The Rotary Club of South Hilo, in partnership with Short n Sweet Bakery and Café and the Church of the Holy Apostles, is inviting the community to a free open community forum at 5 p.m. today presenting the experiences of
The Rotary Club of South Hilo, in partnership with Short n Sweet Bakery and Café and the Church of the Holy Apostles, is inviting the community to a free open community forum at 5 p.m. today presenting the experiences of four Peace Corps volunteers and their time in Tanzania.
The forum will take place at the Church of the Holy Apostles, 1407 Kapiolani St. in Hilo.
Featured speaker is Kanoelehua Ho along with three of her Peace Corps colleagues, Rochelle Latka, Sarah Munteanu and Ginny Worley. Their talk will focus on their experiences of being a Peace Corps volunteer and about Ho’s projects in Tanzania.
Ho, a Kamehameha Schools-Hawaii alumna, graduated in 2013 from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. In February 2014, she headed to Tanzania to start her assignment for the Peace Corps. During her 27-month stay in Tanzania, Ho led numerous projects in her village including several funded with the help of a $3,000 grant from the Rotary Club of South Hilo.
With the grant, Ho led a project that completed the village’s visiting physician house and completed a system bringing running water to its health clinic. The project also brought 20 beehives to the village, to teach beekeeping and provide honey. Besides providing income to buy HIV medication, the bees also will help pollinate a plant that can help treat HIV. The grant also purchased 2 acres, where Ho and the villagers planted 300 avocado trees. The avocado crop serves as another source of income.
“It’s truly amazing all of the lives Kanoe has been able to impact in her work with the Peace Corps,” said Rotary Club of South Hilo President Kim Arakawa. “The community is so incredibly proud of all she has done. We are really looking forward to seeing and hearing about all she and her colleagues experienced in Tanzania.”
Short n Sweet will provide light refreshments for the event. For more information, call 741-1475.
