Photo By Angela Henderson | Coast Guard Capt. Joanna Nunan, commanding officer of Coast Guard Sector Honolulu,...... read more read more
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PAGO PAGO, American Samoa – Students of all ages from South Pacific Academy in Pago Pago, American Samoa received 16 computers and more than 3,500 books from the Coast Guard and Rotary Club of Kapolei Feb. 9, as part of a combined effort to improve access to educational materials on the island.
A Coast Guard C-130 Hercules aircraft crew from Air Station Barbers Point flew more than 2, 500 miles to deliver the donated materials. Upon arrival the Hercules was met by Gov. Togiola Tulafono who greeted and thanked the aircrew as they came out of the plane.
“When we opened the back of the C-130 everyone’s first words were ‘Wow, so many books!’”, said Ken Gillespie, a pilot from Air Station Barbers Point. “Humanitarian efforts are one of my favorite missions that we do. It lets us work with many other agencies and give back to the community.”
The donations come just two years after American Samoa was hit with an earthquake and tsunami Sept. 30, 2009, which swept into the capital Pago Pago and wiped out many villages. In response to the disaster, Principal Evelyn Lili`o-Satele, of South Pacific Academy was asked if the collection of books in Honollulu would be a morale booster in the wake of the destruction.
“It actually started out as a small community project,” Lili`o-Satele explained, “but now it has turned out to be a huge gift for the community.”
She noted that the level of success in coordinating the collection of books was due to the efforts of Danny Pa’u, a representative with Starkist-Samoa Company and Dan Fullenwider, a member with Rotary Club of Kapolei, Hawaii.
Members from the Rotary Club of Kapolei collected more than 7,000 books for the children in Pago Pago. The Coast Guard also donated 16 computers to the school.
“When I first got to American Samoa the members of the rotary club here welcomed me into the club and the community,” said Lt. Trevor Parra, supervisor of Marine Safety Detachment American Samoa. “One day I got a call from Fullenwider from Honolulu, wanting to know if I would be able to get a C-130 to come down here with books.”
Para put forth the request. One thing led to another and not only was a Hercules made available, more books were collected than could be carried in one trip, requiring a future Hercules flight to American Samoa to deliver the remainder. In total, the Hercules aircrew flew more than 2,500 miles from Barbers Point, Hawaii to Pago Pago, American Samoa and will soon be flying another 2,500 miles to deliver the rest of the books.
“The books will also be sent to Lyndon B. Johnson Memorial Hospital in Tafuna and to the Hope Recovery House on a revolving loan/share basis because both these institutions showed a very strong interest in stocking their libraries also,” said Lili`o-Satele. “Since the tsunami this has all evolved out of the power of parents and the community, here and in Honolulu,” she added. “Every time I received an e-mail from Fullenwider, he would inform me of one more pallet of books that had been donated.”
The joint effort began in July 2010 between numerous organizations and agencies. Since Sept. 30, 2009, American Samoa has been working hard to rebuild their community and villages.
“We did a lot of good and made a lot of people very, very happy," said Fullenwider. “There is no telling how many lives will be affected in the future from this project spearheaded by Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point and the Rotary Club of Kapolei. We all can take a lot of pride in knowing that we just pulled off what will probably turn out to be the biggest Rotary International Literacy Project conducted world-wide this year.”
| Date Taken: | 02.09.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 02.15.2011 12:36 |
| Story ID: | 65473 |
| Location: | HONOLULU, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 158 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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