Photo By Yoshie Makiyama | A volunteer pulls out a big piece of trash from the sand.... read more read more
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A month-and-a-half after coming to Okinawa for six months training as part of the unit deployment program, the Marines and sailors from 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division joined local residents to clean up Kushi Beach in Nago.
At 7 a.m. on Sunday June 28, 2020, when having marked the 59th day on Okinawa without a new confirmed case of COVID-19, two vans drove into Kushi District Community Center. While Kushi residents, including the district mayor and members of Okinawa Defense Bureau waited, 17 Marines and sailors stepped out from the vans. "A lot of them," someone said with surprise.
Kushi district was going to have a harrii, commonly known as dragon boat race, event that day. However, due to COVID-19, the event was cancelled. Instead, the residents decided to conduct the beach cleanup, which they normally do prior to the boat races.
"I'm glad the Marines and sailors accepted my invitation. Even just for one hour, I hope they have a chance to get to know a piece of our community," said Kenei Tanahara, the Kush district mayor.
Seventeen volunteers from California engaged in as soon as they were instructed how to sort out the trash while Kushi residents were spread out already on the beach picking up trash. Some found small trash like bottle caps, candy wrappers, straws or plastic bags, and some pulled out rather big items buried in the sand like bottles, containers and nets.
"I am here every year to clean up the beach but it is good to have more people to join us. Especially Marines and sailors with more strength help a lot when we found bulk waste," Teruko Tanahara, a member of Kushi Senior Club and Provost Marshal’s Office retiree, commented.
Lance Cpl. Franky Gao, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment who participated in the volunteer to explore fragments of Japan was
impressed by seeing the residents devoted their time to clean up, and seriously involved in their community.
The beach cleanup ended at 8 a.m. Larger ocean waste was piled up in a few spots on the beach for later removal. Marines and sailors put their bags together with the ones that local residents and Okinawa Defense Bureau members collected.
According to Petty Officer First Class Jadione L. Graham, a hospital corpsman and the volunteer coordinator from the battalion, it was refreshing for his members since it was the first event they had as a group with the local community after a 14-day quarantine for COVID-19 upon arriving in Okinawa. He was surprised to see that more volunteers had joined the event than he expected.
"I hope for continuous relationships in the future. Not just the cleanups but we have other events, such as a Sumo tournament, as well. I would like to provide more opportunities for us to get together for the better understanding of each other," Tanahara stated at the end of the cleanup while offering volunteers a drink and snack.
部隊展開計画（ＵＤＰ）で６ヶ月の訓練のために沖縄に来てから１ヶ月半後、第１海兵師団第７海兵連隊第３大隊の海兵隊員と海軍兵が住民に加わり名護市の久志ビーチを清掃した。
沖縄で新型コロナウイルスの新規感染者が確認されなかった連続59日目の６月28日、朝７時に２台の車両が久志公民館に到着した。久志区長や沖縄防衛局の職員を含む久志の住民が見守る中、17人の海兵隊員らが車から降りてきた。「たくさんいるね」驚きの声が上がった。
その日は本来は久志区のドラゴンボートレースとして一般的に知られているハーリー開催の日であった。しかし、新型コロナウイルスの影響でイベントは中止となり、住民は、代わりに、例年ボートレースの前に実施しているビーチ清掃を行うことにした。
「海兵隊員たちが参加してくれて嬉しく思います。たった１時間でも、彼らが私たちの地域社会の一部を知る機会があれば良いと思います」と、久志区長の棚原憲栄氏は述べた。
久志の住民がすでにビーチに出てごみを拾っているなか、17名のカリフォルニアからの隊員らはごみの分別方法を教えられた後すぐに清掃に取り掛かった。飲み物の蓋や飴の包み紙、ストローやビニール袋のような小さなごみを見つけた人もいれば、ペットボトル、何らかしらの容器、網などの砂に埋もれた大きな物を引き出す人もいた。
「私は毎年ビーチ清掃に参加していますが、より多くの人が私達と一緒に参加してくれることを嬉しく思います。特に、大きなごみを見つけたとき、若くて強い海兵隊員がいてくれると大変助かります」と、久志区老人会のメンバーで海兵隊憲兵隊退職者である田原照子さんは言った。
日本の地域社会に少しでも触れてみたいとボランティアに参加した第７海兵連隊第３大隊所属フランキー・ガオ兵長は、住民が清掃に時間を費やし、真剣に自分たちの社会に関わっているのを見て感動した。
ビーチの清掃は８時に終了。粗大ごみは、後で回収するためにビーチの数ヶ所に積み上げられた。隊員らは集めたごみを、地元の住民と沖縄防衛局の職員がすでにまとめて出していたごみ袋と一緒に所定の場所に置いた。
第７海兵連隊第３大隊の衛生兵でありボランティアコーディネーターのジャディオーネ・Ｌ・グラハム海軍一等兵曹は、新型コロナウイルス感染症拡大防止のため、14日間の隔離を経て、部隊として初めて地元住民と共に行った活動だったため、隊員らにとっては新鮮なものだと言い、予想以上に多くのボランティアが参加したことに驚いた。
「今後、良好な関係が続くことを期待しています。清掃だけでなく、相撲大会など他の行事もあるので、お互いをよりよく理解するために集まる機会をもっと提供したいと思います」と棚原区長は作業終了後に海兵隊と海軍、沖縄防衛局からの参加者に伝え、飲み物と軽食を提供し労をねぎらった。
| Date Taken: | 10.13.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 06.26.2022 20:18 |
| Story ID: | 401248 |
| Location: | OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 28 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, One way to know your neighbor: Deployed service members help in beach cleanup / 隣人を知る一つの方法 - 展開部隊員が海岸清掃に参加, by Yoshie Makiyama, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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