have also heard that the orphans are being sold. Please protect the rights of these children. We hope that no one has to suffer such a tragedy ever again.

Although the orphans need a great deal of financial support, they also need a lot of emotional support. At the Ashinaga Camp, we have had the opportunity to share feelings and interact with children who have experienced a similar tragedy. We believe that the Tsunami orphans need the same opportunity.

We can not even imagine how terrible their living conditions must be right now and how sad they must feel. The Ashinaga organization has supported us and helped us to heal from our losses. Now we want to help the orphans of the Tsunami disaster to also feel better. We want to tell the orphans of the Tsunami disaster, “You are not alone. Don’t give up hope. Let’s support each other.”

For the 6th International Ashinaga Camp, we would like to invite the orphans of the Tsunami disaster. We need to have organizations like Ashinaga throughout the world. We would also like to see many more places like the Rainbow House, so children can receive ongoing emotional support. We want to ask everyone around the world to support the orphans of the Tsunami disaster as you have supported us.

January 15^th 2005