B.E.A.C.H. (Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawai’i) put on a service project on Saturday at the beach in Kahuku. It’s a stretch just north of the golf course bordering private land, so it’s normally inaccessible to the public (unless you want to walk a looooong way from the golf course).
The beach was absolutely beautiful at 8 a.m. Because it’s so remote, volunteers were the only people present all morning.
A large group of approximately 150 community members (mostly members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ La’ie North Stake) and delegates from the Hawai’i Conservation Conference (the cleanup was also part of the International Year of the Reef) teamed up to clean up what B.E.A.C.H. founder Suzanne Frazer said is one of the worst coastlines on O’ahu for marine debris. Senator Clayton Hee and Rep Michael Magaoay also made appearances.
I’m a born and raised beach bum from this area, and I’d never been to this beach before–It was a wonderful experience that I’ll never forget.
Here is the sign-in tent, where all of the volunteers registered
Upon closer inspection, the beautiful rocky shoreline was infested with nets and debris. Three ‘net crews’ used knives, machetes, and even car jacks to try and get them free of the rocks.
One crew worked for over an hour to free this tangled mass from the rocks. It then took about 10 men to carry it up the beach to the container.
The tidepools at this beach are awesome. And look what these two found (below): a nice-size fish trapped when the tide went out! They threw it in one of the coolers and took it home.
Here’s the view mauka. Talk about a glimpse of O’ahu I’ve never seen before–and it’s in my own backyard!
We had some visitors at the main tent.
Volunteers tracked all of the types of rubbish they picked up on a clipboard, from toothbrushes to little unidentifiable plastic pieces. The data collected is used for research purposes.
Hot and hungry (but happy!) volunteers pose in front of their hard work at the end of the day.
Now that’s a lot of trash!
Thanks to B.E.A.C.H. for driving all the way out to Kahuku from Hawai’i Kai early on a Saturday morning to help out in our community! Thanks also to all of the community members who came out and were able to experience something very special–I may have been sweating and sunburned by the end, but I was definitely smiling, too.
I stopped by the end-of-the-year pool party at BYU-H for the Hawaiian immersion schools in Ko’olauloa last week.
It was nice to dip my feet in the water, surrounded by laughing, splashing children, and talk story with parent Rebekah Walker and teacher Leone Sa’aga about the programs, which currently serve more than 60 students from preschool to 11th grade.
Hawaiian immersion preschooler So’i Sa’aga and first grader Kohala Sproat take a break at the programs’ year-end pool party.
The preschool, Pūnana Leo o Ko‘olauloa, began in 1997. The school operates in Kahuku at Rainbow School (on the grounds of the Kahuku Methodist Church).
Preschool graduates are fed into the DOE’s immersion program at Hau’ula Elementary, called Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Hau’ula. Kaiapuni started a year after Pūnana Leo with the younger grades. The oldest children in the program were in the third grade.
Those third graders have become a growth marker for the program, which has expanded each year as the students progressed through each grade level. This school year, they completed the 11th grade at Kahuku High School, and will be the highlight of a decade-long journey a year from now as the program’s first graduating class.
“The kupuna have wanted to see the return of our native language to our community,” said Leone Sa’aga, director of Pūnana Leo. “We are a Hawaiian community.”
Sa’aga, whose children are currently enrolled in the immersion programs, said that over 200 Hawaiian speakers have come through the programs to date.
“My goal is that my son will never, ever regret not being able to speak his native tongue,” said Sa’aga. “I never got the opportunity, and I want my children to. When they grow up, then they can decide (if they want to be involved in the Hawaiian community or not).”
Rebekah Walker, president of program parent group Na Leo Ka Ko’o o Ko’olauloa, enrolled her children for similar reasons.
“I wanted my kids to know that they are Hawaiian. There is meaning to the things that they do in school…we love it. For us, it’s a family thing,” said Walker, who also described the special connection students in the program have with local kupuna.
Sa’aga stressed that any family–Hawaiian or not–interested in having their children learn to speak Hawaiian are welcome (”we take anybody and everybody!”), but it’s important to keep in mind that this program teaches more than just the language. The programs use the community as a classroom to teach values and culture.
Kaiapuni students participate in a beach cleanup at Kahana Bay. Some other community activities the students participate in include working in area lo’i (taro patches), visiting heiau, and putting on a Kupuna Day. Photos courtesy Kawehi Kammerer
One of the challenges facing the elementary and high school programs includes a shortage of DOE-allotted teachers; the high school program has 2 full-time teachers overseeing grades 7-11, with 3 covering K-6. It’s also been a huge challenge to adapt cultural lessons and concepts to No Child Left Behind, as required of all public school systems.
Getting the word out has been a challenge, as well. Currently, new enrollment comes from word of mouth and a sign hanging on a fence in Kahuku. I guess I should be more observant; I’ve never seen the sign, and I didn’t even know the programs existed–and I’ve lived out here my entire life!
My impression of the immersion programs out here in Ko’olauloa: it’s a tight-knit community of Hawaiians–and Hawaiians at heart–who share a love for the language and culture of our island home.
“The reason (we started this program) is to identify with who we are. That was lost,” said Sa’aga, adding that the Ko’olauloa programs are particularly important because “our children should be able to stay in our community to learn the language, play sports, and not be displaced.”
The families who have worked hard to ensure that there is a program here for their children deserve a pat on the back. A large chunk of my classmates from Kahuku are Hawaiian, and very few ever learned to speak the language–I know that they would have taken advantage of these programs had they been around back then. Thanks to these persevering parents, teachers, and community members, schoolchildren today have that choice.
If you’ve visited La’ie Bay this month, you’ve seen the wa’a kaulua (Hawaiian double-hulled canoe) ‘Iosepa floating offshore at Hukilau Beach.
Look for the ‘Iosepa, anchored in La’ie Bay, the next time you’re at Hukilau Beach. Photo by Feki Po’uha
The ‘Iosepa, first launched in 2001, was funded by a grant from the W.K.Kellog Foundation and built by community members and students from BYUH’s Hawaiian Studies program.
Most of the community showed up for the ‘Iosepa’s first launch in November of 2001. Photo: Advertiser File
It is currently being used as a ‘floating classroom,’ with possible trips to the Big Island and along O’ahu’s coastline scheduled over the next few weeks.
The ‘Iosepa, built of Fijian dakua wood, was brought to life by area residents and master carvers Sione Tui’one Pulotu and Kawika Eskaran. It was truly a community project, with residents and students lending helping hands, providing meals, and performing small chores.
In addition to providing invaluable cultural experiences for Hawaiian Studies students, the program hopes to use this sailing to expand its base of experienced crew members through training.
When the ‘Iosepa returns to land at the the end of June, it will move into its new home, a halau wa’a currently under construction at the Polynesian Cultural Center. The dedication will take place on June 27th, and PCC will hold a Family Day on the 29th, where members of the public can visit the exhibit and participate in cultural activities.
This halau wa’a is currently under construction at the Polynesian Cultural Center to become the ‘Iosepa’s new home at the end of June. Photo by Feki Po’uha
For more information on the ‘Iosepa, or to share your experience with the canoe, check out part of BYUH Hawaiian Studies senior Feki Po’uha’s Senior Project. He started three blogs to help him with his project, which involves collecting photographs and oral histories from crew members and the community:
The ‘Iosepa project is one that the community holds great pride in–and one that has helped to strengthen ties between the large Hawaiian community in Ko’olauloa and BYUH. Best of luck to the crew as they sail over the next few weeks!
The We Are Samoa Festival wrapped up late tonight with the annual World Fireknife Competition at the Polynesian Cultural Center. I went over to the Center earlier in the morning, however, to check out the high school We Are Samoa festival.
The participating schools included Kahuku, Kapolei, Leilehua, Radford, and Wai’anae. While all of the schools did a great job, I wanted to make sure I posted some pictures of the Kahuku students on this blog. It was apparent that many hours went into costuming and rehearsal:
Crystal Apelu danced beautifully as Kahuku’staupou (princess)
In the past, the high school segment of We Are Samoa was staged as a competition, where the participating schools competed in various cultural events such as dancing, speaking, weaving, and husking coconuts. This year–in an effort to increase camaraderie–it was restructured as an exhibition of the schools’ talented youth.
All of the schools did a wonderful job, and it was great to see all of the community support for these hardworking students.
The students performed for a packed house at the PCC’s Pacific Theatre
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In other news, the Ko’olauloa Children’s Chorus held their fundraising Garage Sale at La’ie Elementary school Saturday. The kids are trying to pay for a trip to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York next summer, so please support them in their efforts!
I had the opportunity recently to interview members of the Ko’olauloa Children’s Chorus, a choir based in La’ie that’s headed by Esther Macy.
I caught them on a Saturday morning as they rehearsed at the BYUH Ballroom for an upcoming performance with the Honolulu Symphony (that’s right–the the symphony! This is clearly not your average ‘effort is all that counts’ choir).
What struck me as I sat there listening to these kids–all between around 8 and 16 or so–is that they sounded GOOD. Amazing, actually. And this was some serious classical stuff, nothing like what your average 20th century child listens to on a daily basis. Plus, they were reading music!
Photos courtesy Emily Tafiti Murphy
The heart of this choir is Esther Macy, a born and bred La’ie resident who founded the choir back in 2001 in order, she says, to “give back to the place that helped me to grow and develop a love for music.”
“I’m always telling Esther, I’m so grateful for everything that she does because it’s a real sacrifice,” said Emily Tafiti Murphy, whose 10 year old, Aliia, sings with KCC. “I can only imagine the time that she puts into this choir. Sometimes she’ll email me back at like 2 a.m., and that means that she’s up in the middle of the night trying to get this stuff done along with her own family. It’s a real sacrifice, and I’m grateful for that because I’m sure that these are memories that my daughter will take with her and help her develop into a mature young woman–it will affect her for the rest of her life.”
And she’s really worked wonders with these kids, who are as varied culturally, economically, and socially as the area in which they live. Discipline is a big part of this choir, where ‘Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable.’
“She’s really fun, but when we need to get something done she’s strict,” said 12-year old Jaasmine Lopes, one of the choir’s original members. Still, hard work is rewarded in this choir: “When we get it done she’s really happy with us,” a reaction I witnessed firsthand that morning after a particularly chicken-skin chord resonated throughout the ballroom.
“Sing like that (in the performance), and I’ll buy you guys ice cream!” a very pleased Macy called out from behind the piano.
Apparently, good old-fashioned bribery never goes out of style.
I love that there is an organization out here in Ko’olauloa that really teaches our children values like punctuality, hard work, leadership, and obedience–and all while the kids are having the time of their lives! I mean, I am a product of AYSO soccer out here, and we learned those values through sports, but many of my friends weren’t into athletics; this is something that they might have benefited from, had it been around when we were kids.
Says Jasmine’s mom, Jocelyn: “Its something that (Jasmine) loves to do. I’ve tried to encourage her to join sports as well, but nope. It’s been choir since day one. She loves choir. I’ve seen my daughter perform, and I know she loves music just by listening to her singing.”
In an area with a rich history of song and dance, it’s great to see these young performers work hard, earning invites to prestigious international choral festivals (they went to Europe a couple of summers ago, and are headed to New York next year) and earning their fares through fundraising within the community.
That said, make sure you buy a plate lunch in April and visit their garage sale at La’ie elementary in May. Think of it as an investment in the next generation of leaders here in Ko’olauloa.
