Ordinary Hongkongers have been called on to help counsel Japanese survivors of the tsunami, amid fears that the suicide rate among victims had yet to peak.
Timothy To Wing-ching, executive director of the Hong Kong-based Post Crisis Counselling Network, said 946 people among the 26,000 survivors from Fukushima had killed themselves in August, and warned the suicide rates were likely to peak at the new year.
His network has been offering support services to survivors with the backing of the Japanese government and is now preparing to organise trips for non-professionals after the first anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami in March.
He said that while the trip would be educational for the volunteers, it would be good for the survivors to chat with ordinary people. 'It'll be refreshing for them, as they would no longer only be facing counsellors.'
The volunteers will be required to attend seminars of 10 to 12 hours before heading off, to learn what to say to survivors and how to protect themselves from radiation.
They will need to cover their own fares and costs, totalling about HK$9,000 each. Translators will be on hand so being able to speak Japanese is not a requirement.
