AMP, PDI agree to help Hibakusha Experience

American Memorial Park and Pacific Development, Inc. have both offered their full support to the Hibakusha Experience, which is an oral retelling of the sufferings of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombing survivors.

National Park Service park manager Chuck Sayon expressed his support to the event after meeting with 10th Tinian Municipal Council chair Edwin P. Aldan and Hibakusha Experience venue coordinator Donna Cabrera last week.

The committee officers also met with Pacific Development Inc. marketing manager, Gordon Marciano about the “special” Student Hibakusha Experience on Saipan on July 31.

Aldan said the Student Hibakusha Experience would be a special opportunity for students and honored guests around the CNMI to listen to the experiences of atomic bomb survivors—the Hibakusha—from Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

He said they approached Sayon for the possible use of the American Memorial Park Museum auditorium to show the Student Hibakusha Experience on Saipan.

Aldan said Sayon confirmed during their meeting last week that the facility would be available for use during the government-sponsored event but Sayon has yet to determine the fee AMP would be charging.

With 120 raised seats available at the newly constructed auditorium, the facility offers a great venue for the peace event on Saipan, said Aldan.

The Student Hibakusha Experience at the AMP auditorium will be on July 31 from 9am to 10:30am.

In addition to reserving the venue for the event for students, organizers were also able to approach PDI. Aldan said Marciano promised him the tour company’s assistance in distributing tickets for the event.

The council also sent an invitation to the various MyWave Clubs in schools on Saipan to participate in the event.

Aldan said they sent the invitation to PDI general manager Yoichi Matsumura, who is a sitting member of the Marianas Tourism Education Council. MTEC was the organization that created the MyWave clubs.

“Although the event takes place during the students’ summer vacation and, unfortunately on a Sunday morning, it is my hope that we will be able to draw a fair number of students to this worthwhile event,” said Aldan.

Tickets for the regular Hibakusha Experience on Aug. 2 at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center will cost $3 each.

Aldan said the proceeds of the sales would go to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Peace Museums, and the Tinian Historical Preservation Fund. Tickets for all of the Hibakusha Experience events will be made available in the first week of July.

The Hibakusha Experience’s showing on Saipan will also help the island commemorate the 60th anniversary of the atomics bombings, which are widely believed to have brought Japan to the peace table during World War II.

For more information on how to reserve tickets for the event, contact the 10th Tinian Municipal Council or visit www.tinianonline.com.