Upon arrival at Topaz, they had to begin all over again. Tomi became the head teacher of the preschool in Rec Hall 9. Yoshiye Sekino, Miye Yamada and Midori Fukuchi were her teaching staff.
She later recorded her memories:
“The recreation halls where we held the school were empty barracks. We had to put pictures on the walls. We had to take the children out of the building to the latrines. This was very difficult during the dust storms and icy winter weather. But we provided a well-rounded program of activities and the children soon became adjusted and happy.”
