Dr. Charles Taba of Kalaheo is heading up a medical and support mission to over 400 Thai orphans. An advance team led by Taba leaves Tuesday for the town of Phang Nga in southern Thailand. He is being joined by
Dr. Charles Taba of Kalaheo is heading up a medical and support mission to over 400 Thai orphans.
An advance team led by Taba leaves Tuesday for the town of Phang Nga in southern Thailand. He is being joined by Dr. Sharon Ayabe, and Payow Nishimoto of Wailua Houselots.
Ayabe is a veteran of medical missions to third world countries and Nishimoto is a Thai national from southern Thailand and the wife of Kaua‘i photographer Ralph Nishimoto.
Payow Nishimoto has been involved in past short term missions in Thailand aimed at establishing orphanages.
Taba is head of missions for Kalaheo Missionary Church.
The team plans to “assess and arrange for the immediate and most pressing needs of the orphans,” according to a report from the Kalaheo church.
They are to relay the information back to Kaua‘i, so necessary provisions and resources can be brought to the tsunami relief area by teams from Kaua‘i, Hilo and other areas in Hawai‘i and California.
Taba plans to work closely with Mark and Dorien Nakatsukasa, who are missionaries sponsored by the Kalaheo Missionary Church who were serving in Phang Nga prior to the tsunami.
The Nakatsukasas, along with their daughter Anneke, were among the first to respond at Phang Nga after the tsunami that struck on Dec. 26, providing translation services, coordinating with relief agencies and the local government, according to a report from the church.
The couple are now helping out in relocation camps, serving as counsels for traumatized people, many of whom are still in shock. They are also setting up secure children’s centers at the relocation camps, and installing playground equipment for four camps. The Nakatsukasas have also helped in the rebuilding of ten of the 107 homes that were totally demolished in a fishing village near their home.
The Thai government has given permission to open emergency crisis homes for the orphans at Phang Nga and several buildings have been rented to house them. A church report says the teams will be outfitting the buildings to make them habitable and child-friendly. Team members will also provide health and nurturing care for the children.
The first team to follow Taba is set to leave for Thailand on March 9. Team members scheduled to go include Mamoru Kaneshiro, Stafford Soto, Dawn Sparks, Eileen Taba and Ruth Taba from Kalaheo Missionary Church, and Herman and Brigitte Tijsseling from Koloa Missionary Church. Another team is slated to leave April 5.
For more information: Kalaheo Missionary Church, 332-9916.
