by Jolene Toves

Guam - In the aftermath of Chad Desoto's heinous acts, island residents are still trying to make sense of the tragedy. Assisting in helping our youth deal with their grief - in particular JFK High School students - is Rainbows executive director Marie Halloran.

"Some of the kids know the family or the person that had done this injury is from JFK, and that a lot of kids know him and have good relationship with him," she explained. Desoto is a recent graduate of JFK and the tragic events have many students who know him bewildered and left to sort through their feelings. "There's a lot of emotions involved and a lot of confusion and sometimes when kids hear this they don't even feel safe to go out so we want to encourage kids that Guam is still a safe place," Halloran added.

The Rainbows program helps youth and their parents deal with situations and the feelings associated with a life altering crisis such as this. "We are a peer support group and if there are some children that are showing more than signs of normal grief then we will be referring them to Mental Health," said Halloran.

Focusing on the feelings these youth may have, Hallaron says her team will be providing that listening ear. She said, "We will be talking about good feelings and negative and positive feelings but they are encouraged to share this because feelings are just the way they are."

With the help of Dededo Mayor Melissa Savares, two interactive presentations are being held at the Dededo Community Center tonight. The first session gets underway at 5pm for students with a second session for parents and guardians scheduled to begin at 7pm.