Before this summer I was having difficulty reconciling my love for Hawaiian culture with my lack of native Hawaiian blood. Among many other lessons, Ho’okua’aina has shown me that the important thing when practicing Hawaiian culture and tradition is where your heart lies, not the blood that it pumps. Everyone at Kapalai made me feel more comfortable in my own skin and bred in me a new appreciation for my capabilities and culture. Whenever anyone noticed me dragging or struggling, they helped out and pulled me back up to speed. At Kapalai I not only found fulfilling work, but also founded relationships with new friends and family.

After returning from a very long year of college on the east coast, I was left feeling really overwhelmed and frustrated by many experiences at my university. I was also really nervous about returning home to so many people and places Iʻd known for so long and seeing them in a completely different light. Hoʻokuaʻāina offered me a place to be rooted in aloha ‘āina. It helped me connect with incredible people who all understand and respect our relationship to land and the importance of growing food, being self sustainable, and caring for the lives of plants and people alike who have nurtured us for so many generations.

This internship taught me about the importance of perseverance, hard work, community, and aloha ʻāina. When I was away at college, so many of my peers placed so much value in individualism. It was really inspiring to come home and see how much value our friends at Hoʻokuaʻāina placed in community. We are able to accomplish so much more when we work together and thatʻs a lesson I will carry with me forever.

During the 10-week Hoʻokuaʻāīna internship, I feel that Iʻve grown in two significant regions: cultivating my physical abilities and knowledge base as a mahiʻai or farmer, a garnering the values, and communicative skills needed to be a servant leader within the Kānaka Maoli and global community.

From learning how to build loʻi, to harvesting kalo, and leading our younger/older school, community, and visiting groups was a great inspiration as to how an organization can both function to grow food and people simultaneously.

The summer was full of ups and downs and I don’t know if I could’ve gotten through it without being at Ho’okua’āina three days a week. Uncle dean and Aunty Michelle, as well as the staff, provided a welcoming place of learning and growth, a community, a family. They understand that mental, physical, and spiritual well-being are equally important and it shows in their values. I thought I was going to learn how to cultivate kalo, which I did, but more importantly, I learned how I can better grow as a person. I couldn’t be more thankful for this opportunity and place.

How to harvest and clean kalo as well as plant and fertilize. How to balance important aspects of my life such as spirituality, mental, and physical state of being. How connection to place allows for a deeper connection to self. I gained strength, physical and mental. When to focus and work hard and when to engage with those around you. All of these things have helped me in my everyday life.

One specific skill I learned is how to be level headed. Much of this was learned through both light and heavy work. Weeding is light work but requires a lot of mental focus. Clearing a patch is heavy work and while it still requires much mental strength, physical focus follows. Through both types of work, I’ve learned to continually be level headed and as uncle dean puts it, makaʻala.

My connection to this Wahi Pana and its stewards has grown immensely over the course of nine months. Through all of my trials and tribulations, I have felt that everyone at Hoʻokuaʻāina has been a strong support system for my well-being and for that, I am forever grateful. I love everyone there and will continue to be there as much as I can.

This internship helped me feel healing in many ways. The amount of aloha that I got from the ‘āina and people of Ho’okua’āina was a true blessing. I will take the values of ohana and lokahi with me for future life situations. The internship helped me feel solidified in my path and eager to continue to explore the possibilities that can come from aloha ‘āina. Mahalo for everything 🙂 I consider this experience life-changing as I also have a new ohana in you all.

I came into the job shy and unsure of how I was expected to act. I have learned that I am not compared to and measured by the talents of those around me. I am a part of a task far greater than myself. By looking to support the greater purpose I find value and become connected to those around me. I also learned that there are numerous life and spiritual analogies that can be drawn from the cultivation of kalo, which have expanded my imagination.