Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 10, 1 October 1991 — Page 6 Advertisements Column 2 [ADVERTISEMENT]

LEGACY

fiernice Pau»^ The Vision. Consider this nightmare: Imagine being born into a wonderful plaee where some 400,000 people, just like you, live in a solid, stable world. 400,000. That's about half the population of San Francisco or Honolulu. And then during the span of your lifetime, you watch as friends, family and the whole population is reduced to a mere 45,000 by sickness, disease and malaise. In your lifetime, before your eyes, the population has been reduced by an astounding 350,000 people. That's seven out of every eight people in Hawaii at the time. And Bernice Pauahi Bishop watched it happen to her people during the middle and latter parts of the nineteenth century. It must have torn apart this Hawaiian princess, to see her people unable to withstand the onslaught of change brought to these islands by foreigners. It is the reason she created an everlasting fund based on the lands she and her husband owned whieh would be for the sole benefit of Hawaiians and their education. Even then, she understood what many others did not: That the native Hawaiian population had to have a strong educational base in order to survive and prosper in the complex new world in whieh they now lived. Charles Reed Bishop, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop's husband and one of the five original tmstees, was instmmental in bringing his wife's vision to life. His financial astuteness served Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate well in those critical, early times. Rather than sell the Bishop lands, Mr. Bishop leased them to provide needed ineome to establish the Schools. Today, this land continues to be the basis for the legacy of Mrs. Bishop. And it is why we continue to be the guardians of her wishes and her vision. We remain vigilant and passionate in our dedication. That's what she would have wanted, that's what her will commanded. Aloha kākou apau.

[?]

This eolumn is sponsored by Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate in the interest of helping the public understand the role and mission of the Schools/Estate.