Sophia Slater, 17, felt she couldn't just sit back and do nothing when the monster earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011. So she tried to find a way a teenager like her could help, apart from giving money or donating supplies for Tohoku.
About six months later, Slater decided to start CharmWorks, a project to support the activities of women in the fishing community of Funakoshi in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.
After the community was devastated by the tsunami, some wives of fishermen began making charms out of slate roofing tiles from destroyed houses.
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