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The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26 2004, brought devastation to the homelands of many APU students.
Fortunately there were no reports of APU students or their families
being amongst the casualties. In the face of this unprecedented
disaster, the students launched an aid program called Ai-no-Nami (Wave
of Love), which is rapidly
growing and amassing a considerable amount of support and cooperation. |
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Jan.3 |
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| What You Can Do for Your
Friends-Tsunami Relief Activities Commence |
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On hearing the news of the disaster, APU students immediately got to work. Two days after the tragedy on December 28, students, mainly from affected countries,started tsunami relief activities. About 20 volunteers gathered at AP House on December 30 and decided to carry-out fund-raising activities in Oita City. About 30 domestic and international students predominantly from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Japan gathered just after the New Year to hold fund-raising performances in front of the Tokiwa department store in Oita City and JR Oita Station. Driven by the will to support their homeland and that of their friends, they performed ethnic dances such as the Saman dance of Indonesia. Displaying newspaper articles showing the devastation brought by the disaster they called on local residents to make donations. |
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Jan.15 |
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| Ai-no-Nami Charity Event |
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About 10 days after the charity drive in an effort to further expand the scope of the aid effort, students held an Ai-no-Nami charity event at Oita International House. The event started off with about 50 Ai-no-Nami members parading through Beppu City, displaying posters and asking locals for their support. Approximately 400 students and Beppu residents attended the event. Participating students donned ethnic costumes, expressing their love of their homeland through an array of vivid performances. Visitors acclaimed the students' effort, astonished that such an event could be mounted so successfully in such a short time. |
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Jan.28 |
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What can I do?
"CROSSOVERSEA 2005" |
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CROSSOVERSEA 2005 was held in order
for students to offer their own support by holding various
events such as flea markets; selling tacos; staging performances;
and releasing balloons into the night sky (the later was financially
sponsored by various businesses and the general public). |
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Jan.31 and Mar.30 |
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| Donation of Funds to Japanese Red Cross Society |
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On January 31, a total of 1,204,356
yen in donations, which was raised from various charity events,
was presented to the Oita Branch of the Japanese Red Cross
Society. An additional 1,204,506 yen collected at CROSSOVERSEA
2005 was presented to the Red Cross on March 30. |
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Expanding
the APU Student
Ai-no-Nami
Aid Program |
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