Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 6, 1 June 1997 — Program teaches community, promotes well-being [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Program teaches community, promotes well-being

Hōkūle'a has spent the last nine months building relationships with communities by sailing around the state. People of all ages have climbed aboard, to learn a little about navigation and voyaging and even sail the 22-year-old Hōkūle'a. The program is called Mālama Hawai'i and is sponsored in part by Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center. The program promotes well-being and health through cultural pride and education. The program began last September on Kaua'i. "Eaeh island has used the eanoe differently," said Nainoa Thompson, the captain and naviga-

tor of Hōkūle'a. Eaeh island has their own crew members who are responsible for Hōkūle'a while she is on their island. Hōkūle'a impacted almost 2,000 school ehildren and sailed more than 300 miles during her three month visit to Kaua'i. "For some kids it was a real spark," said Dennis Chun, member of the Kaua'i crew. The Kaua'i crew, also members of Nā Kalai Wa'a

o Kaua'i, earned the Community Volunteerism Award for presenting Hōkūle'a to the children and sharing voyaging and navigation information with the community. A variety of health and Hawaiian organizations supported the Mālama Hawai'i project while on Kaua'i. Hōkūle'a's visit to O'ahu communities were accompanied by 'Eala, a 45-foot double-hull eanoe used for PVS's Ho'olōkahi program for high school students. Shantelle Ching and Dennis Kawahara, PVS crew members, created a game for the ehildren to learn the diversity of the wind and weather conditions when sailing to Tahiti and back. A roll of the dice and a little math determined a good wind day or no wind. On O'ahu, eaeh community had a crew mixed in with the regular crew members. Volunteers also contributed time and hands to community sails from Kualoa, Coconut Island and off Pōka'i. Many of the volunteers were students who took a navigation class. On Hawai'i Island Hōkūle'a met up with Makali'i, a 54-ft. double hulled eanoe captained by Clay Bertlemann, and sailed along the Kona coast from Kawaihae, Miloli'i, and to South Point. (See Trustee Springer's eolumn, page 16)

Some of the Moloka'i crew members flew to Kona to help with the education sails. Mel Paoa heads the Moloka'i crew. Paoa says more young people are getting involved today. People always thought Hōkūle'a was for an elite crew, but it's for everybody, Paoa said. He speaks fondly of his Moloka'i crew. "Not only on the oeean but on land they really kōkua," he said, " instead of waiting to be told they just do it." "What I want to show these guys is that before you ean learn how to navigate you gotta learn to tie knots," he said. "Not onlv being the

eyes, but the hands of the eanoe." Hōkūle'a has become a tool for education and the sail to Kaho'olawe was aimed at giving back to that community whieh supports the healing and renewal of the island. Thompson would like to build a star compass as an educational learning center at Kealaikahiki point. The most valuable thing about Mālama Hawai'i is building healthy relationships with other parts of communities throughout the state of Hawai'i. We have been exposed to so many incredible people just by the shear execution of sailing this eanoe," Thompson said. The sail to Kalaupapa from Lāna'i had a crew of people from Maui, Lāna'i, Moloka'i and O'ahu that never met eaeh other, Thompson said. Hōkūle'a has traveled more than 75,000 miles, that's twice the distance around the earth's equator. Her sail around the state has brought her closer to the people who have watched her sail far from their shores over the years. The double hull classroom has not yet finished its sail around the state. After a month long visit in Maui, Hōkūle'a is scheduled to visit Mānele Bay one more time and return to O'ahu. Hōkūle'a has been asked to visit with the Ni'ihau community sometime in June.

īiana Henerson,15, from Hana Maui, coiling up the tricing lines. Photos by Monte Costa