Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 5, 1 May 1994 — Foundation to be a bridge between Pacific islanders and Washington [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Foundation to be a bridge between Pacific islanders and Washington

The Pacific American Heahh Symposium ean trace its roots to one office - in fact, to one man. David Cooper, a retired army brigadier general, is founder of the Pacific American Foundation. a private, non-profit organization established last November to educate intemational, national, and regional leaders about the needs of Pacific islanders. Shortly after its ereation, the foundation chose to laekle the heahh care issue, using the symposium as a starting point to build eonsensus among leaders in the different isiand communities and bring their message to Washington. With help from Hawaiian, Samoan and Marianas leaders, and with invaluable cooperation from Queen's Medical System, Cooper and the Pacific American Foundation were able to organize the symposium in a relatively short time. They were also able

to put together a draft report detailing the heakh needs of indigenous islanders whieh they used as a basis for symposium discussions. Cooper is in a good position to act as an advocate for Pacific islanders in Washington. Before spending 30 years in the U.S. military, he was a barefoot Hawaiian kid growing up in Waikāne valley. He has mingled with powerful people in Washington but is rooted in the mud and fishing

holes of the Windward Coast. He now wants to bring the two worlds closer together. Cooper relates a story told to him by a Hawaiian pastor. The kahu, when he was younger, had asked a kupuna why all the Hawaiian gods were dying? She answered, "because they have never been to New York." "We had great gods," says Cooper, "but we never shared them. ... Our people have always been global but we never had a voice." Cooper wants his organization to be that voice. The Foundation does not advocate any position but will act as a bridge for different Pacific-American viewpoints t'o reach Washington leaders. "We want to educate Congress. We want to help organizations like OHA get their message to leaders who make decisions that affect them." The general stresses that the Foundation operates both horizontally and vertically: It will bring high-level leaders of all areas together to discuss issues but will also tap the knowledge and skills of grassroots people. This, he says, will ensure that islander concerns are both accurately addressed and conveyed to the right people. - s

Gen.David Cooper