Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 9, 1 September 2022 — Meetings and Visits on Moloka'i and O'ahu [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Meetings and Visits on Moloka'i and O'ahu

kawaiola.news | kwo@0HA.org N E WS F0R THE LĀHUI

In the Moloka'i Community: Aloha mai kākou! With joy, I announee that our Moloka'i OHA office has re-opened post-Covid! This wela summer, I also held my first "Talk Story with Trustee Alapa" at the Kūlana 'Ōiwi Hālau, Kalama'ula. Twenty-five beneficiaries shared sincere mana'o that motivated us to create a priority checklist such as keiki education, kūpuna care, mental

heahh services, the laek of resident pediatricians and dentists, water access and affordability, home repair grants (not loans), and so on. We will identify realistic goals to present to the BOT.

Our second "Talk Story with Trustee" was on Monday Aug. 29, 2022. Email pohair@oha.org to get on the meeting notification list. We also hosted the Board of Trustees on June 18 and 19 in Ho'olehua and took a moment, along with her husband, Myron Akutagawa, to honor the memory of the late Trustee Colette Machado. Afterwards, in keeping with our theme, "Back to the Āina," we visited Sen. Lynn DeCoite's family sweet potato farm. Russell DeCoite gave us an enlightening tour with samples of the 'ono potatoes! Next, we experienced the solar-pow-ered hale of Ipo and Kunani Nihipali who greeted us with an oli that gave us ehieken skin! We relished a farm-to-table luneh all created from the Nihipali's self-sustaining life on and ffom the aina.

The O'ahu Community: Trustee Kalei Akaka took the BOT to Kula Nui O Waimānalo. The community is dedicated to delivering services and even has a hydroponic farm. The keiki gave us delightful makana of painted plant pots and home-grown lettuce. At U.H. West O'ahu, the staff and students at the Academy for Creative Media welcomed us with an oli. 1his academy is an amazing opportunity for our students (and me!) to learn digital skills. Lastly, we honored the late Aunty Betty Jenkins, renowned hula and cultural practitioner of Waialua, O'ahu. Her daughter Nalani Jenkins of Nā Leo Pilimehana was present to receive the resolution. Mahalo Trustee Akaka for a wonderful O'ahu Island Board meeting! ■

Luana Alapa Trustee, Moloka'i and Lāna'i