Community
Briefs
Compiled by
Samoa News Staff
AMERICAN SAMOA
TO OBSERVE GOOD FRIDAY WITH SERVICES
Christians around
the world, including those in American Samoa, will celebrate
Good Friday tomorrow, the day when they believe Jesus Christ
was crucified and died on the cross at Calvary to save the world
many centuries ago.
Good Friday will
be marked with morning services by some church denominations
especially the Catholic Faith, whose parishioners plan to witness
a live recreation of Christ's fourteen stations of the Cross,
which starts just before sunrise. (This is believed to be the
final steps Jesus took, while carrying his cross, to be crucified.)
Good Friday precedes
Easter Sunday, the day Christians believe Jesus was resurrected
and will include a wide range of church services territory-wide,
followed by an Easter feast.
Gov. Togiola
Tulafono has already declared tomorrow a government holiday and
all government offices are closed. Employees required to work
will receive holiday wages in accordance with applicable laws
and regulations.
Some local businesses,
including ANZ Amerika Samoa Bank and COS Samoa Packing, will
be closed. However, ANZ will open half-day Saturday at its two
branches. There was no official word from StarKist Samoa if they
are packing tomorrow. The Bank of Hawai'i will be opened during
normal business hours for Good Friday.
Federal offices
including the U.S. Post Office will be opened tomorrow and Saturday
during normal business hours.
Samoa News will
not publish tomorrow in observance of Good Friday, and Saturday
for maintenance work. We will publish on Monday.
SHRINERS SEE
152 CHILDREN IN AMERICAN SAMOA AND SAMOA
A Shriners team
from Honolulu was able to see 101 children in American Samoa,
40 on the island of Upolu and 11 in Savai'i during their latest
trip to the Samoans islands.
"It was
wonderfully successful," Dr. Craig Ono from the Honolulu
Shriners Hospital for Children said yesterday.
After a three-day
clinic at LBJ, the Shriners team, that included University of
Hawaii resident physician Dr. Alexander Garber plus coordinators
Sandy Zukeran and Mary Dau, left with several local Shriners
to neighboring Samoa. Two days were spent on Upolu island and
one day was spent in Savai'i.
Dr. Ono said
the team was able to evaluate new patients and follow-up with
former patients who had previously been treated by Shriners,
a one-of-a-kind international health care system dedicated to
improving the lives of children by providing treatments for orthopedic
conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate.
Local physicians
also received treatment plans from the visitors, to deal with
Shriners kids following their operations. Local Shriners hold
fund-raisers to raise money to send children in need of treatment
to Shriners in Honolulu.
"It's a
free service and something that is very unique," Dr. Ono,
who has been to the territory twice before, told Samoa News.
"We have a very good working relationship with LBJ and we
are very pleased with the facility. It's always a pleasure coming
here and seeing the kids in Hawaii."
The visitors
joined local Shriners in presenting LBJ Children's Ward patients
with Easter Baskets yesterday. Dr. Ono said, "it was very
special to go out of their way and do this." The Honolulu
Shriners depart American Samoa today. Dr. Ono plans to head to
Fiji next.
FESTIVAL LITERARY
ARTS SUBCOMMITTEE MEETS TODAY
The 10th Pacific
Arts Festival's Literary Arts subcommittee will meet today to
plan pre-festival events to raise awareness on both local and
Pacific literary arts and their role in the upcoming festival
set for July 20-Aug. 2.
Subcommittee
chairperson Jacinta Galeai says they are looking at starting
next month "literary arts reading series." They plan
to focus on the general public including high schools and the
American Samoa Community College.
A subcommittee
meeting is set for 7 p.m. today at the Equator Restaurant and
Galeai invites everyone to attend including those interested
in being a part of the subcommittee. Galeai said this is a great
way to not only support the festival, but also to promote literary
arts.
For more information,
call Jacinta Galeai at 633-4440 during normal office hours.
Reach the
reporters at news.newsroom@samoatelco.com.
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