Volunteer work and community

Through the rescue operations, I saw so many different people. Some went to their workplace calmly as usual with a suit and tie even just after the earthquake while refugees and volunteers struggled to survive in difficult situations.

Reviewing my experiences, some questions occurred to me. In Kobe, a big city, it is sometimes said that "the life in the city is the sea of unconcern". Before the earthquake there was no opportunity to pursue interests in volunteer and community work, but now we are interested in them. Is this change due to the influence of the earthquake, or natural dynamism?

There are 4 levels of relationships. These are: Blood > Workplace > Interest > Community. In general, there are two major opinions towards "nature". One is that we should not be involved in nature and let it be as it is, and the other is that through our involvement, nature will become more diverse. The former opinion sometimes allows certain species to be dominant because nature has such principals as "to be simple" and "natural selection". On the other hand, if humans can be involved in nature positively and manage it, it is possible to keep nature more diverse and for more species to survive. The latter opinion is based on the idea of "creating a sustainable society". I think disaster prevention involves considering how we should associate with nature in human society, and it is important for each of us to think of what we can do and play a role in our communities.