Honokaʻa High and Intermediate School are Title I eligible schools located in a rural, primarily Native Hawaiian populated community on Hawaiʻi Island. Funding for the Ka Hana Noʻeau initiative will consist of three mentorship tracks rooted in Hawaiian culture and STEAM, including model rocket building, fine arts, and Hawaiian ethnobotany. The program partners with the schools to match students with positive adult role models to grow intellectually, interpersonally, and emotionally.

“The mentorship program provides invaluable support to participants, such as access to resources that are otherwise unavailable, especially for those struggling socially and emotionally,” said Angella Brandt, Ka Hana Noʻeau Project Coordinator. “One mentee shared that our program gave them a ‘sense of place.’ We encourage students to strive for higher education, especially because some families do not have that mindset as they struggle to make ends meet.”

The Kupa ʻAina natural farm in Kailua will use the funding to continue services to support and mentor Hawaiʻi’s most at-risk and vulnerable ʻōpio (youth ages 14-24). The youth will connect with the ʻāina while participating in services centered on workforce development, mental health, and college pathways. The farm is located on the Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center, adjacent to the Hawaiʻi Youth Correctional Facility. Because Hawaiʻi imports more than 80% of its food, Kupa ʻAina partners with state and community organizations to focus on natural farming as a path towards sustainability, reconnecting with traditional Hawaiian practices and educating the community to transform Hawaiʻi’s food systems.

Nā ʻŌiwi Kāne is a certified Native Hawaiian Organization with a mission to grow the reach of its community impact and strengthen the Native Hawaiian community. The organization supports programs and projects focusing on transferring the skills, values, and practices of the traditional Hawaiian way of life to the most vulnerable members of the Hawaiʻi community. PIDF is Nā ʻŌiwi Kāne’s first beneficiary, from which several programs have benefited since 2005. 

“Nā ʻŌiwi Kāne is able to reach many Native Hawaiian keiki, ʻōpio and their ‘ohana with the help of PIDF and their programs. It takes a village to raise a child and together with PIDF we are doing it one keiki and ʻōpio at a time,” said Maylisajoy Kamakeeaina, Director at Nā ʻŌiwi Kāne. 

To learn more about Partners in Development Foundation and its ten free programs and services, including Ka Hana Noʻeau and Kupa ʻAina natural farm, go to pidf.org.

They boarded the Kanoa II and voyaged to the beautiful Kuamo‘o Point while Boyd Bond, historian and naturalist, shared about the different ahupua‘a along the coast and their unique features that make them sacred. He took the students on a journey back in time, when ancient, powerful Kings ruled the rugged and fertile terrain.

It was a fun packed Body Glove adventure day with snorkeling and stand-up paddle boarding at the beautiful Coral Domes dive spot off of the Kuamo‘o Coast.

There are currently two programs offered at Konawaena led by Brad Wood-Ferren (Landscaping) and Maverick Kawamoto (To Grow, To Eat, To Harvest). At this year’s ‘Ohana Night, each class conducted a group presentation on what they learned throughout the semester.

Landscaping students led demonstrations from knot tying to building complete landscaping irrigation systems, which also included valve and drip emitters. The students also demonstrated how to siphon water from one bucket to another. Wood-Ferren says, “this (Kealakekua) is a very rural community, and many homes have catchment and water storage systems. My students now have learned the skills to siphon and can teach others how to accomplish this task.”

GHE students led a presentation on the delicious food they prepared for the event. From planting and harvesting, to raising and slaughtering, and food preparation, the students provided detailed step-by-step cooking demonstrations of the dishes they later served to those in attendance.

The Ka Hana No’eau mentorship programs at Konawaena have molded students that demonstrate high levels of strategic planning capabilities along with teamwork and knowledge within the areas of skill they acquired through their classes.

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The reader is introduced to the students of the different subject matter areas and their mentors. Inter-generational participation and interaction; that is kupuna (elders) and makua (adults) teaching life-long skills to ‘opio (youth), is the cornerstone of the Ka Hana No’eau program.

Each benefits from the presence of the other, and together they create a stronger community for the future.

The entire article can be read by clicking on the “Related Link” to the right.

Last year, he was nominated to be a delegate for SHYLI to the 8th Annual Youth Leadership Summit for Sustainable Development. The SHYLI youth delegation consisting of Kynan and four other youth from Hawai’i shared their presentations about sustainable initiatives on their island. Kynan’s presentation was about his hope for agricultural business sustainability in Hawai’i. The summit was a weeklong intensive leadership training that helped the attending youth to envision their goals and create action plans for their lives and for sustainable projects.

“This Summit was a real eye opener. It gave me the urge to want to have a vision of what I want my future to be like. It also gave me the tools to help achieve that goal. All the workshops that I was able to be included in for this Summit improved my skills as a future sustainable businessman.”

-Kynan Kawai

Locally, Kynan shared his vision of Sustainable Agriculture & Business at the “North Kohala Growing a Local Food System” with 75 local decision-makers – including Senator Malama Solomon. For his Sustainability-In-Action project, Kynan is helping create the SHYLI Youth Leadership Forum. The Youth Leadership Forum will bring together notable people from the business, government, and education communities on the Big Island for the SHYLI delegates to present their Sustainability-In-Action projects, the lessons learned at the summit, as well as their visions for a sustainable HawaiÊ»i. An essay that Kynan wrote titled Sustainability, It’s Important to Me (link) tells of his history with sustainable agriculture, his time as a delegate, as well as his vision for agricultural sustainability in Hawai’i.

Mahalo to Kynan Kawai, Ka Hana No’eau, and to Sustainable Hawai’i Youth Leadership Initiative for all of their hard work, they are truly making a difference towards realizing the goal of a sustainable Hawai’i.

“I send a special Mahalo to the Sustainable Hawai’i Youth Leadership Initiative and the Stone Soup Leadership Institute for their support of the Youth Leadership Summit for Sustainable Development. These contributions of support and time provide the foundations for our future’s leadership and an environment that allows young individuals to become actively engaged in making our world a better place.”

-Governor Neil Abercrombie

Not long after returning from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, where he served as one of five Hawai’i delegates to the 8th Annual Youth Leadership Summit for Sustainable Development, Kynan was off again. This time to Nashville Tennessee, where he and two other students represented Hawai’i at the 2012 Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Mid-Year Training Institute.

An advocate for a drug-free community, Kynan (pictured above in the lime-green shirt) has been active for many years, recalling as a child going with his mother to sign wave along Kohala’s roadsides. One of the signs he remembers exhorted, “Cook Rice Not Ice!!!”.

This young man is someone to watch. Ka Hana No’eau Program Director David Fuertes, who himself is no minor player in the community, winning the prestigious Ho’okele Award from the Hawai’i Community Foundation, said of Kynan, “He is intelligent, practical, and on task. He is a thorough thinker who processes any situation clearly before acting, and as such is almost always successful at what he does.”

Congratulations Kynan! You’re racking up some miles!!!

Mahalo Nui Loa to Five Mountains Hawai’i, and Executive Director Robin Mullin, for sponsoring Kynan’s and chaperone David Fuertes Jr.’s trip to Nashville.

He is another example of the caliber of employees we have here at Partners In Development Foundation, and for which we are most grateful!!!

Congratulations David!

Ka Hana No’eau is funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education’s, Native Hawaiian Education Program (NHEP).

The Sustainable Hawai’i Youth Leadership Initiative is pleased to announce the youth who will serve as a delegates to the 8th Annual Youth Leadership Summit for Sustainable Development on Martha’s Vineyard: June 23-29.

Prior to their departure they will develop a power point document to present on the Hawaiian culture and green initiatives on their island. Each youth will create a section on one of these five areas: sustainable agriculture, sustainable building, sustainable business, sustainable culture, and sustainable energy.

During the Youth Leadership Summit the SHYLI delegation will create an action plans to develop Sustainability-In-Action Plan that benefit their community. Upon their return, they will work with their nominating organizations to engage others and implement their Sustainability-In-Action projects.

Based upon the nominees and their existing projects, we expect that they will focus on one (or more) of these sustainability programs in agriculture, building, business, culture and energy. During the coming year, we will use technology to keep SHYLI’s delegation connected, sharing their progress and trouble-shooting their challenges as they implement their Sustainability-In-Action projects. Each nominating organizations will serve as a community partner with their youth delegate to implement the Sustainability-In-Action projects.

A high school junior, Kynan has been a member of the KHN mentoring program for the past 7 yrs. He began with the Hawaiian Plant Propagation program, moved on to Culinary Arts, and for the past 4 years has studied with the program for Animal Husbandry.

Kynan was also a featured speaker at the Governor’s Agriculture Panel luncheon, where he shared our “Partners In Development Foundation – Ka Hana No‘eau Youth Sustainable Program”. The panel was sponsored by the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Department of Agriculture, and took place in Hilo with 350 invited guests.

Kynan has also been selected to attend another Youth Leadership program on “Substance Abuse Prevention” which will take place in Tennessee during the month of July, and will be representing Partners In Development Foundation – Ka Hana No‘eau program.

We gratefully acknowledge Hawaiian Airlines for Kynan’s travel to and from the east coast, and Tradewind Aviation for his flight to Martha’s Vineyard. Mahalo a nui loa!!!

Early last month, teams consisting of members of the legislature, Hawai’i county council, restauranteurs, non-profit organizations, flower farms, and Mayor Billy Kenoi, competed in a “Taste of Kalo”, a community event, hosted by Ka Hana No’eau, in collaboration with Community Harvest Hawai’i.

The event was held at the Kohala Inter-generational Center, and included entertainment by well-known slack key guitar artist, Cyril Pahinui.

There was also Okinawan entertainment, food booths, and a mechanical horse and calf to test your roping skills.

All competing chefs created wonderful aromatic, eye-pleasing and tasty dishes, which the crowd of food lovers thoroughly enjoyed. At the end of the day, the vote was in, and…

EVERYBODY WON!!!

Kohala High School Principal Janette Snelling was named a finalist in the 2012 Masayuki Tokioka Excellence in School Leadership Awards. One Hawaii public school principal will receive $25,000 — a $10,000 personal cash award and $15,000 towards a school project of his or her choice. The recipient of this year’s award will be announced Friday, during the Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation dinner in Honolulu. Eleven public school principals from across the state are finalists for the award which is underwritten by the Island Insurance Foundation and named after the founder of Island Insurance.

Snelling has been an educator at Kohala High School for 15 years, the past year as principal and previously as vice principal. Principal Snelling believes part of her role in cultivating a culture conducive to learning also means learning the historical culture that has existed within the school, making determinations about which elements of the existing culture support the school’s vision and mission, and reshaping the school’s culture by reinforcing the positive elements and transforming the negative ones.

For more information, visit islandinsurance.com

Special to West Hawaii Today