Shaelene Kamakaʻala, 33, is the new Director of ʻĀina Protection at the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust and previously served as Deputy Corporation Counsel for the County of Hawaiʻi. Born and raised in the rural communities of Punaluʻu and Kahana in Windward Oʻahu, Kamakaʻala attended Kamehameha Schools Kapālama and went on to Marymount College and the University of San Diego earning A.A. and B.A. degrees, respectively, in Political Science. Upon returning home, she pursued her dream of becoming an environmental lawyer at the William S. Richardson School of Law. She was also a First Nations Futures Institute fellow, earning a certificate from Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. After passing the BAR in 2015, Kamakaʻala served as Community Based Fisheries Planner with DLNR and later as a law clerk with the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary in Hilo, where she currently resides.

What inspired you to go into environmental law?

“Growing up in Kahana I remember hearing stories of the original families who fought eviction in the 1960s. Our community dedicated itself to improving living conditions, supporting cultural initiatives, restoring Huilua fishpond…all good things. Yet, I remember our community feeling frustrated by walls and barriers; the government referring us from one agency to the next, never being able, or willing, to fully address the problems we faced. My dad and uncles were fishermen, overwhelmed by regulations and dying fish stocks. As a teenager I remember thinking that there had to be answers out there, and perhaps knowing the law would provide clarity.”

What were some of the challenges you faced?

“I could write a novel about that! Understanding the practice of law and the steps to get there was a challenge in itself. Each step I took was more difficult than the last; I believe the biggest challenges were the mental barriers I had to overcome. My 10th grade counselor, Mr. Lee, taught me that you learn more when you persevere through challenges.

“In law school, I took all the environmental, Native Hawaiian rights, and social justice legal courses available and that opened opportunities to work with communities on cultural and environmental issues across the pae ʻāina. Then came the bar exam. Just completing the application was grueling. But the community work I was immersed in gave me the strength to refuse to fail. I committed to 15-hour days, studying seven days a week for two-and-a-half months. When I found out I passed the bar exam I cried hysterically; my mom thought something terrible happened to me!

“In my 6th grade classroom at Kahuku Elementary, my teacher, Mrs. Aiu, had a poster on the wall that said “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” This still guides me till today and is like my own personal motto.”

What can or should we do differently to protect our environment going forward?

“We need to educate ourselves about circular economies and reignite our ancestral knowledge and relationships with our natural resources. Seeing empty highways and beaches, new colors and brightness in the coral reefs, clear skies in the most polluted cities in the world – it’s evident that our environment needed a rest. But it was only able to rest when humans were forced to stop and stay at home. If we return to life as normal, it will all just happen again.

“Can we commit to making little and big sacrifices? Can we have honest conversations to better understand the environmental and social impacts of our behaviors, work and businesses? We each have the power and the choice to improve our Māmā Honua for the next seven generations.”

What is your vision for the health of our ʻāina and your role in attaining that vision?

“My vision is to see communities thriving in place—living, working, gathering, growing, playing in their own community. Driving across an island to go to work for eight hours, or sitting in traffic for two hours on your way home from town, is not a wholesome lifestyle. I’ve been there and my own experience has inspired me to craft a better lifestyle for myself and my family.

“We also need to simplify decision-making structures that impact our communities and natural resources, and engage practitioners in those processes. As Director of ʻĀina Protection at Hawaiian Islands Land Trust, I am part of a Project Team that helps to ensure Hawaiʻi’s coastlines, sacred spaces, cultural landscapes and farmlands will be forever cared for in partnership with those communities and people of place. I am blessed to put my energy into a role that aligns with my own vision and passions.

“We must commit to a better future. Decision-makers and governments have opportunities to support the growing environmental and green jobs market; proposals have been offered to the government to fund and provide stewardship and green jobs for displaced workers. Businesses have the opportunity to pivot and reassess their impact on the environment and on the mental, spiritual and physical health of the community. Individuals have an opportunity to slow down, recognize what matters most, and reconnect with the environment.”

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What inspired you to become a doctor?
“As a child, I spent many weekends with my kupuna in Nānākuli. I remember him working in his māla. He encouraged me to get my hands dirty and feel the ‘āina. I remember hearing him speak to his kalo. I can still taste the poi he made for us. It wasn’t until I began to explore the idea of practicing medicine, that I realized that my grandfather had provided me with a solid foundation by demonstrating the importance of aloha ‘āina, ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i and cultural health. I bring these values to my medical practice.

“I enjoy getting to know my patients and seeing their progress over time. The causes of health issues and some of the solutions are greatly influenced by unique social and cultural factors that aren’t always addressed in medical school. I’m invigorated by the challenge of combining traditional Western knowledge with the wisdom of our ancestors.”

Who were your mentors?
“Dr. Emmett Aluli, the late Dr. Kekuni Blasidell and Dr. DeeAnn Carpenter are three that quickly come to mind. My mentors taught me the importance of building relationships that lead to trust. Relationships are key to effective health care. If a doctor has a bad relationship with his or her patient, that patient will only come in if they’re very sick and the physician could miss a chance to catch something early. Good, trusting relationships between doctors and patients can be extremely therapeutic and a healing force. Creating powerful, healthy relationships is what I love most about medicine. Another important tool is our ears. It’s important to take the time to pause and listen. I find that a lot of times our patients will tell us what’s wrong with them if we just listen hard enough.”

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How has becoming a doctor changed you?
“It has helped me to realize my kuleana to provide care to Native Hawaiians as well as to the broader community. This is what energizes me. I’m grateful to connect with so many people in our community and to help them. This positive energy also helps me to be a better husband and father. When I started my career, I quickly realized the challenges of applying book knowledge to clinical practice, the ‘art’ of medicine. Primary care physicians must be well-versed, nimble, and adaptable. We must also appreciate that our patients can teach us so much, we just have to listen.

“I also found I really enjoy serving as a mentor. As chairperson for the student track of the 2018 Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors Congress in Hilo, I was able to mentor Indigenous medical students and residents. We sponsored a module focusing on the importance of aloha ‘āina in promoting self-care among indigenous practitioners. Dr. Emmett Aluli says, ‘The health of the land, is the health of the people, is the health of our nation.’ I believe that for Native Hawaiian clinicians, practicing aloha ‘āina is synonymous with practicing self-care.”

What is your vision for the health of our lāhui?
“Medicine plays a very small role in a person’s overall health. Behaviors and social circumstances have much greater impacts on health and wellness. Recently, one of my patients was having difficulty with his health. Come to find out he had given up his full-time job to care for his mother. Caring for kūpuna can be incredibly rewarding, but it’s also overwhelming and can lead to burnout.

“Only by taking the time to listen to our patients can we fully grasp their health struggles. This is a paradigm shift. Doctors need to partner with community organizations to help address these issues. For example, we can build relationships with respite programs in the community and “prescribe” them to help caregivers rest and recover. We have to go beyond the walls of our hospitals and clinics to identify creative solutions for our patients and improve health equity in our communities. This, to me, is the future of health care.”

Do you have mana‘o for our lāhui during this pandemic?
“Social distancing is difficult for us in Hawai‘i, but it’s had a significant protective impact on the spread of COVID-19 here in the islands. The ‘ōlelo no‘eau, ‘Lālau aku ‘oe i ka ‘ulu i ka wēkiu, i ke alo no ka ‘ulu a hala,’ speaks of how we can strive to reach the breadfruit at the top of the tree and miss the breadfruit in front of us. We’re all waiting for the day when we can spend time together again, go places without worrying and carry on with our usual routines. But we cannot miss the opportunities that are right in front of us. While we’re at home together we have the chance to focus on strengthening our ‘ohana. We also have extra time to invest in ourselves and learn new skills. In the community, we’re supporting one another and uniting in ways that I never could’ve imagined. We must continue to build upon this even after we’ve conquered COVID-19.”

Any advice for young people aspiring to careers in health services?
“It’s a privilege and honor to serve our community in health care. It’s also a tremendous kuleana. When you’re a physician or nurse, people share intimate and personal things about themselves and their lives and trust we’ll do the right thing for their health. If you’re comfortable with that kuleana, a career in health care may be right for you. I believe it’s the responsibility of our entire health care system to improve the health of Native Hawaiians. One way to do this is by recruiting more Native Hawaiians to pursue jobs in health care. The more we do this, the healthier our lāhui will be.”

The post Take the Time to Listen appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

From where do you draw your inspiration?

“I think ‘āina is one of the most important inspirations, at least the most prominent for me. The mele allows you to encapsulate an experience in its context so that it can be revisited. Now you have these kīpuka of ‘āina right in your mele. To me, that’s aloha ‘āina; this song is going to allow me access to ‘āina, and access to the feelings that the ‘āina gives me, whether I’m home or wherever I may be. Now all of a sudden I’m taking my ‘āina with me. The ‘āina determines who we are. It’s a part of our identity and it’s a part of who we end up becoming.”

Can you give an example of your creative process in writing music?

“One very important process of haku mele is not necessarily to capture the haku mele’s experience, but rather what is happening around him or her, and to be a conduit for that. For example, there is a mele called, Nani Nā Pali Hāuliuli O Nā Ko‘olau about the beautiful Ko‘olau mountain range, and because of this, we have the epithet ‘nā pali hāuliuli,’ a set of words that are synonymous with that place. To utilize that, maybe ‘pali hāuliuli’ finds itself in another mele. And because of this, the same concept will likely be used elsewhere. Now, we’re creating a network of knowledge via mele. It’s about the haku mele’s skill to utilize that which is already known and already understood. So now I can just say ‘nā pali hāuliuli,’ and the listener knows we must be in Kāne‘ohe or Kahalu‘u or ‘Āhuimanu. That is the beauty of mele. In my mind, the haku mele is the gatherer of those flowers of knowledge, and those flowers, which already exist, becomes the lei, becomes the mele.”

How do you see your music affecting people?

“I think mele is an apparatus for experience. I might write about something, but someone else is going to experience it differently. Now all of those experiences are being stored in that mele. So for any song, the different mana (versions) of the mele go to different people, different experiences. Those collective experiences become a repository of ‘ike. The beautiful thing is that it’s not about what’s right or what’s wrong or what I intended; it’s about how you contributed to what that is. How did you contribute to the meaning of that song?”

What is the role of music in telling the stories of our lāhui?

“Haku mele is like an ancestral technology. When we think about preserving knowledge, we think about libraries and we think about books. Now we think about websites. The wonderful thing about mele is that it’s a repository of knowledge that only exists when it’s practiced. Because of that, this knowledge only exists in the experience of mele. That requires practitioners of mele to practice. In doing so, we become a part of that knowledge and caretakers of that knowledge. Mele is a technology that we have because of the way that our ‘ōlelo works; various meanings for the same word. So now I’m going to put that ‘ōlelo into the scaffolding of melodies and harmonies. That is the genius of mele.

“If the haku mele is the collector and the arranger of that which already exists, he/she can put into one place something that’s beautiful, accessible and singable. There’s something beautiful in being a conduit for that.”

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What is the most valuable leadership lesson that you’ve learned so far?

“One of the most valuable lessons that I’ve learned is to lean in. For me, personally, it was easier to shy away, to delegate, to digress, to not have to step up and take on more. But that never got me anywhere. And so really leaning into the opportunities that presented themselves and being a mentee is never a bad thing. You don’t know everything. So, just lean in.”

Looking back, was there a defining moment that affected your journey thus far?

“Yes. It was losing my great-grandmother. When she passed there was a void. She saw in me a potential that I never wanted to experience or explore myself. When you sit with a kupuna, and they know where you’re destined to be, but you don’t see that…you don’t have that foresight.

“Just reflecting on those moments when I’d be in her presence, and I knew that she knew where I was supposed to be, but I shied away from it. That defining moment was her not being here anymore. And me not having that opportunity to lean into that moment. Losing her allowed me to step up to take my place.”

What’s your advice for young kānaka who aspire to lead and contribute to the lāhui?

“My advice for young kānaka wanting to lead is to serve. Every good leader begins their journey in service. Also, don’t be afraid. Don’t shy away from opportunities to be of use. If you live in a homestead, get involved with your Homestead Association. If you live near the Boys and Girls Club, go and volunteer your time. If you live in close proximity to a lo‘i or local farm, go give your time there.

“Service has empowered me. By serving the community I developed the tools I needed to prepare me to become a leader…and it wasn’t out of a book. It wasn’t something that I learned at a training. What really prepared me was just serving my community. So take time and serve. And along the way, you’ll pick up everything you need to prepare yourself.”

Can you describe the attributes of good leadership based on your experience?

“I look for someone who is driven; someone who doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. A good leader is able to make a decision, forge a path, and accept all of the responsibility, right, wrong or indifferent, for the decisions that they make, but at their core, they have the lāhui at heart and are passionate about serving the community. I look for servant leaders. I consider myself a servant leader. You can’t lead unless you’re in the trenches doing the work yourself. That’s definitely what I look for when I’m looking for someone to follow.”

Was there a particular person who acted as a mentor and helped you get to where you’re at today?

“I have had the privilege of working with a few individuals who have really shaped who I am today as a leader. We are the women of Papakōlea. Aunty Puni Kekauoha and Aunty Adrienne Dillard are definitely some of my ‘go-tos’ when I need to make sure that I’m on the right track. I look for people who are okay correcting me; people with a heart for service. I look for people grounded in community. Another mentor is former HCS executive director Jeff Gilbreath. He challenged me to take on kuleana that I wasn’t quite ready for, and supported me through that journey.”

What are your hopes for the future of Hawai‘i and the Hawaiian people?

“My vision is for Ka Lāhui to be economically self-sufficient. And I don’t mean that by any Western personal finance definition. I mean that in a kānaka version. I want to see our lāhui have strong businesses that support each other. I want to see kānaka supporting those Native Hawaiian businesses. I want to see kānaka homeowners in every other house or condo. I want to see our lāhui not only surviving, but thriving, and earning incomes that can support their lifestyles. And when I say that, I don’t mean ‘be rich.’ We don’t all have to be rich. I don’t strive to be rich. I strive to provide for my family and contribute to my community. I know that’s enough for me. I want a lāhui that is happy and satisfied.”

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Lanakila Mangauil was born and raised in Honokaʻa, Hawaiʻi. He is an alakaʻi and kiaʻi (protector) of Maunakea. He graduated from Kanu o Ka ʻĀina charter school. For more than a decade, he has taught Hawaiian studies at public schools and colleges, and for community and international groups. He is the founder of the Hawaiian Cultural Center of Hāmākua and serves as the Executive Director where he continues to share ʻike Hawaiʻi.

Building leaders through inclusion

“I never really had too many kumu who were like, “if you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all.” That is a turn-off that has cut out people. We have done that for so long that we have alienated so many of our own people. So, in translating that into how I teach, and how I’ve been guided by many of my kumu to teach, and also what we see happening on the mountain right now with the ʻaha and the ceremonies, there is a massive focus on inclusion.

“On the mauna, we’re creating particular heke, containers, that allow more people to step in freely, to be able to step into ceremonies, to hula, to chant without being expected to jump to the highest levels. This allows the opportunity to make mistakes, and gives the opportunity to grow; to just feel and experience. And that’s where I think we’re seeing such a massive movement and the rise of a collective consciousness with so many kānaka now – because we are not being judgmental off the top. That’s a problem with kānaka all over; we are very judgmental. It’s one thing to make a judgment and another to make a judgment then offer support. But just to sit there and namunamu…that has been the biggest thing that’s held back our people.

“We can point fingers at our occupiers all we want. But if we’re going to ridicule each other, we are not helping. I really aloha and mahalo my kumu for instilling this lesson in me, and many of my kumu are on that ala. And we’ve helped to set this protocol of the ʻaha because we’re looking at that stage right now of what’s needed to go forward as a people, and there needs to be more inclusion.”

Influential kumu, a mix of stern light heartedness

“I’ve had so many different kumu. Uncle Kia Fronda was one of my first kumu down in Waipiʻo. He had the camp way in the back by ka ʻili o Puʻueo. He had this sternness about him, but he also kept you light hearted. He was really super strict, but we laughed a lot. And he had this stink eye you could smell from a mile away. I catch myself as a teacher using some of those mannerisms. I find that also in my hula tradition. I come from Waikāunu traditions that come out of Unukupukupu that is rooted in Hālau O Kekuhi, which is where Uncle Kia also learned a lot. It’s that same dynamic of being very staunch and dedicated to the work, but not becoming such a stick in the mud that everything becomes so dauntingly difficult. When I teach and when I share, I like to laugh, so I make a lot of jokes because I’m thinking back to how uncle was. It just keeps us real, so it isn’t this big theoretic perspective of things; it’s really grounded in the real and raw.”

Lessons in leadership

“You have to be able to trust that all of those who come can be of assistance. We can plan, but you also have to be able to trust the path that unwinds. So that’s why I always say we set an intention and a path, but we have to be able to be loose. You got to go with the flow and make room for more people to rise.

“And really; to be a leader means you have to drop ego. The ultimate goal is just to see more people rise into being good self-leaders. I’ve learned that in time you can try and be in charge and try to manage everything, but then you go right into micromanagement; and you’re going to burn yourself out if you try to take on everything.

“You truly need to paepae and just support everybody. We can all move forward toward the same goal, but we are all going to have different perspectives on how to get there. So we just try and mālama each other along the way.”

The post Build new leaders through inclusion and support appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

Koa Hewahewa is a native son of Maui, born and raised in Wailuku. He is a small business owner of Kanu Ka ʻIke and currently the Director of Forestry at Hōkū Nui Maui LLC. Koa is passionate about watershed protection, education of youth, water rights for Native Hawaiians, and currently serves as the Vice President of Hui o Nā Wai ʻEhā.

How does culture play into your role as a leader?

“I wouldn’t consider myself a leader. I think the issue is with self-proclaimed leaders. I would consider myself more of a great follower. I had great people that I looked up to that I could follow in their paths and now I’m just trying to do as they did and do what I can to make a positive impact in our community.

“A really huge epiphany happened in my life almost a decade ago. My pops, Kaʻawa Hewahewa, came to me in a dream and he told me, “Eh. No lead. Guide.” Those words shook me to my bones and changed my life. I realized that there are leaders and there are guiders, and we need both. I had a mission. The difference is that the leaders may be more upfront and recognized, whereas the guiders operate like the makani. It has an effect, creates change, but we don’t know where it came from and where it goes. So I would consider myself more of a guider…someone who is in the mix, making things happen, trying to conform and control the narrative from behind the scenes.”

What does Aloha ʻāina leadership mean to you?

“Aloha ʻĀina leadership. It’s been watered down a lot recently. And I think to really get the true sense of what aloha ʻāina means is having true gratitude for all of those that fed you, not just with food, but with knowledge. To be an aloha ʻāina leader on the front lines is really difficult in the complex world that we live in…I think it’s shifting and changing.

“I like to say let’s not rely so much on our ancestors, because some of the problems and issues that we face today are things that our ancestors never faced. We have new pests, diseases and predators at the gate. But we must never forget the values and the foundation that they set for us. We’ve got to be able to sharpen our own spears now and be ready for the new things that are coming and just stay sharp, do our homework, and do our research. And it is hard because we do have full time kuleana. Jobs. We have ʻohana. And to really become an aloha ʻāina leader we need to take what little time we have left in the midnight hours and study to be scientists, lawyers, philosophers and professors. Because these are the types of people that are challenging us today. And they get all the book smarts. They get all this fancy palapala to back them up. But what makes their background and knowledge more valuable than ours?”

What is it that pushes you to work through feelings of discomfort?

“We’ve got to take control of the narrative again. We have so many other people telling us our story. So that’s kind of what pushes me to get out. I never ever said ‘yes’ to interviews or panels and I never wanted to be out there in the front. But I do have a story to tell. I do represent my ʻohana and my children. They drive me every day. So in times of discomfort I try to think of all those things and make sure that I have a mission. Recently, Uncle Walter Ritte told me that what gets him going is survival and I agree, because we’re in a state of survival over here. And in order to survive, we’ve got to be on the frontline taking control of the narrative, sharing exactly what we’re going through, and sharing the knowledge that’s been passed down to us from our ancestors.”

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Ka Wai Ola recently caught up with Hōkūleʻa navigator Kaʻiulani Murphy. Originally from Waimea, Hawaiʻi Island, Murphy recalls being “fascinated” the first time she saw Hōkūleʻa on a school field trip. As a student at UH Mānoa in 1997 she enrolled in a voyaging class and when she had the opportunity to sail she was hooked. Murphy has been involved with the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) ever since; her first voyage was in 2000. Today she works as a PVS Education Specialist and as an Instructor at Honolulu Community College where she teaches Voyaging as part of the Hawaiian Studies program.

Mālama Honua

“Caring for island earth was Mālama Honua’s mission. It was about meeting new people and reconnecting with others. The canoes have been amazing platforms for learning and for sharing aloha. I was on several legs of the voyage, including the first and final legs. In 2014, I sailed from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti, and then from American Samoa to Tonga to Aotearoa. I caught up with them in 2016 on America’s East Coast and sailed from Massachusettes to Maine. Then I rejoined Hōkūleʻa in Tahiti and got to sail her home to Hawaiʻi. A nice little circle.”

Life Lessons

“When Nainoa (Thompson) asked me to navigate the final leg home from Tahiti I was stressed out. I wasn’t confident that I knew enough. I was kind of stuck in this place where I never felt ready to leave the dock. To feel confident to just say, “okay untie the lines” and then go.

“Fortunately, Bruce Blankenfeld was on that leg and said, “you know what you know already. You need to have fun. It’s hard work, but enjoy it too.” So when we left I was able to relax a little and enjoy the experience knowing that it would be a learning process.

I feel really lucky that in the 20+ years that I’ve been involved with PVS I’ve been able to sail with a number of different teachers. I’ve also been lucky to have wahine role models like Aunty Penny Martin who crewed on Hōkūleʻa’s first voyage. Aunty Penny has always been a part of Hōkūleʻa. She’s such a huge force in ʻohana waʻa – just larger than life; a super strong woman. When she reminds us of that first voyage she says, “it was an all male crew plus two.” We (women) really have come a long way.”

Next Steps

“Hōkūleʻa has made such a huge contribution to our people, from the very first voyage. She brought back our pride and dignity and reminded us who we are and who we come from. We are in this place of re-learning all of this ʻike kūpuna. I feel like the upcoming generations are going to be so much smarter and better at things than us. So I really feel like the next big thing is that we as kānaka, as ʻōiwi, are going to need to be able to control what happens in our place; on our ʻāina.”

The post Courage to Leave the Dock appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

Ka Wai Ola sat down with Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) Assistant Navigator and Science Coordinator Haunani Kane and asked her to share her manaʻo on leadership.

Kane, who sailed 5 legs of the Worldwide Voyage received her PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She is currently a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Researcher working at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Her research is focused on better understanding how islands within Papahānaumokuākea will response to sea level rise and storms. In addition to her work with PVS, Kane is also a member of ʻOhana Waʻa and Nā Kama Kai, a youth organization that teaches ocean awareness, safety and conservation.

Reflections on Leadership

“The leaders I most admire lead by doing. They are quiet, but when they speak what they say is profound. From Nainoa (Thompson) I learned to dream big and how, when things seem impossible, to find the courage and strength to persevere. I was fortunate to do two sails with Uncle Bruce (Blankenfeld). He is so good at leading people. He inspires his whole crew to work hard all the time – and they do it just because they want to make him proud.

One of my most memorable legs of the world-wide voyage was sailing home in 2017, and being part of a team with strong, focused and amazing wahine. Pomai Bertleman was our captain and Kaiulani Murphy was our navigator. It was the first time in the history of Hōkūleʻa that there was both a female captain and navigator. I got to see that women can lead in our own way. We don’t have to do things the same way as men to be successful.”

Culture and Science

Haunani Kane on the Hōkūleʻa during the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage – Photos: Polynesian Voyaging Society and ʻŌiwi TV

“Our culture drives us to ask questions. When we see a problem, we seek solutions because the issue is important to our people. When you think of science that way, when you seek solutions knowing there’s an impact on people you care about, that’s the way of doing pono science.

When I’m out on the ocean that’s when I feel the most connected to my kūpuna. It’s a space where you’re navigating and using lots of math and science; there’s critical thinking, observation and recall. But it’s more than that. There’s a spiritual and cultural element. At times things happen that you can’t explain. You start to step into that other realm and you realize it’s coming from somewhere deeper and that you’re making a connection. It’s hard to explain.”

Paying it Forward

“Nainoa invested time in us with the expectation that we will do the same for future generations. This summer, I taught an oceanography class at UH. I tried to connect everything I taught the students back to Hawaiʻi. If they can relate what they are learning to their home, then they can relate it to their own lives.

One of my passions is helping young people learn in ways that are non-traditional: Teach them about the ocean by being out on the ocean; teach them about the mountains by being up in the mountains. A ʻclassroom’ is not a set of walls, but any space where learning takes place.”

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