A community development student has jetted from Ferguslie to Fukushima in a bid to learn more about a recovering region determined to change misconceptions about it.
Terry McTernan, who has long countered the “negative narrative” of Ferguslie Park, spent 13 days in Japan taking part in the Fukushima Ambassadors Programme.
Known around the world for the devastating nuclear explosion – following an earthquake and tsunami in 2011 – Fukushima is today trying to rebuild as part of the ongoing radioactive clean up.
For Terry, who is a student at Glasgow University and heads up Ferguslie’s Darkwood Crew, it was the trip of a lifetime and an opportunity to take lessons in culture, regeneration and resilience from one community to another.
He told the Paisley Daily Express: “Through the ambassadors programme they are looking to challenge the negative narrative around Fukushima which suffered a nuclear disaster and has been held on a par with Chernobyl.
“It challenges people to understand what happened and how Japan responded and, when you do that, you understand it is not another Chernobyl.
“They want to challenge that narrative and having endeavoured to change the preoperative of Ferguslie Park for the past six or seven years, that really struck a chord with me, all be it on a vastly different scale.”
The programme sees international students invited to Fukushima to learn more about the region and to share the truth and positive changes there with the rest of the world.
As part of the expedition, Terry spent time in Tokyo and travelled to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station compound. He visited the mass warehouse where 34 million one-ton bags of radiation contaminated soil are temporarily being stored. He also visited the “difficult to return areas”.
He went to Futaba, which had a population of 16,000 and where restrictions on visiting were lifted last year, as well as the Great East Japan Earthquake Revival Monument.
Today, 70 people have returned to Futaba – a group ready to reclaim their heritage – while tens of thousands of others remain scattered across Japan and continue to build their lives, many separated from their loved ones. Their stories of loss and resilience made a real impact on Terry, especially those who lost whole families in the tsunami.
He said: “The people of Futaba are at the beginning of that process of regeneration and it has made me realise just how far we have travelled down that road.
“When you are at the coal face, sometimes you feel exacerbated by the scale of changes or obstacles in the way. This experience has perhaps put all of that into perspective. Yes, our lives can be difficult but we have fantastic community spirit.
“For the people of Fukushima, that sometimes didn’t exist because the people were dispersed all over the country. We have a lot that is often overlooked or goes unrecognised like the level of community spirit.
“Sometimes it takes you to leave that environment to appreciate it. So, I was so glad to come home.”
It was the community spirit in Ferguslie that made the trip to Japan possible for Terry.
With the cost of the expedition £2,000, it was Terry’s friends and neighbours who were determined to see a man who has dedicated so much of his time to helping others, receive that same support.
A bingo night and some good old-fashioned fundraising saw the community generate £2,500 to send Terry on his way and he couldn’t be more grateful.
“Before Japan, I hadn’t felt how much the community was invested in me being at university,” he said. “The fact that the community backed this experience was incredibly humbling for me and provides me with even more motivation to keep going.”
Thrilled to have taken part in this once-in-a-lifetime experience, Terry was able to experience true Japanese hospitality, having enjoyed their food, traditional sleeping on the floor and hot spring swims.
“I was like a fish out of water,” he admitted. "It was a massive culture shock. Having fish for breakfast is not my norm. Even things like litter, it is just not an issue in Japan; everyone buys into that as a society and the children, they go to school in the evenings. It was very different.
“But the people are so helpful and friendly and the culture so fascinating; it was an absolutely awesome experience.”
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