Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 9, 1 September 2010 — Real voices, Hawaiian values [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Real voices, Hawaiian values

By Kelly Ruidas Balancing the interests of farmers, residents and businesses on Maui - all with real needs for water - generates large headlines and heated testimony at puhlie hearings. Some real voices are never heard: Hawaiians who speak softly about their way of life, whieh includes being part of Maui's HC&S - Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. Working at the state's largest farm, an agricultural entity that has been sustained on Maui for more than 130 years, is I a source of quiet pride for many of them.

H C & S | provides good jobs, b r i g h t prospects to Native Hawaiian employees K o a Martin, the older of the Martin

b r o t h - ers who work at HC&S's shops, explained: "We have generations of Hawaiians who have worked in this industry. Being in this business allows us to hold on to what we have, allows Hawaiians to stay in Hawai'i and supports our culture in that way. Maybe it's not like pounding poi or working in the taro lo'i, but it supports our culture because we are here - and not in Califomia or Colorado." "There is pride," Koa said. "People have pride in what they do - irrigator or construction shop or machinist or welder - everything people do. That carries over into how we take care of this plaee. We are caretakers in what we do. And pride in our work is what contributes to the longevity of this company." "My Dad, he used to work here before us and my grandfather retired from this company," said Patrick, the younger Martin. "So, it's in our blood, I would say."

"HC&S gave me an opportunity for life," Patrick added, "Whether you are Hawaiian or not. Here in the shops: we make, we fix, we help the factory operate." "I'm a machinist, a millwright specialist," said 30-year HC&S employee Wes Bissen. "The way a machinist fits in my Hawaiian eulture: I have no idea, but one thing for sure - 1 am Hawaiian and I work and live with Hawaiian values." Said Chris Carbonel, HC&S irrigation maintenance worker, "I don't think there's anybody alive who ean remember Maui without HC&S." Water is a limited resource. We protect it. We conserve it. HC&S Water Resources Supervisor Clyde Anakalea feels a heavy responsibility to take care of the water, whieh is moved across the plantation, to fields needing irrigation. "I feel very grateful for what I do. We take care of the ditches because everyone that works, no matter where, within the plantation, knows that it's water we depend on. That's why it's important that our

infrastructure is well taken care of." Actions taken today are about providing opportunities for the next generation HC&S, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Hawai'i's College of Tropical Agriculture have joined together to test whether sugarcane or another type of grass or plant could lead to a better energy future. "We have a wide variety of talent in this company; we just need people to believe in us," said Koa. "I don't think there will be a difference whether we are processing biofuels or we are making sugar - in fact, biofuels might even be a little bit better, because we might actually be working toward something that this country and nation have been working for. To think we could be a part of all of that - a pioneer in this field - I'd be very proud." ■ Kelly Ruidas is a member of Hui O Ka 'Ike, a group ofHC&S employees who work to raise awareness of water issues on Maui. He has been workingfor HC&Sfor 12 years.

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Clyde Anakalea

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