Sunday, July 15, 2012 – Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Project “Rainbow for Japan Kids,” which invites children from the disaster-stricken areas in Tohoku to Hawaii, is in its 4th operation, and many children have had the chance to experience various programs in Hawaii. The children interacted with children’s group Bridge Club Hawaii at YMCA’s Camp Erdman and got to experience nature at the Doutor Coffee farm and at the Kilauea Military Camp. On the last day, Roy Sakuma even made an appearance at KoAloha Ukulele as he led the handcrafting of the ukulele produced there. He also worked personally with the children as he guided them.
The children received the aloha spirit from everyone and went on to slowly build dreams of their own. “I want to be a flight attendant for Japan Airlines and live in Hawaii.” “I want to study English and come back to Hawaii.” “I dreamed that being a housewife was good enough, but after talking with everyone in Hawaii I now hope to become a screenwriter.” After arriving back home in Japan, everyone immediately said “I want to go to Hawaii again!”
A mother of one of the children who participated said this. “I saw my child having a great time through pictures on Facebook. It was really the first time my child was having that much fun since the earthquake disaster…Thank you so much. I believe that my child will powerfully step forward into the future based on this experience.”
This project will still continue on. The next one is scheduled to take place in December.