Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 3, Number 12, 1 December 1986 — Unique Program at Kaanapali Beach Hotel [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Unique Program at Kaanapali Beach Hotel

Project Po'okela Designed to Preserve Culture

By Kenny Haina, Editor Ka Wai Ola O OHA "Po'okela — foremost, best, superior; ehampion; to excel" (Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary).

This has been a mueh used and sometimes mis-used Hawaiian word but to the general manager of the Kaanapali Beach Hotel in Kaanapali, Maui, it is one he holds dear to his heart and to his management of Amfac Inc.'s sprawling tourist resort facility. The Project Po'okela program was formally launched last Sept. 15 although the seed was planted two years ago in December 1984. It is a unique program whieh so far has been in-house for the staff and employees of the Kaanapali Beach Hotel only. General Manager Mike White, a Punahou and University of Hawaii graduate who comes from a sixth generation kamaaina family observed that teaching the history and crafts of the Hawaiian people is not enough. "We must give them a cultural history in totality," he remarked.

"If you don't protect the Hawaiian culture, you're going to lose the very essence of what makes these islands an attractive plaee," the youthfui manager pointed out. White had high commendations for Winona Rubin, Alu Like ine. president and executive director; Gard Kealoha, former Trustee for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs who chaired the Culture/Education Committee; Hawaiianentrepreneurand author George Hu'eu Kanahele; Hawaiian businessman Kenneth F.

Brown; and Hawaiian language expert Robert Lokomaikai Snakenberg of the Department of Education for their efforts in putting Project Po'okela together. They all participated in the Sept. 15 dedication ceremony with Pualani Kanakaole, a daughter of the late Aunty Edith Kanakaole of Hawaii, giving the opening chant and the Rev. David Kaupu of the Kamehameha Schools providing the invocation. White also paid special tribute to Carl Lombardo, an engineer in

the hotel's maintenance department who is chairman of the employees' Po'okela Council. This group has been involved with Aloha Week and historic preservation work. To accomplish the goal of Project Po'okela, White has retained the services of a young Hawaiian educator who is sensitive to the program and whom he observed while he was on the management staff at Maunalani and the Mauna Kea Beach hotels on Hawaii.

Keala Kealoha-Milare, who is on leave from Honokaa High School as soeial studies, English and Hawaiian language instructor, now teaches language, culture and values to the Kaanapali Beach Hotel employees four times a week. At the end of eaeh quarter she teams up with Dr. Kanahele in

conducting a semmar based on values excerpted from his book, "Ku Kanaka: Stand Tall." It is this strong caring for Hawaiians and Na Mea Hawaii that White has followed through on Project Po'okela. White explained this program has farreaching effects not only for his staff but to the visitor industry and the community. "We're definitely going tohave better employees. For me, it is so exhilarating to see our employees falling behind our Hawaiian banner. All our workers may not

be Hawaiians but they are fast becoming Hawaiians at heart. It is contagious how they ean pass on this Hawaiianness to others," White declared. White stands out as perhaps the only general manager of a major resort hotel who is deeply involved in such a program. "The Hawaiian culture, heritage and values must be protected and cherished. I see this eulture as I see the trunk of a tree where other cultures are branches of this main trunk," White explained.

"People in our industry have far more control over Hawaiian culture because we have the resources. Our Na Mele O Maui Festival is an example. We ean or we don't have to do it or we ean do it only for our guests. I believe all Hawaiian presentations should be actual and true," White went on. While there is definitely a eommunieahon and language barrier between Kealoha-Milare and -her "students," she reports no handicaps at all. "They are good learners. Their response and participation have been tremendous. They ean sense and see what we're trying to accomplish and they give out with all their heart," Kealoha-Milare said.

White s staff, especially the maintenance, custodial, groundskeeping and housekeeping departments, are an ethnic mixture of Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Caucasian, Hawaiian and others. White reiterated how thrilled he was with the response to the program by his employees. "We either preserve the culture or keep desecrating it," White concluded. Happily, he has opted to do something about preserving it.

General Manager Mike White of Kaanapali Beach Hotel describes Project Po'okela program for his staff and employees.