Trees were blown off and damaged fence. Photos courtesy of The Japanese School of Guam ()
Our school, the Japanese School of Guam (full-time and supplementary school), located on the tropical island of Guam, is the only school where students can learn the Japanese curriculum in the Japanese language.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our student enrollment has decreased, causing significant damage to the school's operation. In addition to this, we suffered further damage from a natural disaster. We were directly hit by Typhoon Mawar on May 24th.
The Typhoon Mawar, which developed into a ferocious typhoon, caused extensive damage to our school building, gymnasium, and grounds in just one night. Classroom floors were flooded and covered with mud. The blue tent roof at the entrance, which was the symbol of the school building, was blown off. The gymnasium was also flooded to the floor and may need to be re-floor. Trees on the grounds were ripped down and the perimeter fence was damaged.
Ms. Saeko Tokito, vice president of the school board, sincerely hopes that these facilities will be cleaned up and repaired as soon as possible so that the smiles of the children can once again return to their faces.
The local community and parents have been supporting the school in many ways. However, in order to overcome the severe damage caused by this typhoon and rebuild a safe and clean place to learn, we need more people to help us. We sincerely hope that many people will understand and cooperate with us in rebuilding the Japanese School of Guam, our base for Japanese language education here on Guam.
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私たちの学校、グアム日本人学校（全日制・補習授業校・幼稚部）は、日本のカリキュラムを日本語で学ぶことができるグアムで唯一の学校です。
COVID-19パンデミックの影響で、生徒数が減少し厳しい学校運営を迫られる中、自然災害による被害まで受けてしまいました。5月24日の台風Mawarの直撃です。
台風Mawarは破壊的な暴風雨によって、たった一晩で学校の建物、体育館、敷地に甚大な被害をもたらしました。教室の床は水浸しになり、泥まみれになりました。校舎の象徴である玄関の青いテント屋根は飛ばされました。体育館も床下まで浸水し、床の張り替えが必要かもしれません。敷地の木々は引き倒され、周囲のフェンスも損傷しました。
学校理事会の副理事長である時任佐絵子は、これらの施設を一刻も早く清掃・修復して子供たちの笑顔が再び学校に戻ることを心から願い、陣頭指揮を取っています。
これまで地元のコミュニティや保護者の方々は、学校をさまざまな方法で支援してくれていました。しかし、この台風による深刻な被害を乗り越え、安全で清潔な学びの場を再建するためには、さらに多くの方々の助けが必要です。グアムでの日本語教育の拠点であるグアム日本人学校の再建にご理解とご協力をお願い申し上げます。
