Clyde Sakamoto created an "aloha" library in a village in India more than 40 years ago.
The University of Hawaii Maui College chancellor taught English and had a library of books from his alma matter, Roosevelt High School on Oahu, while serving in the Peace Corps in India from 1966 to 1968.
His corps group also taught village-level food production where the volunteers introduced hybrid grains, fertilization and irrigation schedules to the villagers of Shemba.
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CLYDE SAKAMOTO, was 24 when he went to India
Sakamoto, who was 24 at the time, called his experience "transformational."
When asked why he joined the corps, Sakamoto said: "Thought that if I could survive in India, I'd be able to cope with anything else that followed."
The 68-year-old Kula resident said he fulfilled a promise he made to his Indian host parents, the Shembakers, when he returned to the village in 1993. During that visit, he was able to introduce his host parents to his wife, Gerrianne.
Sakamoto said they had a wonderful reunion and are still in touch with some of the Shembaker children. Mr. Shembaker was a farmer and headmaster of the elementary through high school at which Sakamoto taught.
