Dr. Scott Henson has packed his video cameras and traveled abroad numerous times to document mankind’s misery – famine, war, human trafficking, extreme poverty.
But he has never before seen the scale of devastation that the earthquake and tsunami dealt the people of Japan on March 11 of this year.
“The power of a tsunami is incredible,” said Henson, an assistant professor of political science at Maryville College. “Lives are erased suddenly – within minutes – and it’s just shocking.”
In May, Henson traveled to the island nation in East Asia, invited by friends associated with Christian Relief, Assistance, Support and Hope (CRASH) Japan. CRASH is a network that supports Japanese churches to do relief work locally and around the world. Relatively new, the organization emerged on the international scene when an earthquake hit the Sichuan Province of China in 2008.
“There was an organized trip for a media team – mostly made up of young volunteers,” Henson said about his purpose in Japan. “CRASH wanted us to help document the devastation of the country and the relief work that the organization is providing as well as mentor their new media staff.
“I’m working on a 10-minute video that’s due in September. It will be used as a report to donors and to attract new volunteers.”
Henson’s tour of Japan started at CRASH headquarters in Tokyo, a city which was, two months after the devastation, still experiencing brownouts and blackouts.
CRASH volunteers left the city with the media group – many for the first time since the disaster. Henson said because the office staff had been focused on setting up base stations along the coast and coordinating the distribution of supplies to those stations, many volunteers had not had time to get out of the city to see the devastation for themselves.
Describing the stops in Sendai and Minami Sanriku, Henson said, “These young Japanese volunteers had a local connection to tragedy, so they were quite emotional. Those first days I ended up videoing their reaction to what they were seeing as much as videoing what we saw around us.”
The story on the ground, according to the assistant professor and professional documentary maker, is the total sense of loss. Recent reports show that more than 25,000 people are either dead or missing as a result of the earthquake and tsunami, 350,000 are homeless or in temporary housing, and property damage is estimated to top $300 billion.
CRASH Japan may be able to help. The organization’s initiatives have turned from relief and clean up, to providing emotional care and basic necessities for starting new households.
The youth of Japan are stepping up to help, and Henson noted that a reliance on younger generations for leadership and assistance in nation re-building could be a lasting effect of the March 11 disaster.
It’s possible that Maryville College students soon may experience this new Japan.
Henson teaches World Culture 370: East Asia, and he expects to share his video footage, experiences and observations with students, using the trip to lead discussions about geography, history, religion, culture, art and social institutions.  He plans to put together a trip to Japan, Korea and China as an experiential version of the course.
“I think it would be a fascinating trip and a great way to teach students about this vital region of the world.”
For more information on CRASH Japan, visit crashjapan.com.

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