For Kumi Imamura, 35, an award-winning educator, setting up a place of learning for children in the disaster-hit Tohoku region was the natural next step in her career.
As head of Tokyo-based nonprofit organization Katariba, which offers educational programs for high school students, Imamura decided to establish after-school facilities in Tohoku where disaster-hit students from elementary to high school age could study and pursue their dreams.
In April 2011, about a month after the deadly earthquake and tsunami wreaked havoc on the region, Imamura headed north in search of ways to provide aid to the survivors. Reconstruction was a priority amid the destruction, but she realized there was also a vital, immediate need to re-establish an educational environment.
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