Radio operators donate
By Rod Thompson
books to Fanning Island
Star-BulletinHILO -- Santa Claus will trade his sleigh for a Norwegian cruise ship, but he'll bypass Christmas Island in favor of a smaller speck in the Pacific when he delivers presents next week.
Several Big Island ham radio operators arranged for the ship Norwegian Dynasty to deliver about seven pickup truckloads of used school books to Fanning Island, 1,100 miles south of the Big Island in the Republic of Kiribati, said Terry Lonergan, vice chairman of Pacific Island Relief Organization.
The shipment will arrive Christmas day, according to the reckoning of the Kiribati government, which moved the international dateline so it wouldn't cut the 2,400-mile-wide country in half.
Thirteen-square-mile Fanning is a short sail to the northwest of 139-square-mile Christmas Island.
Fanning gets the attention because ham radio operator Chuck Corbett, who lives there, started chatting with Big Island hams Lonergan and Jack Packard, chairman of the relief group.
Corbett said the 1,600 people of the island need school books and medical supplies like bandages.
"Kids have no books at all," said Kona resident Tokantaai Vitousek, who was born and raised on Fanning. Her husband, Martin Vitousek, said they sometimes send writing paper to Fanning because the people run out.
Lonergan said the one thing Fanning has in abundance is fish, but the island sometimes runs out of its other mainstay, rice.
Used books from the Hawaii Department of Education were to be delivered to the Norwegian Dynasty today, Lonergan said.
A search for donated medical supplies wasn't nearly as successful, he said.
Packard said there is still time for medical donations, since the ship will sail to Kailua-Kona before heading south on Dec. 22.
Donations can be made by calling Packard at (808) 982-6277 or via the Pacific Island Relief Organization Web site at http://www.piro.org. (Note: The PIRO web site was not responding as of Friday afternoon.)
Besides bandages, simple items like a stethoscope and bedpans are needed, Lonergan said. Fanning has no doctors and only one nurse, he said.
Kiribati consul in Honolulu Bill Pape said the donations are appreciated. "The government is grateful for any kind of donation like this," he said.
