Nava

LAHAINA – Rick Nava and fellow Rotarians recently returned from Tacloban City in the Philippines, where they dedicated and launched another clean water system project spearheaded by the Rotary Club of Lahaina.

“This clean water system will now provide clean water for the 230-plus students of Santa Elena Elementary School and the 1,300-plus people of Santa Elena Village,” explained Nava, president of the Rotary Club of Lahaina.

“While in Santa Elena, we also distributed school supplies for the children of Santa Elena Elementary School, toothbrushes, toothpaste and slippers.”

Along with the Rotary Club of Lahaina, the Rotary Clubs of Tacloban; Paco Manila; Lahaina Sunrise; Upcountry Maui; Kapolei; Grover Beach; and Calgary, South helped fund this project, along with the Lahaina Rotary Youth Foundation.

The latest effort represents the Rotary Club of Lahaina’s third water project for the people of Tacloban City, an area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013.

The new system will provide clean water for Santa Elena Elementary School and Santa Elena Village.

In February 2017, Rotarians dedicated a clean water system for the students of Lorenzo Daa Memorial School and Camansihay Elementary School.

Rotarians also constructed toilets for the 850-plus students of A.P. Banez Memorial Elementary School. The system was ready for the students in March 2016.

Nava was accompanied by his wife, Rina, and Rotary Club of Lahaina President-Elect/Treasurer Darryl Ng, John Young of the Rotary Club of Lahaina, Lyman Morikawa of the Rotary Club of Upcountry Maui, and President Alex and Merianne Vergara of the Rotary Club of Kapolei.

In related news, Rotary Club of Lahaina members recently donated $500 and 24 dictionaries to the Lahaina After School Tutor Project, as well as school supplies for Lahaina Intermediate School and Princess Nahi’ena’ena Elementary School, and dictionaries for third-graders Princess Nahi’ena’ena School.