Elementary students at Hawaii Baptist Academy have sent a 60-foot-long paper lei to the New York Fire Department's Rescue One, which lost as many as nine men in the World Trade Center disaster. Paper-lei prayers
head to New YorkBy Lisa Asato
lasato@starbulletin.comThe homemade lei doesn't exude the fragrance of pikake or pakalana, but the cut-out flowers radiate something stronger: messages of hope, encouragement and faith.
"God is watching over you." wrote first-grader Jessi.
Like many students at the private Christian academy, sixth-grader Ethan Kawada said he quoted the Bible to let the firefighters know "We have faith in the people helping to clean up the crash."
Students, teachers and staff, each of whom contributed a personalized flower, sent the lei off yesterday with a prayer and an outdoor ceremony, while the state and American flags flew at half staff.
"I feel proud of what we did because people working there feel encouraged now to look and find more people," said sixth-grader Christina Yoo, whose cousin worked at the World Trade Center.
Both Yoo's cousin and another student's aunt, who was in one of the towers at the time of the attack, managed to make it out OK.
Principal Rebecca Ovitt said that when she broke the news of the tragedy to sixth-graders who were on a camping trip at the time, some started to cry.
"When the kids are hurting they have to do an activity that is meaningful and helps them to heal," Ovitt said. "One way is to do this lei."
The students also have been writing in journals, talking about the tragedy in classrooms and praying, she said.
Strung among the more than 400 paper flowers was a prayer written by third-grader Tammy Isobe. "Dear God," she wrote, "Keep the rescuers safe. Please help them to find more people that are alive. Help heal people that are injured. Amen."
