It wasn't the spring break Radford High senior Jonathan Afaga had expected, but when the opportunity arose to help Kaua'i recover from the devastating Kaloko Reservoir dam break, he knew he couldn't pass it up.

"Spring break students go do wild and crazy things, like get drunk or party hard, and I am not really one of those students. So what better way to spend my spring break than by doing something good?" Afaga said.

He was one of eight students from Radford High School who spent their own money — and gave up their spring break two weeks ago — to help with relief efforts on Kaua'i.

"You hear a lot of stuff about natural disasters that happen all over the world and the only thing you can do is donate money," Afaga said. "I thought it would be the only chance I'll have to do something."

The group of students arrived on Kaua'i on March 30 knowing that their weekend would be filled with community service projects set up for them through Kaua'i County's Office of Economic Development.

The students also were hoping to interview residents for a documentary about what happened the morning the Kaloko Reservoir breached and destroyed roads, homes and lives.

David Anderson, a geography teacher at Radford, organized the trip in hopes that it would teach students about the "power of nature" and giving back to the community.

"I thought it would be a good educational experience for the students to actually see what had happened, and on a personal level to help out and give back to people who are in need right now," Anderson said.

On March 31, students worked from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. helping to clean a heiau near the Aloha Beach Resort, said Anderson. Students helped to build an irrigation ditch to a taro patch in the area and also helped clean up a place called Kings Passage, a path that connects several heiau.

The next day the students helped clean the nonprofit Ho'omana Thrift Shop in Wailua, which helps underprivileged children, said Anderson. Students helped clear out a storage area and move furniture around.

Afaga said even though that project wasn't directly related to the flooding or what happened at Kaloko, he still felt as if he was helping a community get back on its feet.

"It's really one of those kinds of facilities that show you how good people can be," said Afaga. "From that we knew that it shouldn't take a disaster to bring people together."

The group was then scheduled to help an elderly woman whose home flooded during the storm, said Anderson.

"Unfortunately she had a heart attack the night before. It was really sad," he said.

With no afternoon plans, Anderson said the Red Cross on Kaua'i took the students on a tour of the devastated area.

Grant Johnson, a senior at Radford, said the tour of the area will always stick out in his mind.

"The Red Cross guys said where we were was all flat land and now it looks like a regular creek that runs all the way down to the ocean mouth," Johnson said.

"Refrigerators and everyday items you could think of ... were scattered everywhere. Houses were totally shattered. It was kind of a sad moment."

Johnson said he hopes the trip helps people recognize that many high school students do good things and care about their neighbors.

"I think we helped the whole community," he said. "People were thankful for us giving up our time seeing that they couldn't get other teenagers to do the stuff we were doing."

Anderson said 18 students applied and were willing to pay $170 to go on the trip, but only eight students could go, considering there would be only two chaperones.

Afaga said he thought the students who took the trip learned lessons in kindness and giving back to the community.

"I do wish (the students who could not go) had this opportunity. It is kind of one of those one-shot things," he said.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.