Flipping burgers dirty (though not the same day)





Saturday, June 27 (click on any photo to enlarge)

We pivot from being out in the field to back at Noto Help headquarters. I may have mentioned previously that restoring communities is a priority of the work here. One way to facilitate this effort is to offer something that promotes meeting and conversation. A monthly feature of Noto Help is to distribute free hambugers to residents, many still living in the kasetsu jyutaku (temporary housing).

This food truck was either donated or was purchased with donations (it's pretty snazzy). Burgers are freshly made and distributed to those who take a bag home. We also welcomed people who wanted to sit down and enjoy coffee. Some decided to consume one of their burgers while it was still warm and tasty.

Egawa Sensei is manning one grill, Ty and Daniel are toasting the buns and adding cheese.


Miyuki is assembling the burger, adding barbecue sauce and mayo. I can already hear the burger purists crying foul over the mayonnaise. Sorry, the Japanese love their mayo.

That's Adachi-Sensei, preparing to welcome guests and keep order.



Here's Ty and Daniel rockin' those official aprons!

By the time we were done at two different sites, we distributed just under 250 burgers. Sounds like a success!

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Saturday, June 27

I "promised the team" there'd be days where it would involve dealing with mud, overgrown fauna, algae, among other features of the forest. I told the team to wear protective clothing and be prepared for some physical labor. I keep my promises, I guess.

The terrain is quite rough, we had to leave our subcompact parked off the road and sat in the back of a truck to the work site. I realize this is illegal, but we doubted we'd run into any law enforcement.


We had a good soaking yesterday, which may explain why this tree collapsed onto the road. They used a single axe to get rid of enough branches so we could get through.

Next, we had to hike down several hundred feet, as the truck couldn't go any further.

We arrived at our destination, a small reservoir which supplied water to the farmers downstream. It needs periodic maintenance, so here we are.


We helped the staff move and clean all six of the glass panels, each one weighing about 90 pounds each, thick glass framed by steel . We scrubbed both surfaces which we used handheld brushes before pressure washing. It took three people to move these panels.


Once the reservoir was drained, both water and sand had to be removed from the bottom. The water could be pumped out, but the dirt required shoveling and buckets. We created a bucket brigade to get rid anything that couldn't be pumped out. In some places the sand was about six or more inches deep.

The walls also needed to be scrubbed and rinsed. Once completed, the reservoir was ready to be refilled from the mountain streams above where we were standing. The water is then filtered and treated for human and animal consumption.

One more note: Nearby where we were working, we saw this. Water was trickling down this structure, our guess is that it helped drain some of the melting water from a snow pack. I ventured to guess it's another reservoir. Regardless, it was amazing to see all of structures to help fulfill the needs of the local community.

Next time we're here, it may be weed-whacker time. Some trimming here-and-there are needed to guarantee access.

Time to call it tonight. We sorta have Sunday off. I'll explain later. Thanks for the encouragement and kind words.

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