Do you remember the 8th grade class at Punahou School in Honolulu, which wrote to Richard about its class project?
From the email Richard received back in November:
My name is L.T. [name removed]. I'm a 14 year old. I'm a 8th grade Punahou School student. Wanda Adams from the Honolulu Advertiser, recommended you to me to answer some questions on a project my class is doing. The project is called project citizen, we choose a problem in our community, research the problem, and then as a class act on the problem. The problem my class chose is that many local farms are struggling because Hawaii is too dependent on imports from the mainland and around the world. Wanda Adams told me that you know a lot about this topic. I have some questions for you about this it if you won't mind answering....
Richard recently emailed again to see how they're doing. Here's their exchange.
Hi L.:
How is your class doing with project citizen? I have told a fair number of folks about what your class is doing. Reaction is overwhelmingly favorable. People find it inspiring.
Aloha, Richard
Dear Richard,
So far, my class has made a lot of progress. My class has come up with a public policy of trying to urge the State to not have an excise tax for Hawaii's local farmers. And our civic action (something my class is going to do) is hand out wristbands to people to remind them to buy local and, have them sign a contract to pledge that they will try to buy local as much as possible.
My class has contacted a few of Hawaii's Senate members and House of representatives members to try to get them to pass SB1179, a bill that is similar to our public policy which we want to have as a bill in the 2010 Legislative Secession. SB1179, (National Farm to School program) is a bill that relates to our class project. If passed the National Farm to School program will be taught in all of Hawaii's public schools, and will teach students about how important local farming is, it will encourage students to eat a healthy diet, and it will have the public school cafeterias provide as much local foods to the children for meals that are bought from local farmers.
If you would want to know more about this bill, here's the link. I hope this bill or our proposed public policy bill will get passed through Hawaii's Legislature this year.
Richard Ha writes: I was asked to say a few words last week when Mayor Billy Kenoi invited Senator Daniel Inouye and some folks to a get-together at ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center.
Senator Inouye said a few words and told how his mom was hanaied by a Hawaiian family when both her parents died when she was only four years old. She never forgot, and before she passed away she asked Senator Inouye to promise to repay their kindness.
The senator explained it’s why he has had a special place in his heart for the Hawaiian people all these years.
This is the speech I gave:
Thanks to Mayor Billy Kenoi for bringing us together and thanks to Senator Inouye who had the foresight to envision ‘Imiloa, this great facility that now brings the Hawaiian culture and science together.
I want to tell a story about a small 11-year-old kid who lived down the beach at Maku‘u during World War II. That was before Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivisions and before Hawaiian Beaches. To get to Pahoa, the main town, one had to walk or ride a horse.
Planes would fly from Hilo and do target practice on Moku ‘Opihi, a small island about a mile further down the coast from the family house. The pilots knew that the small kid would jump up and down and wave at the planes. Some turned their planes sideways, smiled and waved at the kid and others would buzz the house and waggle their wings.
The small kid decided right there that he was going to become an airplane pilot. He did not know how—just that he would.
That small kid came from a very poor family. No one had gone to college. But he went to Pahoa High School and played basketball. His coach, a new teacher from Texas, helped him get a scholarship to UH Manoa.
He went and since there was an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Course (ROTC) program there, he joined.
When he graduated he applied for flight school. The next thing he knew he was in Arizona, learning to fly airplanes.
He spent 20 years in the Air Force, flying KC135 refueling tankers. Later, he became the airport manager of Hilo and Kona airports and held that job for 17 years.
Senator, you may know Frank Kamahele. He is my dad’s first cousin. I just talked to him the other day and he said that he was the luckiest person in the whole world. A Hawaiian jet plane pilot and airport manager who went to Pahoa High School. He does not know why he was so lucky. He could just as easily have become a cut cane man. He told me he had been pretty good at that.
And that brings me back to ‘Imiloa and the Moores. The Moores are a large funder of the Thirty Meter Telescope. They set up a program for all the kids on the Big Island to visit ‘Imiloa.
Ka‘iu Kimura, ‘Imiloa’s assistant director and one of our up and coming Hawaiian leaders, tells me that 10,000 students have already passed through and another 10,000 are coming. Just imagine how many Frank Kamaheles there are among them!
That is what ‘Imiloa represents, and thank you, Senator Inouye for the vision and the execution.
About three years ago the TMT folks expressed interest in siting their telescope on Mauna Kea. After a year went by, folks were pretty much resigned to the fact that they were going to Chile.
I went to a Comprehensive Management Plan meeting and there were about 35 people in the room. Fifteen were against the project, one was for it and the rest were just interested bystanders.
But then things turned around. At the recent draft EIS hearing, which was the most contentious of the six hearings, 15 people spoke against it, 15 people spoke for it and there were 175 silent majority folks in the room. This was a huge turn around.
What happened?
The most important thing that happened was that Henry Yang, president of the TMT board, was a person we all could trust. He listened. And he did things local style. He came in more than 15 times, visited folks again and again and built up relationships. He went to Keaukaha four times and by the last time he was just Henry.
The second thing was that we were able to build up this coalition of all the folks you see here today. We talked story in the community a lot, and over and over we heard from Patrick Kahawaiola‘a, President of the Keaukaha Community Association, that the most important thing was “the process.”
And as we thought about this, we realized that if the process is most important, then all contributors to the process, no matter what side of the issue they are on, made for a better product. And so we always need to aloha the loud voices, too, who early on told us that things were not quite right. It was about us. All of us. Not me against you.
So when we had our first sign waving in support of the TMT, nearly 150 people showed up. We told everyone that we were meeting to celebrate the process and told them to bring their kids, and they did. It was very significant.
From there, whenever we went to hearings people felt like they were all on the same side, it was more like “I feel your pain.” We all felt like we were contributing to a better Hawai‘i.
The Thirty Meter Telescope board has committed to contributing $1 million annually to an education fund to be administered by the community, if the telescope is built on Mauna Kea. The funding starts when construction permits are issued. Including the nine years of construction time, it will total $58 million of education funds for Big Island keiki.
The Hawaii Island Economic Development Board has been working on the governance of this fund for nearly a year. We envision that the THINK (The Hawai‘i Island New Knowledge) fund will inspire and support the many Frank Kamaheles out there.
We will have done a good job if we post the pictures of all the folks on the governance board and everyone on the Big Island walks by and nods their approval.
Thank you, Mayor Kenoi, for bringing us all together. And thank you, Senator Inouye, for having the wisdom and foresight to build ‘Imiloa – this wonderful astronomy museum that blends the Hawaiian culture with astronomy.
It’s an eight-week, paid summer internship funded mostly by the Center for Adaptive Optics (out of the University of California at Santa Cruz), though this year the Thirty Meter Telescope also contributed financially to the program by covering a budget shortfall.
Sarah Anderson is the program’s on-island coordinator and she explains the program’s three goals.
“One is to open pathways into astronomy, engineering and technology careers for local students. The second goal is the development of a work force for astronomy and technology, and the third is to continue to develop collaboration among the observatories themselves.”
The program starts with a weeklong preparatory course, and then there’s a seven-week internship at one of the Mauna Kea observatories. “They work on a single project under a mentor or mentor team for the seven weeks,” says Anderson. “And at the end of the seven weeks, they do an oral presentation at our symposium.”
Sarah says that during the first week’s “short course,” the goal is to prepare the students for their internship. “We do a bunch of science activities,” she says. “Hands-on, inquiry-based activities that are designed to help the students think on their own and develop their critical thinking, and their ability to start and get through projects.
“In addition, we try to get them thinking about their place in society as scientists, engineers and technicians,” she says.
“We asked Richard to come in to talk about business, sustainability and astronomy. They were very interested.”
photo by Sarah Anderson
Most of the interns either attend college at the University of Hawai‘i or one of Hawai‘i’s community colleges; four are local kids attending college on the mainland. Three are Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students.
Richard says it made him think of Paul Coleman, the first native Hawaiian astrophysicist, who now worked for the Institute for Astronomy. “He was really lucky,” says Richard. “When he was following his dream to study astronomy, there were no opportunities here and no programs available like this Akamai program. He had to leave Hawai‘i and he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to get back home. It was only because of a really unusual set of circumstances that he was able to find his way back to work in Hawai‘i in astronomy.
“I remembered Paul telling his story to the OHA board, and here were these students going through a program that did not exist for Paul when he was starting out. I looked at those kids teaming up with mentors and it just kind of took my breath away.” – posted by Leslie Lang
Patrick Kahawaiola‘a, President of the Keaukaha Community Association, is spearheading a petition drive to get Governor Linda Lingle to release $8 million that’s already been appropriated for badly needed renovations to Keaukaha Elementary School.
A year ago, when Dwight Takamine was campaigning for the Senate, Richard Ha took him to see Kumu Lehua Veincent, Keaukaha Elementary School’s principal, and Dwight also met the teachers there and toured the cafeteria. He became aware of serious problems with the school’s facilities and helped get money appropriated for a renovation.
Eight million dollars was appropriated by the Legislature last year in new construction funds for the school, but the money has not been made available.
“The newspaper article is saying that the DOE needs to come up with a request,” says Kahawaiola‘a, “and that the governor needs to hear from the DOE that it’s important.”
It’s the first they’ve heard of this, he says. “We had DOE people sitting in on our meeting, and we have kept the Board of Education member Watanabe in the loop and he didn’t say anything about this. If that’s the issue, it’s another target we need to go to.”
The renovation is regarding the Keaukaha Elementary School cafeteria, which was built in 1954, some of it with building materials given to the school by the military. According to the fire code, the cafeteria can accommodate 102 people.
“We’ve got two schools using the cafeteria,” he says. “Keaukaha has 315 students, and Ka ‘Umeke Ka‘eo, the Hawaiian immersion school [also housed on the school’s grounds] has close to 200.”
So with around 500 students using that inadequate facility, lunch has to be served in three shifts, and some students have to have their “lunch” as early as 10:30 a.m.
The elementary school’s cafeteria also serves as a community center, he explains. “The boundaries of the school, the gym and the park mark the center, the piko, of educational/recreational/health, and safety. It’s a safe place for our children if there are other places that are not. Any one of our kids could go down and be in what we consider a safe environment.”
And the Keaukaha Community Association meets in that cafeteria every third Wednesday evening. When special issues come up that impact the native Hawaiian community – such as ceded lands, gathering rights, noise abatement from the airport, sewer problems, recent Mauna Kea issues – the cafeteria overflows.
The plan is to renovate the cafeteria as a 6000-square-foot “cafetorium” that doubles as a community center and meets all the community’s needs.
“It’s not a frivolous request and I would ask for anybody’s support for this,” he says. “We worked really hard with the legislators to get this money appropriated, a grass roots kind of thing with the kids and the parents, and we have the support of the churches, too. And it was appropriated.”
The Keaukaha folks are not working on this alone –- there are people in the business and labor areas who are hard at work doing what they can to support their efforts. They “know people who know people,” and are right now asking people at the highest levels of the DOE for guidance.
Anyone who’d like to lend his or her support by signing a petition can call Patrick on his cell at 937-8217.
This afternoon, University of Hawai‘i President David McClain issued this statement:
After discussions with academic and community leaders on the Big Island, and review with the Board of Regents, I can say that should TMT come to Mauna Kea, the Hawaiian community and community-at-large will benefit through an annual $1 million community benefit package, which will provide funding for locally chosen and managed educational programs on Hawai‘i Island. This will begin once all permits for the project have been received.
The compensation to the University of Hawai‘i, which is expected to begin at “first light,” will be split equitably between a higher education package to be used for selected initiatives of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo and Hawai‘i Community College on Hawai‘i Island, and observing time for University of Hawai‘i scientists.
David McClain President University of Hawai‘i
What catches my attention is the part about an annual amount of $1 million for locally chosen and managed educational programs on Hawai‘i Island.
I know how important early education is. My Pop was the greatest influence on me. I learned the most important things, which lasted through my entire life, when I was 10 years old.
If we teach our keiki the values they need to make a society that is successful and thriving “when the boat no come,” we will have done our jobs. This $1 million that will be dedicated to keiki education annually is key to the survival of future generations. It is no longer about us – it is about the future generations.
We must learn and perpetuate what it was that allowed Hawaiians to survive for hundreds of years out in the middle of the ocean without boats coming in every day with goods from someplace else.
In the future, our values will need to revolve around aloha. We will need to assume responsibility—kuleana. We need to make more friends and stay closer to our families.
We live in the modern world, so how do we use what we have and meld it with the values that worked? We need to have a balance of science and culture in order for all of us to do what we do to help our greater society.
My Pop told me: “There are a thousand reasons why ‘No can.’ I only looking for one reason why ‘Can.’”
***
Yesterday was King Kamehameha Day. I think of King Kamehameha as a doer, not a talker. He took what was available to him and used it to the best advantage.
Since we are going to do a sign waving in support of the Thirty Meter Telescope today, in front of the King Kamehameha statue, I thought that I would go take pictures.
Over the last couple of weeks many of us did radio spots in support of the Thirty Meter Telescope. Running throughout the spots is the word “pono.” Those ads started running today.
I went on three live radio programs yesterday morning. First with Kat and Keala at KWXX, then a few minutes with DC at Da Beat, and then on with Ken Hupp at KPUA.
I talked about how I volunteered to be on the TMT committee of the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board when I first heard that the TMT was considering coming to Hawai‘i. I felt strongly that if it was to be done, it needed to be done right. I talked about going to Keaukaha Elementary School to see its principal Lehua Veincent and asking where they go on excursions.
He told me the bus was too expensive so they walked around the community. I was shocked. How was it possible that in the shadows of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of telescopes on Mauna Kea, Keaukaha Elementary School did not have enough money to go on excursions?
My friends Duane Kanuha, Leslie, Macario and I said, “This no can,” and we decided to do something about it. We went out in the community and told the story. We said that for $600 people could adopt a class at Keaukaha Elementary School, so they could rent a bus and pay entry fees to ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center or another destination.
The idea is to inspire the kids. My Pop inspired me when I was in the fourth grade and his effect lasted a lifetime. I think the same can result from ‘Imiloa.
The Moores, a large funder of the TMT, found out about the Adopt-A-Class project and liked it. They adopted all the students of the Big Island.
I told the audience about the $1 million dollar fund that will be used for the education of our keiki. We are relying on the people we appoint to administer the fund. We want to appoint people to the Board based on their passion for taking care of the community for the long run.
I’ve written a lot about the educational benefits to our keiki, young people and future generations if the Thirty Meter Telescope folks decide to come to Hawai‘i instead of going to Chile.
Now it’s time to recognize and aloha those folks who have been in the forefront, raising their voices in protest about how much needed to be done to make things pono.
Aloha to Kealoha Pisciotta, Paul Neves, Ku Ching, Hanalei Fergerstrom, the Kanaka Council and others for helping us come as far as we have.
It is because of their tireless efforts that Mauna Kea is now under the control of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. They won a lawsuit, and Judge Hara ruled that a Comprehensive Management Plan needed to be made before any further development could proceed. That Plan has been developed and accepted with conditions by the Board of Land and Natural Resources.
I’ve written here before that I volunteered nearly three years ago for a newly formed Thirty Meter Telescope committee at the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board. I came to learn a lot about the issues the loud voices were raising, and I was hugely influenced by them.
For example, it struck me that at that time there was hardly any benefit to the Keaukaha community from the multi-million dollar astronomy industry. That’s why we formed the Adopt-a-Class project to send Keaukaha kids on excursion.
The people supporting the Adopt-a-Class project were regular folks, and local business people including the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board (HIEDB). They did it for no other reason than that it was the pono thing to do.
At the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board, we approached the Mauna Kea issue from the perspective of “What is pono?” Not once did we put economic interests as top priority. I am proud to be a part of this organization.
More than a year ago, Dr. Henry Yang, Chancellor of UC Santa Barbara and the new president of the Thirty Meter Telescope corporation, and Dr. Jean Lou Chameau, President of Cal Tech, came to the Big Island to see for themselves.
At that point, the general consensus of the TMT board was probably that the TMT was going to Chile. When I first met Henry Yang, I got the feeling he was someone who would truly listen to regular folks’ concerns. After he left, I called my brother Kenneth and told him I was optimistic that things could work out right. I felt then that Henry was someone I could do business with on a handshake. I still feel that way.
Since then, I think they have visited Hilo more than 15 times. Their objective is always to listen and develop relationships. They fly in and out quietly and don’t try to get publicity. And they actually prefer to meet regular people. They visited Keaukaha Elementary School at least four times. And they visited the Kanaka Council, Hank Fergerstrom, the litigants, as well as Hawaiian students and teachers from UH Hilo and Hawai‘i Community College.
We suggested to Henry early on that there must be a community benefit package centering on education for our keiki. He agreed, and for nearly a year the HIEDB has been working on a framework that ensures the money would be spent in a wise and effective way, free of self-interest, solely for the benefit of the keiki.
Now it’s starting to look like millions of dollars in educational benefits can come to the Big Island, free of charge. The rail project on O‘ahu is financed by taxing the people and when they use the rail system the people will pay again. By contrast, if the TMT chooses Hawai‘i instead of Chile, it will put millions of dollars annually into education for the Big Island’s keiki.
The world has changed. Finite resources are facing an increasing population. Programs for the most needy among us are being cut. Education programs are being cut. Out here on our island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, we are vulnerable. Now, it is no longer about us. It’s about future generations.
We have an opportunity now to get millions of dollars for the education of our keiki and future generations.
Are we wise enough to look to the future and dream of what can be? Let’s all go there together.
Nine months into discussions about what will be important to our community if the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) comes to the Big Island, I feel that we can get at least $100 million for the education of our children over the next 50 years. At a minimum; it could be more.
Last summer, I wrote a post speculating about how the TMT could benefit our island if it were built here on Mauna Kea. I wrote:
I'm on the board of the Hawai'i Island Economic Development Board, and we've made it clear that this can only happen if, unlike with previous telescopes, our people clearly benefit from it.
That post last August had a lot of "What ifs," regarding how our people could benefit from the siting of this telescope here, as opposed to what's happened with past and current telescopes.
We have made a lot of progress. It's pretty amazing how far we've come, and how many of those "What Ifs" have been addressed.
In their draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), the TMT people have committed to a community benefit package as well as a higher education package. I wrote last week, before the draft EIS was published, that the community benefit package will consist of at least $1 million dollars annually for the education of our keiki.
The higher education package will even surpass the community benefit package.
This means that the TMT will be giving at least $2 million per year, over the next 50 years, for the education of our Big Island children. That's for both kids in K-12 ($1 million/year) and those in higher education (Hawai'i Community College and the University of Hawai'i at Hilo; $1 million/year).
Two million dollars for education every year for the next 50 years. At least $100 million over the next 50 years.
It's a far, far cry from the $1/year rent that telescopes pay now.
The money for younger kids is to help kids so they are in a position to succeed when they are in high school-that is the whole objective. It takes smart people to do that; educators, not us. We're just putting in the framework so the smart people can figure out how to do that in these times. The money would be administered through a foundation by seven people, chosen geographically from around the island. Programs will apply for grants.
From my post last August:
• What if the TMT coming here meant disadvantaged Hawaiian (and other race) students can attend Hawai'i Community College and the University of Hawai'i at Hilo for free?
That discussion is going on right now. People are looking at the "unmet needs" of these students.
• What if we develop a pathway for local people to fill jobs during the extensive construction and operating of the telescope?
The TMT's Environmental Impact Statement addresses work force development. They are looking at developing the skills of today's ninth graders, so they will be ready to step into jobs that open up when the TMT is built eight years from now.
• What if we collect all the funds attributable to astronomy and have that money administered by a group of wise people who are chosen specifically to allocate it to the education of this island's keiki?
The Hawaii Island Economic Development Board set up the framework and governance of this fund specifically for the education of our keiki, emphasizing K-12. It will be administered by the Hawaii Community Foundation.
• What if these credible people fund education programs about the Hawaiian culture and Hawaiian language, and about traditional ways of sustainability, the sciences, job skills and other subjects that prepare our children for a new world where we, living on the island of Hawai'i, might have to survive on what exists here on our island?
We recognize that not all students are suited for a career in astronomy. A certain percentage of this fund is set aside for Hawaiian cultural and traditional approaches.
• And what if this organization exists far into the future and benefits many generations to come?
An annual contribution will ensure this. In addition, wise administration of these funds will ensure benefit to future generations.
• What if, not at the summit though on Mauna Kea, the world's finest and most powerful telescope looks back in time to the beginning, seeking the answer to the question, "Are we alone?"...
If the TMT helps our people to help their keiki succeed, our people will help the TMT succeed.
...while on the ground, the people have learned how to restore the ancient fish ponds, and are supplementing that with modern aquaculture methods that don't require oil? And the people on the island's windward side are using their abundant water to again grow kalo, and growing food with hydroponics, and as in pre-Western times they are able to feed everybody without depending on foreign oil?
A rising tide raises all boats.
It would be the best of the future and the best of the past. What if?
We have some answers to our What Ifs now, and they are pretty impressive.
The Thirty Meter Telescope project is getting ready to submit its draft EIS.
When I volunteered for the Thirty Meter Telescope committee of the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board nearly three years ago, I said: “If the TMT is to come here, we need to do it right.”
There needed to be big changes:
We needed to make sure that the mountain was under the control of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. Mauna Kea is the kuleana of Big Islanders, and this was an important change. It happened. A rule making bill passed through the legislature, which gave the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo enforcement powers to protect the mountain.
We agreed with Judge Hara that a Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) needed to be done. The CMP has been done.
We’ve said from the start that $1/year rent is not acceptable anymore. Instead of $50 for 50 years, let’s start at $1 million/year, which would be $50 million for the education of our keiki from kindergarden to 12th grade.
As I said nearly three years ago: “If the TMT is to come here, we need to do it right.”
I recently read a nice article in West Hawaii Today of a young person, Mike Rasay, who came out of a small rural school in South Kona.
The 1997 Konawaena graduate idolized our Kona-born and -raised astronaut Ellison Onizuka, and is now doing things he could not have imagined just a few years ago -- such as serving as a "ground segment lead in Tuesday's launch of a NASA microsatellite to study space's affect on cells in long-duration space travel."
These are the kinds of things that happen when students are influenced by a special teacher, inspired by surrounding events and supported as they pursue their dreams.
All Big Island students now go on excursions to ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, where they are awed and inspired by stories of astronomy and Hawaiian culture. If the Thirty Meter Telescope, the best telescope in the whole world, comes here with a new paradigm of support for local communities and education for young students, more people like Mike Rasay will find themselves being able to do the unimaginable.
Rocket science: Konawaena grad contributing to NASA mission
by Chelsea Jensen West Hawaii Today cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com Monday, May 4, 2009 8:55 AM HST
Never let graduating from a school in Hawaii keep you from accomplishing your dreams.
"I have been on the bad end of the comments where people say 'you're never going to amount to anything. You're never going to have a chance to do anything you want to so there's no sense in trying,'" said Mike Rasay, a 1997 graduate of Konawaena High School who will serve as a ground segment lead in Tuesday's launch of a NASA microsatellite to study space's affect on cells in long-duration space travel. ... "I never thought I would get into doing space missions. You never really think it's possible," said Rasay. "I always feel like I proved the naysayers wrong and just have been able to break through all of the negative generalizations about the students from Hawaii."
When Nani Rothfus, Nutritionist at Hilo’s Native Hawaiian Health Care Organization Hui Malama Ola Na ‘Oiwi, set up her booth at the recent E Malama ‘Aina sustainability festival, she brought dirt, seeds and egg cartons so kids could participate in a hands-on activity.
Why plant seeds?
Along with Edna Baldado, Rothfus coordinates Mai Ka Mala‘ai, (“From The Garden”), a diabetes education program funded through the Native Hawaiian Health Department of the John A. Burns School of Medicine.
It’s a 10-week educational program that teaches participants how to manage their diabetes.
“The really neat thing about the program is that we deliver a 4 x 4 box to each of our clients,” she says. “Richard has been so generous in providing the seedlings. We fill the boxes with soil and have a couple volunteer gardeners who teach them how to plant the seeds.”
They take home the cartons and tend their seeds over the course of the workshop, and hopefully beyond. “The idea is for them to get some physical activity,” she says, “and also to eat from the garden and to share from the garden. It’s also something for them to be able to bond with each other over. When they first come into the program, they may not say a word to each other. Once they have their garden and I ask, ‘How is your garden growing?’ everybody talks!’”
She says that Mai Ka Mala‘ai also teaches what’s taught in other diabetes education classes. “What diabetes is, medications, how to monitor your blood sugar, healthy recipes, how much to eat,” she lists. “But there’s a component of teaching traditional values, too,” she says.
She describes the five cultural values they incorporate into the program:
Malama – Taking care of someone; (“And it’s part of our name.”)
Aloha – Making sure when people come and when they leave we speak to them, acknowledge them
Kuleana – Making sure they understand that even though they come to us and we give them skills, they have to take care of themselves
Ho‘ihi – Respecting one another; when somebody shares something it’s important for all of us to listen and learn from it
Ho‘omanawanui – Being patient with one another; all are at different levels of their conditions.
The class of 16 students meets every Thursday night at Hui Malama Ola Na ‘Oiwi’s Railroad Avenue office for 10 weeks. There are three such classes a year.
Rothfus says they encourage the person with diabetes to bring along family members to learn and support the person with diabetes.
And she says the workshops are very popular. When they started offered them in 2006, she says it was a lot of work finding people to enroll. “Now most of them don’t want to leave the class when it ends. They’ve got tremendous support from the class. They tell other people they know and we have people lining up.”
The current class just got their box and seedlings last week. Now, with the storm that’s flooded East Hawai‘i, she says, “their gardens are just floating.”
But presumably they will be patient, ho‘omanawanui, and will malama, take care of, their seedlings, because it's their kuleana, their responsibility. And Mai Ka Mala‘ai will help them along the way.
