Former students of Okawa Elementary School in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture — where 84 children and staff lost their lives in the tsunami triggered by the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake — are working to turn the site into a community hub.

Tetsuya Tadano, 25, head of the volunteer group Team Okawa: The Future Network, says he wants to do more than just preserve the memory of the tragedy.

“I want to make this a place that connects us to the future,” he said.