Posted on March 18, 2011 in The scale of the disaster in Japan is hard to imagine. The challenges the Japanese people face are multi-dimensional and rapidly evolving. The country’s needs are staggering, with millions suffering. Diversey has approximately 1,000 employees in Japan. We are thankful to report that all of them and their immediate families are safe. Within minutes of last week’s earthquake, our Crisis Management Team in Japan was in place and checking on their safety.
Our Crisis Management Team in Japan has performed at an extraordinarily high level. And we have now put in place a company-wide effort to help the people of Japan recover from this disaster. Diversey has launched a companywide donation drive to support the American Red Cross and it is matching all monetary gifts from employees and contractors.
Priority one is our employees and their families. Then we move on to protecting our customers; then to restoring business operations. Water, energy, transportation, computer access and fuel are disrupted but we are in operation and quickly turning to assisting our customers in every way possible.
Let’s join together to do our part to help the Japanese people to recover from this incomprehensible disaster. We will keep you updated about our efforts in Japan, here and via Facebook and Twitter.
We are receiving regular updates from our employees in the region and continue to monitor the constantly changing situation. Among the many communications we have received was a message of hope, authored by the friend of a Diversey colleague, currently located in Sendai. With permission, we wanted to share this account of the resiliency and fellowship of the Japanese people:
There has been no looting, no pushing in lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer when an earthquake strikes. People keep saying, ‘Oh, this is how it used to be in the old days when everyone helped one another.’
Other unexpected touches of beauty are first, the silence at night. No cars. No one out on the streets. And the heavens at night are scattered with stars. I usually can see about two, but now the whole sky is filled. The mountains at Sendai are solid and with the crisp air we can see them silhouetted against the sky magnificently.
I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entranceway. I have no idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic, no.
And somehow as I experience the events happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide. My brother asked me if I felt so small because of all that is happening. I don’t. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that is much larger than myself.