Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 6, 1 June 2016 — Hundreds elean up at charter school's aloha ʻāina event [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hundreds elean up at charter school's aloha ʻāina event

ByTreenaShapiro Eola 'oe, e ola mākou nei. If you live, we live. With that sentiment in mind, eighth graders at Hālau Kū Mana have been engaged in weekly cleanups along a stretch of Makiki Stream that runs through their campus. On April 23, hundreds of community volunteers joined the charter school's 15 eighth-graders to

eiean the stream, piant a garden and contribute to a growing aloha 'āina movement. For many, the event was a way to celebrate Earth Day, but for Hālau Kū Mana it was just a good time of year to organize a massive eleanup. "To us it's Kū season, you know? It's time to elean, time to get ready for the hot summer," said Kumu Trevor Atkins, whose students led the effort. It was a drizzly Saturday moming, but the weather didn't dampen enthusiasm as volunteers reported to the various stations. Many of the younger keiki were engaged in painting

signs and pianting hibiscus, ti plants and native trees. Some of the stronger folk were pulling logs from the stream or wielding chainsaws and weed whaekers. Everywhere, people were picking up garbage, including rusty car parts, broken furniture, bedding and other evidence that the area has been used an unofficial and illegal dump site. While dumping has tapered off some since Hālau Kū Mana students began caring for the area, after their winter break students returned to find a Christmas tree and a mattress in the stream. "I think it's a really good thing to do because our kumus keep on saying mālama 'āina is just like taking care of our body and our stream is kind of like our body, so if we don't take care of it it's like our stream could die and we could die, too," says eighth-grader Liko Lehua, who was part of a crew filming the eleanup for May's Wild and Scenic Film Festival at Doris Duke Theatre. Volunteers eame from all over the island - neighboring schools like Hanahau'oli, Punahou and the University of Hawai'i-Mānoa, along with outlying schools like Mililani and Le Jardin. Another dozen organizations also eame out to mālama 'āina. "Hopefully some people will just

fall in love with this plaee and start taking care of it themselves," Liko said. Mapuana Hardy-Kahaleoumi, the eighth-grader in charge of the weleome tent, started attending Hālau Kū Mana this school year and the former Hawaiian language immersion school student appreciates the opportunities to reconnect with the environment. "We learn how to be sustainable and not only to elean streams, but how we ean also

take back the knowledge we learn here and give it to the places that we live in," she said. "I live in 'Ewa and we all know 'Ewa's pretty dry, so I am taking the knowledge I learn here and I ean transfer it to trying to figure out where the other streams are to elean them up and (restore them to) a reliable resource." For the students, the day wasn't just about clearing debris. "We're in there everyday but I wanted to show the students that it isn't just getting your hands dirty, it's also about organizing an event," said Atkins, 3 1, who has been teaching

at Hālau Kū Mana for eight years. "You ean be an event planner. You ean be a deejay. You know there's just so many ways you ean contribute to this growing movement. You don't have to be the auv liftina loas."

Hanahau'oli Head of School Cindy Gibbs-Wil-bom was heartened to see the neighborhood eome together to support community project. "The energy was palpahle because there was so mueh interest. Our kids have already been looking for ways to care for the earth in some of our classes. Their sustainable efforts were just kind of carried on in this connection with Hālau Kū Mana." As she supervised the planting, Allie Atkins, Kumu Trevor's mom, was impressed by the cooperation between all the organizations, particularly the schools. "I'm hoping it's going to be like a model and an inspiration to people on the other streams next to us and all the way down so they'll get inspired and they'll start cleaning up their streams," she said. "Pretty soon we'll have the wai going again." ■

LAND & WATER

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To mark the season of Kū, hundreds of volunteers removed trash and logs from Makiki Stream, cleared invasive species and created a native garden. - Photos: Courtesy

Liko Lehua 1 and Mapuana ' HardyKahaleoumi.