At the usual Friday morning chapel assembly at Mauna Loa School on April 16, Principal Allen Lipps had an unusual presentation.

Lipps had previously taught in Yap, one of the Federated States of Micronesia, where Typhoon Sidal almost completely leveled the 45-square-mile island on April 19.

“I brought in some videotapes and showed them the landscape,” said Lipps. Then he showed them the starkly contrasting video news footage of the devastation on the island taken shortly after the typhoon struck.

Lipps also talked to the students about what it was like for the 8,000 residents of the island, including his daughter (a local Yap girl that he and his wife adopted while there) and two “grandchildren” after the typhoon destroyed about 98 percent of all of the buildings on the island.

“Buildings I helped build are no longer there,” he said. “This was probably a once-in-a-hundred-years storm. It really pounded them.”

Lipps had a large bag of clothing and household goods that he brought to the assembly and spread on the floor in front of the school’s 30 students. “Here’s what I have,” he said. “What do you think we as a community can do?”

That challenge set in motion a community-wide effort to fill a 40-foot Matson container with food, clothing and household goods that will be shipped to the suffering residents of Yap.

“We have about 10 feet,” said the 35-year-old principal, who also teaches grades 5-8 at the school. We hope to get the container out by June 4 when school ends.

Lipps, a native Californian, was principal of the 200-student Yap Seventh-day Adventist School from 1992 to 1995. After teaching in Saipan for three years, he arrived at the Mauna Loa School on Kapiolani Street in 1998.

Matson donated the container and, when filled, will ship it free to Honolulu where the company will request another shipper to take the supplies to the typhoon-wracked residents of Yap.

Lipps said only one person died as a result of the storm’s fury, and that a few others have succumbed to the harsh living conditions on the island left in its wake. Winds estimated up to 125 mph leveled almost all of the buildings on the island, leaving thousands temporarily homeless, toppling utility poles, cutting electrical power and telephone service to nearly all residents.

Lipps’ (adopted) daughter was one of the few, fortunate ones who did not lose her home. “She used to live in the jungle,” he said, after talking to her. “Now she has a straight view of the ocean where the land was stripped bare of the once-dense foliage.

Yap has received some U.S. disaster aid, but much is still needed by residents there, Lipps said. Boxes of clothing, canned goods, bags of rice, household items and other supplies are starting to stack up all over the school. But a lot of space in the container still needs to be filled.

Students have been sending letters to local businesses soliciting support. They also have collected $500 in cash donations.

The Rest of the Story

After this story was printed in the local newspaper, the container was filled and sealed on June 4, the last day of school, and is ready for pick-up by Matson Line. The students had a special service by laying their hands on the container in a prayer of blessing. The newspaper wants to write a follow-up story when it finally is shipped.

In addition, a total of $600 in donations will be specifically used to rebuild the Adventist school on the island, as it was totally destroyed by the typhoon. Principal Lipps reported that the students thoroughly enjoyed this project. They worked hard right up to the end of school year organizing and sorting the donations of food and clothing. He feels it was a wonderful way to end the school year. He also adds that the newspaper article resulted in many telephone calls of inquiry about the school.