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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Professional skater Scott Hamilton joined Mark Obatake of the Hawaii Centers for Independent Living, the sponsor.




Olympians encourage
disabled teens

Kristi Yamaguchi helps put on
games to boost their self-esteem


By Keiko Kiele Akana-Gooch
kakana-gooch@starbulletin.com

They talk, laugh and play.

But half the kids at "Kristi's Friendship Games" on the North Shore face extraordinary tasks each day -- from getting out of bed to changing their clothes many without the use of their legs.

"Most of these kids face challenges," said Kristi Yamaguchi, who won the Olympic gold for figure skating in 1992.

"In some ways they're an inspiration to us. We can learn from them."

The four-day friendship games at the YMCA's Camp Erdman were made possible by a donation from Yamaguchi's Always Dream Foundation, established in 1996 to support organizations in California, Nevada and Hawaii that help disadvantaged children.

The games are part of the Youth Development Empowerment Program put on by the Hawaii Centers for Independent Living, which received a $200,000 grant from the foundation over three years.

HCIL Executive Director Mark Obatake said the program "is about helping teens break the cycle of isolation in society."

He said it is important for the physically challenged to be comfortable in a society that, for the most part, is not integrated to their needs.

The camp began with an Olympic start, with teams marching to music under flags they created. And it will have a golden end tomorrow, with every child receiving a gold medal donated by the Olympic Foundation.

Johnny Maile, a 16-year-old Makaha resident, first thought the camp was going to be weird. Now he considers it a second home.

Here "you can have fun and express yourself," he said. This is the farthest Maile has traveled and stayed by himself. Most of his time is either spent at Nanakuli High School or at home.

Maile, who wants to be a professional singer, said the camp inspired him "to go out and do whatever I want to do."

art
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Professional skater Kristi Yamaguchi participated yesterday in the Kristi's Friendship Games Camp Media Day.




Yamaguchi, who participated in activities, hopes the friendships created there will extend beyond the camp and that the kids will have higher self-esteem.

Team-building activities throughout the week included kite making and flying, a taiko drum workshop, karaoke, aromatherapy, basketball games, pool swimming, arts and crafts making, and a biathlon-turned-water fight. Yamaguchi played hairstylist for the girls in their make-over activity.

"Everyone was shy" at first, she said. "Now we can't keep them on schedules. It's all socializing."

The camp also changed Craig Kekahuna's life. Known fondly as "Uncle," Kekahuna does not have a disability, making him realize "sometimes us folks take it for granted."

He was asked by his boss at Ko Olina Golf Club to become a youth counselor for the camp, serving to motivate the kids.

Kekahuna is already looking forward to next year's camp. "Everybody came closer," said Kekahuna, who hopes to keep in touch with the kids on his team.

And they really are just kids with unique talents, personalities and dreams.

"Everyone has a dream," Yamaguchi said. "No matter what your dream is, if you put your heart into it, (you can) find a way to make it happen."



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