Second Wave of Japan Survivors to Arrive on Maui

By Wendy Osher

The Aloha Initiative welcome event, photo courtesy Irvin Yamada.

The Aloha Initiative will welcome its second wave of survivors from Japan on Monday.  Twenty eight Japanese students and chaperones will spend 19 days on Maui for respite care following the devastation of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Volunteer host families will provide homes for the visiting group, which is scheduled to arrive in Hawaii on Monday afternoon aboard Hawaiian Airlines.

Funds donated by individuals and businesses including First Hawaiian Bank, Relativity Media, and Mana Foods are being used to pay for deeply discounted airfare from Japan to Hawaii. Hawaiian Airlines is providing all air transportation including complimentary interisland travel for the program participants.

Also on Maui, three of the program participants will be the featured speakers at a gathering on Saturday, July 23, 2011.  The survivors will discuss their experiences at a free presentation from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Kahului Hongwanji Mission.  Light refreshments will be served. For more information about The Aloha Initiative, call 280-1299 on Maui or 292-1262 on Oahu, or visit www.alohainitiative.com.