Category Archives: Community

TMT – A New Paradigm

Last week Keaukaha Elementary School welcomed some very important visitors: Dr. Henry Yang, President of the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) (he is also Chancellor of the University of California at Santa Barbara) and Dr. Jean-Lou Chameau, President of Cal Tech University.

I’ve survived in a very difficult business for 25 years, and one thing I’ve learned is that with some people, you clench your fist and say, “Don’t mistake kindness for weakness.” There are others you can do business with on a handshake. Dr. Henry Yang and Dr. Jean-Lou Chameau are both people I would do business with over a handshake.

Last week’s meeting came about because Dr. Yang asked me if I would arrange a meeting with Kumu Lehua Veincent, the principal of Keaukaha Elementary School.

Kumu Lehua invited Patrick Kahawaiola’a, President of the Keaukaha Community Association, and Luana Kawelu, Director of the Merrie Monarch Festival and daughter of its founder Aunty Dottie Thompson.

I took it upon myself to invite ‘Ahia Dye, the second female Hawaiian astronomy graduate from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, and Hoku Cody, a Marine Biology major who is in the UH Hilo Keaholoa STEM program.

We met in the Keaukaha Elementary School library and sat around a simple table on straight-backed chairs. I brought doughnuts from KTA and we drank instant Sanka coffee. Nothing fancy.

Kumu Lehua talked about the history of Keaukaha Elementary School and how it had underperformed for so long that people thought it was the permanent state of things. He is very low key, but it became clear that this school went from underperforming for as long as anyone can remember to being a “role model school” in just the three years that Kumu Lehua has been its principal.

It also became very apparent that the community is integrated into the school, and that the keiki are supported in many different ways. Kumu Lehua grounds the students in their culture and that gives them a solid foundation from which to go forward. Kumu Lehua, Uncle Patrick, and especially the staff at Keaukaha School are not talkers – they are doers.

Patrick talked about going into the Navy without a high school diploma and some friends insisting that he take the GED test. He passed. Whether or not he has a high school degree is not relevant. Uncle Pat is a true leader. He has common sense and he is clear, articulate and uncompromisingly focused on education for the keiki now and in future generations.

If I had to choose a leader between someone with 10 university degrees but no common sense, and Patrick with only a high school GED, there is no question – I would pick Patrick. The results speak for themselves.

I was the fly on the wall at the meeting, observing everything. Every so often a teacher would drop in to say hello. Some brought a few kids from their class, and the kids introduced themselves with confidence and a sense of purpose.

‘Ahia Dye operates the planetarium at the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center. I once sat through a planetarium and was so impressed that I had to go meet the person with that wonderful voice who was running that high tech show.

She was attending UH Hilo and working part-time. I was with my grandson Kapono, who was a junior in high school at the time, and he was fascinated with the gadgets and the computer controls. He and ‘Ahia chatted, and then he volunteered and started working there under ‘Ahia’s wing.

One day I decided to see how Kapono was doing, and I sat in. ‘Ahia taught him so well that he was actually running the planetarium show and doing the narrative. It impressed me and made me realize that ‘Ahia must be a great teacher.

By then ‘Ahia had graduated from UH Hilo with an astronomy degree. I told her, “Do you realize that as a native Hawaiian wahine astronomer, you are a role model for Hawaiian girls?” Since then, I’ve bragged about her to everyone.

Hoku Cody is a Marine Science student at UH Hilo. She testified at the last Comprehensive Management Plan public hearing. She spoke about the conflicts she faced in honoring her culture and her elders and reconciling that with her pursuit of a science degree. She slowly and deliberately described how she struggled, trying to reconcile both pursuits while honoring both.

And then she said, in a straightforward and non-personal way, that the things being discussed about Mauna Kea would have an effect on her generation, not previous ones. I looked around the room and noted that most of the testifiers, including myself, had white hair and were kind of long in the tooth. It hit me that she was right: It is not about us; it is about future generations.

The simple power of her speech made everyone pause. Her one speech weighed as much as 10 of the rest—it was that powerful.

Dr. Yang and Dr. Chameau mostly listened, commenting every so often. They are both engineers, not astronomers. Dr. Chameau told everyone that if they needed a sewer fixed, he could do that. Patrick and Kumu both said that they knew where they could use some help and we all laughed.

Henry Yang said that they came to listen to the community and that they were very appreciative of the opportunity.

It was very apparent that the community might have nontraditional educational needs. Both Dr. Yang and Dr. Chameau said that TMT is committed to funding educational opportunities – but that it would leave the actual administration and direction of the educational funding up to the community. They emphasized that this was a new paradigm. That it is different this time.

By the end of the hour everyone felt comfortable.

We went outside for a welcoming ceremony. Hoku had to leave and tutor some young kids. But Dr. Yang and Dr. Chameau, together with Kumu Lehua and ‘Ahia and myself, stood in front of the class that was assembled on the front steps of the school. We were each given a lei and then the students chanted a welcome. There were so many lessons rolled up into that ceremony. Most of all, it is part of the reason that Keaukaha Elementary School is doing so well.

We went to see some of the classes in action, and it made us understand why Keaukaha Elementary School is doing so well. They have incredibly dedicated teachers who are well organized and do not tolerate disrespect, and the kids know that they are loved.

There was a child on the porch taking a test with an adult supervisor. Kumu Lehua explained: “Frequent evaluation. That’s how I keep kids from falling through the cracks.”

At the end, while we were chatting, Dr. Yang told ‘Ahia, “You should go on to grad school and become an astronomy teacher. If you do, I’ll give you a letter of recommendation.” Dr. Chameau told her the same thing: “If you go on to grad school, let me know and I’ll give you a letter of recommendation.”

I walked back to my truck thinking about what all took place. This is indeed a new paradigm.

TMT – It’s Not About Us Anymore

Seeing the powerful play Kamau recently was gut wrenching, and very emotional for me.

I knew that it was my grandson Kapono up there, acting. But it wasn’t him. It was the character Alika. And it was me.

Sitting in the audience, I absolutely identified with the family losing the only home they knew. And the conflicts within one’s self – that is real, too.

I went through all that myself when I was younger. I had no direction. I flunked out of school and got drafted. I volunteered to become an officer and then went to Vietnam.

There, we were 100 people in an infantry company walking through the jungle. No one could easily come and help us if we needed. It was real – people were shooting and getting shot.

There was no room for feeling sorry for oneself; not even a little bit. You used every bit of skill and cleverness that you had, fought and took care of each other to survive.

As in the play, there was loyalty. Every single one of the people in our company in Vietnam absolutely knew and there was no doubt – not even a little – that leaving someone behind was not an option.

When I came back from Vietnam, I was a changed person. I had direction. I majored in accounting because I wanted to run some sort of business and I needed to keep score.

Now, everything is simple and very clear to me. It is not about us anymore – it is about the future generations. Leaving someone behind is still not an option. We live in the here and now and must use every bit of our skill and cleverness so that we can create the best environment for the following generations.

This is why I am for building the Thirty-Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. If we concentrate on what we can develop for future generations, instead of wallowing in past mistakes, it can help us transition to a future of sustainability for the next generations.

Thinking about sustainability shapes everything I do. It’s why we do everything we can to make our farm energy-self-sufficient. It’s why we started the Adopt-A-Class program – to take care of our own. It’s why we are putting on the E Malama ‘Aina festival – so people know they are not alone.

All of our people’s stories were in that play. It really hit me hard.

Still Time to Get Involved in E Malama ‘Aina Festival

The E Malama ‘Aina festival is coming up on November 7th and 8th.

A project of the Hawai‘i Island Chamber of Commerce, the EMAF is a 2-day family festival taking place Nov. 7 & 8 at Hilo’s Mo‘oheau Park. Full of family fun, interactive activities, and a strong commitment to a traditional Hawaiian perspective on sustainability, the event will offer consumers and businesses a firsthand look at Hawai’i Island innovations and best practices aimed at sustainable, environmentally progressive living.

Here is the official website.

Booths are still available in the Alternative Energy “village,” the Building & Construction village and the Recycling & Composting one.

Call Richard at 960-1057 if you are interested in having a booth in one of these categories.

The Villages

The E Mālama ‘Āina Festival will be physically designed as a series of small “villages,” within which participating groups will be showcased. Each village is available for sponsorship, enabling businesses and community groups the opportunity to actively engage in the activity.

Event organizers have developed the following areas:

1.    Global Sponsor (Presenting Sponsor)
2.    Entertainment Bandstand
3.    Hawaiian Culture / Ahupua‘a
4.    Alternative Energy Village  Booths available
5.    The Learning Hui
6.    Food Production Village
7.    Farming & Agriculture Village
8.    Building & Construction Village Booths available
9.    Transportation Village
10.    Keiki Play Village
11.    Recycling/Composting Village  Booths available
12.    The E Mālama ‘Āina Festival Talk Story & Digital Film Fest @ the Palace

In addition, Vendor Booths (tables) will be available within respective Villages for a nominal fee.

The E Mālama ‘Āina Talk Story & Digital Film Fest

The E Mālama ‘Āina Talk Story & Digital Film Fest is an evening designed to engage the public in an exciting mix of activities taking place throughout Hawai’i Island aimed at a sustainable island lifestyle. Held in Hilo on Friday evening, Nov. 7, 2008, EMAF organizers are traveling throughout the island to meet, and film, innovators of sustainability — folks working to make a difference. These stories will be brought to life at E Mālama ‘Āina TALK STORY & DIGITAL FILM FEST, including a Q&A session with the short film subjects.

Also, soon we’ll be putting out an official “Call For Entries” to Hawai‘i filmmakers interested in sharing their digital short film on the subject of Sustainability In Hawai’i. Films received will be posted on the internet, and made available for the public to view, be inspired, and vote on the Film Fest competition. Films will be judged in 2 categories – a “People’s Choice Award” and an overall award as judged by our esteemed panel of judges.

Keep tuned in to the website for upcoming details.

Kanaka Council

Last night I spent some time bringing the Kanaka Council up-to-date about the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT). I primarily gave them an overview, explaining that the TMT asked the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board to develop a procedure where funds could be administered for the benefit of educational programs for the people.

I explained that the HIEDB, of which I am vice-president, made clear that it would not be involved if there was insensitivity toward the Hawaiian culture.

We all need to know what is going on so we can make good decisions, and yesterday was the fourth time I have brought information to the Kanaka Council. By now we have a healthy respect for each other. I completely share many of their sentiments. I don’t think that we differ very much at all.

They are passionate and very articulate about the differences between Western culture and Hawaiian culture. It looks to me that they are the Keeper of the Flame. Someone needs to do it! I have enormous respect for all of them.

And, I have to say, I am very comfortable around them. I know that I can come and go as I please. And the feeling is mutual.

There was a very lively discussion yesterday and the temperature rose a few degrees. But after a little bit we realized we were not that far apart.

They asked me what it was exactly that I wanted. I told them nothing; I was just bringing them current information. Rocky Jensen said, laughingly, “You’re just the messenger, right?” I laughed and said, “I hope everybody knows that.” It was serious, but good fun at the same time. No sense being too tense for too long.

The first person I brought to the Kanaka Council was Dawn Chang of Kuiwalu, which is the group charged with doing Mauna Kea’s Comprehensive Plan. Judge Hara had ruled that this was required before any more construction could occur on Mauna Kea.

The Kanaka Council dismissed Kuiwalu as a hired gun of the University of Hawai‘i. To her credit, Dawn Chang was a real trooper. A weaker person might have dissolved in tears. From where I sat, it was great spectator sport.

Next I brought Gail Tverberg, the keynote speaker at a recent energy forum, to the Kanaka Council.
I brought her from the Hilo Hawaiian’s Moku Ola Room to the Queen Lili‘uokalani Children’s Center for the Kanaka Council to hear her presentation. I was very impressed that they all had been at an important County Council meeting, and came back at 2 p.m. to listen to Gail and then went back to the Council testimony.

They treated Gail, who is from Atlanta, like a kupuna. Gail’s message resonated: “Sooner or later the boat will not arrive.” Tonight they told me that Gail could fit right now into their community. I agree.

After that I arranged for them to meet with the president of the TMT, Dr. Yang. I was impressed with the passionate testimony several of them delivered in a very eloquent way. And I was really happy that Dr. Yang made the effort to meet with them. Dr. Yang wants to be hands-on, not operating from a distance. I think that meeting was very beneficial to both sides.

After I talked with them last night, someone came to plead for the Kanaka Council’s help regarding a neighbor on conservation land who was applying for a variance to zoning rules. The Council is going to evaluate the circumstances around that application. They are going down to walk the land tomorrow to see exactly what was being discussed.

They are doing a very important function. I was very impressed.

Seeing the Play Kamau

Remember the play we told you about the other day, in which Richard’s grandson Kapono (a.k.a. Christian Pa) played the lead?

The play is called Kamau, written by Alani Apio, and was performed up at Jason Scott Lee’s Ulua Theatre up in Volcano. Richard and June went to Opening Night, and I saw it on Friday night with a friend.

I don’t know if I can describe it adequately, except to say: Wow. What a powerful story and performance.

Kamau is the story of three male cousins who live in their family’s long-time home at the beach, where two of them fish for their living and the younger one, Alika (played by Kapono), is just out of high school and working as a tour guide. It tells the story of what happens when the land is sold to a developer who plans to build a hotel. Alika’s boss at the development company gets them more time to move, and finagles them some money to relocate. He convinces the company to offer the one cousin, Jason Scott Lee’s character Michael (a fisherman who cares for the family’s traditional fishing shrine) a job showing tourists how to fish.

Mostly it tells the story of two cultures colliding. And what I liked about it (and also found frustrating – but how true to life it is) was that it didn’t provide any pat, tidy answers. Life doesn’t always offer those up, does it?

Nobody was wholly a good guy or a bad guy. Everything didn’t magically work out at the end. But somehow, they found a way to carry on anyway. The play name, “Kamau” means “to carry on.”

It is really a powerful play. Thought-provoking, emotional and wrenching. Afterward, when we saw Jason Scott Lee standing outside, I told him how powerful I found it, and he laughed when I said I felt “wrung out.” I really did.

The acting was really very good. We were so impressed. Kapono starts at the University of Hawai‘i in the fall and is majoring in Performing Arts. I can imagine him doing very well.

We wrote here once about how Richard’s wife June, always wanted perform and “go on the road.” When she, Richard and Kapono were in New York City they saw lots of Broadway plays.

Maybe one day it will be Kapono up on that stage.

P.S.

As a result of yesterday’s blog post here about the play Kamau (and, oh, you know, perhaps also the newspaper article), ticket sales soared yesterday and today — to the point where some dates sold out and three additional performances have been added.

Here are the new dates:

SUNDAY, AUGUST 17TH – 2:00 PM MATINEE

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20TH – 7:30 PM

SUNDAY, AUGUST 24TH – 2:00 PM MATINEE

Get your tickets here. It should be good!

Kamau

Today we’re talking about Richard’s grandson Kapono, 18, who just graduated from Kamehameha Schools and plans to attend the University of Hilo at Hilo in the fall, where he’ll major in performing arts.

And he’s not just sitting around in the meantime. Next week he stars in the play Kamau, up at Jason Scott Lee’s Ulua Theatre in Volcano. (Though we call Richard’s grandson “Kapono” around here, on the program his name reads Christian Pa).

The play tells a story about a Hawaiian family torn between preserving their traditions and surviving in the modern world, and it revolves around three cousins.

Kapono plays the main lead character. Ron Serrao, who has done numerous local Hawai‘i plays and appeared on TV, plays the second cousin.

Well-known actor and Volcano resident Jason Scott Lee plays the third cousin. “He’s really good to work with,” says Kapono, “because of what he can do. He really gets into his character. He can change his emotions on the flip of a dime.”

“He’s actually kind of challenging to work with just because he’s so good at what he does.”

The play, by Hawaiian playwright Alani Apio, tackles some complicated subjects related to Hawaiian sovereignty and family.

“It’s about a Hawaiian family who’s living in a shack on the beach,” explains Kapono, “and one day they receive this bad news that they’re going to be kicked off their land. It bounces back and forth between the current time and the past. It’s kind of about standing up for what you believe in. It communicates what being Hawaiian is, and how we as Hawaiians today have to adapt to the modern world and western influences.”

The play’s title, “Kamau,” means to “carry on,” and Kapono says the play has a really strong, good message. “It gives a multi-point of view of what it is to be Hawaiian,” he says. “What we as Hawaiians should be doing. We’re not going to forget about our culture and what not. We have to keep moving forward, stick together, and work together. If we going to separate, then things are just going to fall apart.”

Tickets to the intimate theatre venue are available online and selling fast. Opening night is already sold out. Buy tickets here if you’re interested. Advance tickets are also available at Basically Books, Kea‘au Natural Foods and Volcano Store.

Kapono says the play is indescribable. “You have to see it. It’s very emotional and spiritual, and for people who are Hawaiian—even if they’re not Hawaiian—people are really moved by this story.”

“It’s a really incredible play.”

The details: August 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 7:30 p.m. at Ulua Theatre. 19-4325 Haunani Road in Volcano Village.

Advance tickets $12 general, $10 students & seniors. At the door, $15 and $10.

Reaching For The Stars

Richard Ha writes:

I’ve written here before about the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT), a “new generation” telescope that may be sited here on Mauna Kea.

And I’ve written about how this project, unlike previous telescopes, is being discussed. I’m on the board of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board, and we’ve made it clear that this can only happen if, unlike with previous telescopes, our people clearly benefit from it.

What I haven’t mentioned yet are the types of extensive benefits we are discussing:

• What if the TMT coming here meant disadvantaged Hawaiian (and other race) students can attend Hawai‘i Community College and the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo for free?

• What if we develop a pathway for local people to fill jobs during the extensive construction and operating of the telescope?

• What if we collect all the funds attributable to astronomy and have that money administered by a group of wise people who are chosen specifically to allocate it to the education of this island’s keiki?

• And what if these credible people fund education programs about the Hawaiian culture and Hawaiian language, and about traditional ways of sustainability, the sciences, job skills and other subjects that prepare our children for a new world where we, living on the island of Hawai‘i, might have to survive on what exists here on our island?

• And what if this organization exists far into the future and benefits many generations to come?

What if, not at the summit though on Mauna Kea, the world’s finest and most powerful telescope looks back in time to the beginning, seeking the answer to the question, “Are we alone?”…

…while on the ground, the people have learned how to restore the ancient fish ponds, and are supplementing that with modern aquaculture methods that don’t require oil? And the people on the island’s windward side are using their abundant water to again grow kalo, and growing food with hydroponics, and as in pre-Western times they are able to feed everybody without depending on foreign oil?

It would be the best of the future and the best of the past. What if?

From the TMT:

May 15, 2008

 PASADENA, Calif.–After completing a worldwide survey unprecedented in rigor and detail of astronomical sites for the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT), the TMT Observatory Corporation board of directors has selected two outstanding sites, one in each hemisphere, for further consideration. Cerro Armazones lies in Chile’s Atacama Desert, and Mauna Kea is on Hawai’i Island.

The TMT observatory, which will be capable of peering back in space and time to the era when the first stars and galaxies were forming and will be able to directly image planets orbiting other stars, will herald a new generation of telescopes.

To ensure that proposed TMT sites would provide the greatest advantage to the telescope’s capabilities, a global satellite survey was conducted, from which a small sample of outstanding sites was chosen for further study using ground-based test equipment. This ground-based study of two sites in the northern hemisphere and three in the southern was the most comprehensive survey of its kind ever undertaken.

Atmospheric turbulence above each candidate site, and wind characteristics, temperature variations, amount of water vapor, and other meteorological data at some of the candidate sites, were continuously monitored for up to four years. Based upon this campaign, the TMT project will now further evaluate the best site in the northern hemisphere and the best site in the southern hemisphere.

“All five sites proved to be outstanding for carrying out astronomical observations,” said Edward Stone, Caltech’s Morrisroe Professor of Physics and vice chairman of the TMT board. “I want to congratulate the TMT project team for conducting an excellent testing program, not only for TMT but for the benefit of astronomical research in the future.” In addition to the “astronomical weather” at the sites, other considerations in the final selection will include the environment, accessibility, operations costs, and complementarities with other nearby astronomy facilities.

The next step in the site analysis process is the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will thoroughly evaluate all aspects, including environmental, cultural, socio-economic, and financial, of constructing and operating the Thirty-Meter Telescope in Hawai`i. An environmental impact statement for Cerro Armazones has already been completed and submitted to the Chilean government for their review.

The community-based Mauna Kea Management Board, which oversees the management of the Mauna Kea summit in coordination with the University of Hawai’i at Hilo, concurs that the Thirty-Meter Telescope should proceed with its EIS process. Regardless of whether Mauna Kea is selected as the Thirty-Meter Telescope site, information generated from the EIS will be useful in the management of Mauna Kea.

Henry Yang, TMT board chair and chancellor of UC Santa Barbara, expressed the gratitude of the board. “The selection of these top two candidate sites is an exciting milestone in the Thirty-Meter Telescope’s journey from vision to reality. We are grateful for the tireless efforts of our project team and the tremendous vision and support of the Moore Foundation and our international partners that have brought us to this point. We look forward to moving ahead rapidly and with all due diligence toward the selection of our preferred site.”

The TMT is currently in the final stages of an $80 million design phase. The plan is to initiate construction in 2010 with first light in early 2018. This project is a partnership between the University of California, California Institute of Technology, and ACURA, an organization of Canadian universities. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has provided $50 million for the design phase of the project and has pledged an additional $200 million for the construction of the telescope, and Caltech and the University of California each will seek to raise matching funds of $50 million to bring the construction total to $300 million.

“We look forward to the discussions with the people of Hawai’i and Chile regarding the opportunities to open a new era in astronomy in one of these two world capitals of astronomy,” says Professor Ray Carlberg, the Canadian Large Optical Telescope project director and a TMT board member. “Canadian scientists have partnered in the extensive site testing carried out by TMT and we are very pleased to see that it has led to two great options for TMT.”

TMT gratefully acknowledges support for design and development from the following: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, National Research Council of Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, and the National Science Foundation (USA).

Keaukaha Comes to the Farm

Lehua Veincent, principal of Keaukaha Elementary School, brought his teachers and staff to the farm on Friday.

They arrived in a big yellow school bus, and then everybody gathered outside the office in a loose circle while Kumu Lehua (in the orange shirt) chanted.

And then the tour started. Richard spoke a little, telling how they decided to move the farm to Pepe‘ekeo and talking about the significance of the resources here in helping them decide.

He led a tour of the tomato houses, and explained that they look very simple “but a lot of thought went into that simple design.” He spoke a bit about how they operate.

 

Someone asked about organics, and Richard said something I found interesting. He explained: “Our objective is to feed as many people as we can, the best we can. Like the ahupua‘a system the Hawaiians used to have – what works, works. We try to use the best technology available in the smartest way possible.”

Charlotte Romo, the farm’s greenhouse expert, elaborated, saying the farm “doesn’t want to get stuck in a label of ‘organic.’” She pointed out that when they have to spray, they use the same products organic growers use. And that she scouts each of the more than 100 tomato houses every single week to check not only what insects are present, but at what stage of development. She pointed out that what kills larvae isn’t what works on an older insect, and that they spray only for what is present. “We don’t want to just spray all houses the same,” she said.

 

While we toured the packing house and the banana operation, I had a chance to talk a bit with Kumu Lehua.

Keaukaha Elementary  School

 

I learned that Keaukaha Elementary is the only school on this island to have moved out of the federal “No Child Left Behind” restructuring.

Kumu Lehua told me, “Our school learns differently. Without the trips (provided by community members through Adopt-a-Class), I don’t think the academics would have gone up. For us it’s about getting them out. Before, there was a moratorium, you couldn’t take the kids out,” he said. “But that’s how our kids learn.”

Just before they brought out the lunches they’d brought for all of us, Kumu Lehua spoke. He explained what the school’s connection with Hamakua Springs has meant.

“Three years ago,” he said, “when Richard called me, it was because of Mauna Kea. I was fortunate to talk story with him. When I came to Keaukaha School, that connection became important to the children.

“I want to mahalo Richard and June,” he said. “They’ve meant a lot to the school, though a lot of people outside the school don’t know it. If it wasn’t for last year, there are things we wouldn’t have been able to experience, especially the excursions.”

He explained that before they came to the farm that morning, they had had three community kupuna (elders) come in and speak to them. He motioned to his staff. “You heard our kupuna say, ‘At one time Keaukaha School was not one to be recognized.’”

“Mahalo to Richard and June for being there,” he said.

Woe is Not Us!

The reason we decided to do our E Malama ‘Aina sustainability festival was in order to plan for the worse case.

• Matt Simmons at The Oil Drum is sounding even more worried than usual.

• What happens if the ship does not come? Fuel Shortage Stops Water Supply in Rotuma, Fiji. Could it happen to us?

• T. Boone Pickens is saying that our country needs to do something now. He is going to build a massive windfarm in order to help the country get off foreign oil.

• Since we started planning the E Malama ‘Aina Festival several months ago, David Murdoch, the president of Dole Foods, has even requested that our Governor declare a state of emergency because of Hawaii’s vulnerability to fossil fuel shortages.

Well, we’re not sitting around saying, “Woe is me.” We’ve decided to do something about it.

We are asking people who are doing sustainable things to join us, by putting up a booth and showing people what they do.

Such as a local kid who lives in Hakalau. Using water from the river, he makes electricity and with that electricity he makes hydrogen. The hydrogen runs a hydrogen scooter.

This is just a proof of concept; they are planning much bigger things. Big enough that the legislature authorized a bond float of $50 million to help them develop the process into transportation fuel for Hawai‘i.

For quite a long time now, traditional farmer Jerry Konanui has been very concerned about our ability to feed ourselves.

“There are a lot more people becoming increasingly aware of our future,” he said, “and the demand for food production knowledge as well as seeds and plant materials are increasing at a higher rate than in the past. I’ve personally been called upon lately for workshops and as a source of plant materials a lot more than in the past.”

Jerry will talk about kalo, making poi and how things were done in the old days. And also, why these practices are still valid today.

We are putting on the E Malama ‘Aina festival to show people that they are not alone. That, working together, we can do this. And we are going to have fun doing it.

Roland Torres, producer of Kama’aina Backroads on OC 16, is helping us put on the festival. He knows all the Hoku award-winning entertainers and he is the festival’s Entertainment Chairperson.

There will be a keiki village.

The Master Gardeners will have a booth where they will give away plants and talk to people about how to make their own gardens.

Charlotte and Rodrigo Romo will have a booth adjoining our Hamakua Springs hydroponic vegetable booth, where they will talk about their time living in the Biosphere 2 and what they learned there about sustainability.

Bernie Kratky will show how to grow plants in his novel system of non-circulating hydroponics, where the plants grow in water.

Nancy Redfeather and friends from the School Garden Network will show what they do.

Manu Meyer will demonstrate “Got Epistemology? A Hawaiian Way of at Looking at Sustainability.”  Something like that.

The car dealers will bring out their most fuel-efficient vehicles.

And someone will show how he made an electric bike.

Let us know if you have something sustainable to share. Otherwise, please mark your calendar for November 7th and 8th and meet us at Mo‘oheau Park in downtown Hilo.