It is an unfortunate fact that the majority of our ʻohana do not ʻōlelo ma ka ʻōlelo makuahine in their homes. We strived to invite our ʻohana with haumāna who struggle in ʻōlelo and have little to no support outside of kula. Our spring program was done entirely in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, giving our haumāna the opportunity to strengthen their ʻōlelo through moʻolelo, mele/oli, conversations with hoa ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, and connecting with our kupuna ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.

We were able to meet our outcomes by adhering to daily huakaʻi to Hanapēpē and Kekaha in the moku of Kona. Upon completion of the program, our haumāna have attained an increased understanding and deeper connections to the ʻāina, to the community, and to ʻohana.

Our connection to the ʻāina can be strengthened by turning our hands down and helping our ʻāina thrive. In doing this, we understand our sense of place and kuleana as kānaka who depend on this ʻāina to live. The students are now able to descriptively explain the process of cultivating kalo, from removing weeds in the loʻi, to ways of picking the lau, to harvesting kalo and preparing a bowl of poi for ʻohana.

In working alongside our local farmers, our haumāna clearly understand the hard work and dedication it requires to grow our own ʻai and ways to help mālama our ʻāina. To close off our program, our local kalo farmers shared even more with us and allowed us to partake of their land as each student was gifted a bowl of poi and a bag of prepped kalo ready to feed our ʻohana.

They were able to build relationships with local kalo farmers and their ʻāina through learning the traditional practice of cultivating kalo. Now it is our kuleana to mālama this knowledge, these relationships, and to take our own intiative to mālama our ʻāina who mālama us.