International Medical Corps’ local partner International Volunteer Center of Yamagata (IVY) and a group of evacuee-mothers from Fukushima Prefecture have started a daycare center to support other local evacuee-mothers. Recognizing the lack of full-time daycare centers in the area, International Medical Corps and IVY opened the center to provide a safe, supportive environment for evacuee children and ease the burden for working mothers. One mother said, “When I read the news of the opening of the child care center and realized that there were people ready to support us, I was so happy that I couldn’t stop crying.”
The daycare center, the first local, full-time facility of its kind, officially opened its doors on September 18 and can accommodate up to 30 evacuee children between the ages of 6 months and 6 years.