On Schools
Mainlanders volunteer in Waimanalo

By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Education Writer

It is a noble thing to volunteer. What's perhaps even more impressive is volunteering as much as 5,000 miles from your own back yard.

That's what 10 Mainland high school students did this summer. Coming from as far afield as California and New York, the group stayed in the heart of Waimanalo as volunteers in the community.

The students were participating in the Connecticut-based World Horizons program, which sends students all over the Americas and the Pacific each summer to do community service. Director Judy Manning likens the program to a junior Peace Corps.

"The aim is to offer these students the chance to give back to other communities and learn about other cultures at the same time," she said.

The students spent most of their time at Blanche Pope Elementary. They dug and planted a Hawaiian garden equipped with a sprinkler system; touched up the grids on the sidewalk hopscotch; applied

orange paint and whimsical designs to playground equipment; and transformed the yellowing and peeling paint of an old office into a wrap-around mural of an Island scene.

In return for all the help, the teens experience life in other communities and learn about other cultures, said Kerry Vinsel, one of two leaders supervising the Waimanalo group.

In between, the students discovered Spam musubi, the swap meet, white-sand beaches, Hawai'i's culture and the spirit of aloha.

"The people here are really nice," said 17-year-old Jessica Rabinowitz of Connecticut as she put the finishing touches on the Makapu'u-inspired mural that she designed for the school office. "They're always offering us food and inviting us for barbecues and dinners. They're just more hospitable."

"It's a win-win situation," said Pope Elementary Principal Rodney Moriwake. In return for all the help, the school helped the group find somewhere to stay in Waimanalo and helped the young people make connections in the broader community.

As if the work at the school wasn't enough, the group also did a beach cleanup, worked with children in Summer Fun and helped out at a church lu'au for 2,000 people.

"We tell them, 'You will put in 100 percent, but you will take out 1,000 percent,' " Manning said.

World Horizons has sent groups to work in Kane'ohe and on Moloka'i. They also work with groups in Samoa, Canada and Central and South America.

Students pay $4,100 to participate; the fee covers all expenses. For information, visit the Web site.

Reach Alice Keesing at akeesing@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.