WAIMEA — The students of Waimea Canyon Middle School are supporting an effort to bring youth impacted by the March 2011 Japan earthquake/tsunami to Kaua‘i. Aloha Fukushima Keiki is a nonprofit organization with the goal of bringing children from affected
WAIMEA — The students of Waimea Canyon Middle School are supporting an effort to bring youth impacted by the March 2011 Japan earthquake/tsunami to Kaua‘i.
Aloha Fukushima Keiki is a nonprofit organization with the goal of bringing children from affected areas of Fukushima prefecture to Kaua‘i. Its mission is to offer a healthy respite full of fresh air, clean seas and nurturing aloha.
The plan is to bring about 10 children from Fukushima each summer, according to Keiko Lansdell, a volunteer with the organization. The fundraising got off to late start this year, but the organization is looking to bring three children over and aim to bring 10 in 2014, she said.
“To raise money, we had a T-shirt design contest at Waimea Canyon Middle School,” Lansdell said.
On Thursday Aloha Fukushima Keiki named Waimea Canyon Middle School sixth grade student Rochel Agustinez as the contest winner. She was chosen from around 30 finalists out of a pool of more than 200 entries from two art classes.
“Rochel is a sixth grader who has gift,” said Leighton Kabutan, an art teacher at Waimea Canyon Middle School. “She is a talented artist.”
Kabutan said Agustinez created a beautiful, two-color red and black design of two koi swimming in circular fashion within a bamboo frame. The design depicts a Japanese flag and Hawaiian flags on either side.
“We thought this was a good opportunity to make a connection between Japan and Hawai‘i and to help out these children,” Kabutan said. “It is a good cause, and I at least want to promote those kinds of activities for the kids.”
Agustinez, who sent her comments through her art teacher, said she was inspired by the stories of children that survived the terrible earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011.
When she heard about the effort to bring some of those children here, she wanted to create a welcoming design for them using koi and bamboo in a T-shirt design.
The inspiration came from reflecting on all the beautiful aspects of Japan and Hawai‘i, she said, including bamboo and a koi pond.
“I can’t wait to see the children from Japan come to visit the island of Kaua‘i,” Agustinez said.
The contest was open to students of two art classes in grades six to eight.
They submitted drawings that were prejudged by the art teachers and the selected designs were sent to a selection committee at Aloha Fukushima Keiki.
“The winning design for our T-shirt is wonderful and very creative,” Lansdell said. “We chose it for its skill in execution, creativity and ability to link together Japanese and Hawaiian culture.”
The committee especially liked the idea of the koi fish, Lansdell said. In Japan, she said the koi are symbols of youth, health, energy and the vitality and innocence of spirit that cannot be broken.
“That’s why on Children’s Day they fly koi nobori, which are koi shaped flags, to honor the resiliency and energy of youth and also to wish for the health of the keiki,” she added. “Likewise, the bamboo bring to mind peace and happiness. And, of course, the two flags show companionship, indicating the strong ties and kokua between Japan and Hawai‘i.”
Aloha Fukushima Keiki President Noriaki Fujimora is a Waimea resident. He connected with Team Nihonmatsu, the organization working on the Japan side to identify youth ages 10 to 14 to bring to Kaua‘i from Fukushima.
The prizes for T-shirts contest were donated by Waimea Historic Theater.
The T-shirts will be printed and sold at Hanapepe Art Night this weekend and every Friday.
The project is looking for in-kind support as well, everything from tours for the Japanese youth while on-island, to volunteering for a fundraising event.
“We are looking for more volunteers and any kind of help,” Lansdell said.
Future fundraising events now in the planning stage include a yoga retreat in May with lunch, meditation and music.
For information call 645-0237, email alohafukushimakeiki@yahoo.com or write to Aloha Fukushima Keiki, P.O. Box 38, Koloa, HI 96765.
• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0424 or tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
