In the Philippines, two Japanese volunteers help send young Ifugao people to school and, in the process, learn to cook rice without a rice cooker...

Jephonie Himmiwat is an Ifugao, one of the indigenous people in the northern Philippines. Her people and their land are inseparable, thus both are called by the same name, Ifugao. 

In Japan, two women enjoyed a very different upbringing. Twenty-three-year-old Kiyoko Okamoto spent four years as staff at the Mister Donut chain while she was studying international economics in the city of Fukuoka. Thirty-year-old Kozue Kamijo worked part-time in a restaurant while attending a business school in the Japanese capital.

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Sunday is International Children's Day, and this year people around China have one common concern: children in the earthquake-hit regions. We know that many children suffered in the devastating quake but there are still many of them who survived, and they are eager to get back to study and playing with their friends. Children are the most vulnerable group in our community and much attention needs to be paid on them.  Read entry

The best way to prevent epidemics in quake affected areas is to guarantee the safety of drinking water and the treatment of waste. IFRC has paid much attention to that and sent a health delegation to follow it up. Today I will go with the British ERU to Jiulong and Banqiao Townships of Mianzhu City, which were destroyed by the tremor, to investigate where to locate the water purification system and set up mobile toilets in order to ensure sanitation.  Read entry

There is a batch of 1,900 family tents from the Netherlands, co-donated by the Dutch Government and Dutch Red Cross, which will arrive in Chengdu. In order to understand all the details of the logistics procedure, I  visit Chengdu International Airport to find out how the tent transportation pipeline works.  Read entry

As the IFRC team in Sichuan gets stronger, more volunteer interpreters are needed. Just over these last three days, people from ten different fields have joined the team.  Read entry