WAIMEA — The third community health fair was not about the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, Saturday at the Clem Gomes Gym and the adjoining baseball field.
Information about COVID-19 was available, however, through the representation of the state Department of Health Kaua‘i District Health Office, which presented a talk about nutrition.
“They tried to shut us down since Wednesday,” said Keiko Sagawa-Pananganan, the advisor for the Waimea High School health academy that coordinated the event. “But we weren’t going to let that happen. The students worked hard to put this together, and if we had postponed it, the next available date is a week from graduation.”
The group persisted, and amidst the flurry of event cancellations and postponements, welcomed a steady stream of patrons to the event where keiki were treated to outdoor fun and healthy activities like horseback riding and a variety of bounce houses and water slides.
“This is just the outdoor portion,” said Raelee Samio, a student with the health academy. “There is an educational component inside the gym. This health fair is about being well as well as raising awareness about the health academy where a lot of the students are looking as possible careers in the health industry.”
Sagawa-Pananganan said originally there were about 70 vendors registered to participate, but a lot of vendors didn’t show due to the dynamic changing face of the COVID-19.
Jason Fujinaka, visiting the event as a parent and spectator, said the county Department of Water was one of the vendors originally scheduled to participate. However, a company policy change in the face of COVID-19 forced the department to pull out.
Alternative plans for the Fix A Leak campaign that was on the DOW calendar, are available through their Facebook page.
The health academy got help from the school’s other groups like the Future Farmers of America, the Mile 23 Produce, the Pamatansan Club, which provided entertainment, and numerous other community groups that offered a variety of information and activities like Zumba that got everyone excited early.
“We might not have as many people as we could have had,” Sagawa-Pananganan said. “But I’m glad we were able to have this and offer the community whatever we could to help them stay healthy.”
What an absurd and small-minded travesty to hold a “health fair” in a time of pandemic. You are teaching children to thumb their noses at a global threat to health and life itself. Shame on all you “adults” for not caring more about the health and well-being of our young ones.