Students to hold Friday candlelight vigil in support of people of Japan

A UH Mānoa student-organized candlelight vigil, “Aloha for Japan,” will be held on Friday evening, March 18, on the Bachman Hall lawn from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., marking the one-week anniversary ofJapan’s earthquake and tsunami devastation, and current nuclear threat.  The public is invited to participate.

 

The candlelight vigil will utilize the lights from cell phones instead of candles.

 

The program will begin at 7:00 p.m. with speeches from UH Mānoa students (including students from Japan) and faculty. At 7:46 p.m., there will be a moment of silence to coincide with the approximate Hawai‘i time that the earthquake struck Japan last Thursday.

 

Also at the March 18 candlelight vigil, there will be special tables staffed by volunteers from the International Student Association and International Business Organization, as well as other student organizations. The students will oversee 1) the folding of 1,000 origami paper cranes and writing of messages of support, with these symbolic gestures of goodwill to be shared with the Consul General of Japan in Honolulu, and 2) the collection of monetary donations, which will be relayed to the American Red Cross, Hawai‘i State Chapter.

 

In addition, on the Mānoa campus tomorrow, student volunteers will staff donation tables at the Campus Center, Shidler College of Business and Hamilton Library from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.