Ryo Ishikawa takes a break from his schedule to visit the earthquake victims
Japan’s teenage Golfing sensation, Ryo Ishikawa on Monday visited one of the many evacuation sites where the refugees of the March 11 earthquake have been residing for the last almost two months.
Ishikawa has been overwhelmingly preoccupied in relief work, providing all sorts of help and support to the government’s efforts, to pull the country out of the history’s worst disaster.
Japan was hit by a magnitude 9 earthquake followed by series of several meters high Tsunamis and hundreds of aftershocks, leaving thousands dead and billions of loss in property and infrastructure.
Ishikawa was visiting the Saitama Prefecture and adjacent areas to acquire a firsthand account of plight of the people. He stopped by a gymnasium which has been providing shelter to dozens of families from the Fukushima Prefecture.
The 19-year-old Ishikawa was first hesitant of entering the gymnasium, not knowing how people would take his presence but was pleasantly surprised when the people inside welcomed him with loud cheers.
"I was wondering if it was okay for me to go," said the 2009 Japanese money title winner. "I was very surprised that people had the capacity to cheer for me."
Ishikawa was among the first golfers who pledged donations for the quake victims which inspired many others to follow in his footsteps. He not only pledged to donate all his earnings for the year 2011 but also dedicated 100,000 Yen for every birdie he would
score in the year.
People were seen flocking around the youngest and most celebrated Japanese golfer as they cherished the moments spent with him. A 24-year-old mother of two small girls, aged one and two, said that the girls would never listen to a story from her the way
they were listening to Ishikawa.
"My daughters were much more attentive listening to him (Ishikawa) read the picture book than they usually are when I read to them," she said.
Ishikawa spent few hours with the refugees before heading for other refugee shelters set up by the Japanese Government for the victims. A 14-year-old girl Mai Nitta presented Ishikawa with a portrait that she drew of him.
"He was cool. This will keep my spirits high for awhile," she said.
Ishikawa is blistering with confidence as he finished for joint 20th in last month’s high profile Masters at Augusta National. He grew up some 300 miles from the Miyagi Prefecture, the worst hit area in Japan, and was engaged in the WGC Cadillac
Champion when the calamity hit his homeland.
Ishikawa stayed up all night before the third round's play, watching TV and desperately trying to contact his family. He was finally able to talk to his family during the lunch hour and was relieved to know that they were all doing fine.
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