Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 3, Number 3, 1 March 1986 — Aloha Contagious at Nana I Ke Kupuna [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Aloha Contagious at Nana I Ke Kupuna

Valentine's Day 1986 will be one that will long be remembered by two dozen kupuna, including one eaeh from Lana'i and Moloka'i, who attended an all-day conference on "Communication: Hawaiian Style" Feb. 14 in the conference room of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. It was a most fitting day for this third in a series of Nana I Ke Kupuna conferences sponsored by OHA through its Kupuna Coordinator Betty Kawohiokalani Jenkins.

Cupid didn't have to be there to make the day complete for kupuna themselves played the role to the hilt. That love was contagious is only putting it mildly. The entire room permeated with aloha as kupuna worked in an atmosphere of ohana, bestowing eaeh other with aloha and showing great respect for one another's mana'o. "All the values of lokahi, ohana, aloha and ike are implied in our values. Your love is unconditional. You give and you don't expect anything in return," declared the OHA kupuna coordinator in addressing the group. Dr. Keith E. Berry, director of the Respect Institute at the University of Hawaii, was also deeply moved by the tremendous discipline and resp>ect exhibited by kupuna. When asked if the would like to say something, Dr. Berry remarked: "Everyone of my 54 Valentine Days have been wonderful but let me tell you this is the most beautiful of those days."

Dr. Berry, who later addressed the group on Respect for Others and Self-Evaluation (R. O. S. E.), was so taken by the performance of the kupuna that he told Ka Wai Ola O OHA, "Beautiful, just beautiful! There is a definite lesson to be learned from this." On the subject matter of the day, Jenkins reminded kupuna that "we eome from an oral culture and we learned this way (outlining the Hawaiian learning process)." Nana ka maka — observation. Pa'a ka waha — thinking, closed mouth. Ho'olohe — listening. Ho'opili — mimie, modeling. Ninau — questioning, speaking.

She reminded kupuna that 58 percent of communication is displayed in body language; 35 percent in voice tone; and seven percent in contact. Kupuna Vivian Kamahale of Waialua Elementary School was the workshop leader, describing the many means of communicating and using large posters on the conference room wall to explain her point. All kupuna also shared bits of experiences in their own lives during the introduction period. This sharing was also evident during the brown bag luneheon.

Objectives of this workshop were to: • Enrich the Hawaiian values of 'ohana through the study of communications. • Leam from and with eaeh other, utilizing the Hawaiian language process. • Support, stimulate and motivate kupuna to actively use various teaching modes in lesson delivery. • Better understand and know one's self as a basis for positive communication.

Kupuna Vivian Kamahele, standing, describes Communication: Hawaiian Style during Nana I Ke Kupuna session Feb. 14.