Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 11, 1 November 1988 — UH Operation Kua'ana Sets Up "Hoa Aloha" Network [ARTICLE]

UH Operation Kua'ana Sets Up "Hoa Aloha" Network

by 'Ekela Kaniaupi'o Director, Operation Kua'ana University of Hawaii, Manoa Here at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Hawaiians make up on!y five percent of the campus student popu!ation, a sad fact considering we are the people of this land. Only two percent of the graduates from the University are Hawaiian. If our goal is for full and equitable participation of Hawaiians in the State of Hawai'i, we must get educated and trained, whieh means we must remain in* the system through graduation and obtain a degree in one of the professions. There is a program located in the Hawaiian Studies office, appropriately called Operation Kua'ana. Reflecting the meaning of kua'ana as the older sibling who īn a Hawaiian 'ohana is directly responsible for the welfare of the younger sibling, Operation Kua'ana is reaching out to all Hawaiians on the UH Manoa campus to provide the support so many of us need when we choose to eome to the University, oftentimes a very non-Hawaiian institution. Operation Kua'ana offers such services as tutoring, academic counseling and a plaee to eome and just talk story about school, family, and good times as well as bad. Though it shares the same office as the UH Center for Hawaiian Studies, it is an independent activity and comes under UH Student Services.

Operation Kua'ana officially begins this • semester, and will be launched with a reception November 23 at the Campus Center ballroom, from 6 to 10 p. m. that includes 'ono Hawaiian food and good music. Come together and see how many we are on campus. Operation Kua'ana staff and peer counselors will be setting up a "hoa aloha" network. Hoa aloha means "friend" and this network intends to foster this re!ationship. Everyone who comes to the reception will be offered a ehanee to be a hoa aloha to another student who wants the same. Eaeh hoa aloha shares in the other's academic and/or social world, committing themselves to care about the other's progress and success eaeh semester. There was onee a time when we would eome to the University and there would be no one who seemed to care about our comings and goings. Well, those days are past. Through the semester we will sponsor lectures, video presentations and activities to bring Hawaiian students together to know about our people's past and present and discuss the future. We have so mueh to be proud of as Hawaiians and so far to go at the same time. Operation Kua'ana has eight Hawaiian peer counselors who also tutor, provide a listening ear, and direction to services such as financial aid, workshops focusing on certain basic skills (writing, reading comprehension, note-taking, etc.), access

♦ to on-campus student services that meet specific needs. When a student is referred to another program, follow-up will be done to make sure they are helped. Operation Kua'ana aIso offers a limited amount of tuition waivers for Hawaiian students. Since January 1988 we have given 60 tuition waivers. Peer counselors lend their diverse backgrounds to the program. They emphasize Hawaiian values and a feeling of belonging in the college setting. They are: Alohilani Kuala, Kalama Akamine, Keanu Sai, Konia Freitas, Moana Balaz, Pikake Renaud, Luana Busby and Malia Melemai. With Hawaiians as 20 percent of the general population of Hawai'i, this program will address the critical issue of under-representation of Hawaiians at the University of'Hawai'i. Operation Kua'ana seeks to increase the number of Hawaiian students in the UH system through the establishment of a coordinated network of recruitment, retention and post-graduate placement services. At present, our limited funding has confined our efforts to just the retention of Hawaiian students. Operation Kua'ana will also work closely with community college representatives across the state to facilitate the transfer of Hawaiian students to the Manoa campus. How ean you be a part of Operation Kua'ana? lf you're a student on the UH Manoa campus, eome visit our office in Moore Hall 428 and let us know you're here. Unless you have declared your ethnicity as Hawaiian when you register, you might not be on our list of Hawaiian students. You may not need our help, but another Hawaiian student might need you to be a hoa aloha, a friend who will be an immediate support when times get rough. If you're a teacher, counselor, parent, or in eontact with Hawaiian children, you ean encourage them to eome to the University of Hawai'i as there is a plaee to see them through to graduation, providing services needed to succeed. If you have kala you just don't know what to do with, and it does your heart good to help our Hawaiian children succeed and be a viable part of the future of Hawai'i, you may make a private eontribution to the University of Hawai'i Foundation in the name of Operation Kua'ana. We at Operation Kua'ana are optimistic in outlook and have high hopes for the future of Hawaiians at the University. We will recognize our success when we reach or exceed a proportional population with comparable achievements of Hawaiians at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. 'Ekela Kaniaupi'o is also Director of Student Servicesfor the UHManoa Hawaiian Studies Department.