School cultivates Hawaiian pride
By Eloise Aguilar
Advertiser North Shore Bureau
WAIALUA — Cool wind swept over the three acres of taro lo'i, offering respite from the scorching sun as students practiced a Hawaiian chant they learned at a summer school course on a North Shore farm.
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The students also learned that a breeze is made up of the spirits of the ancestors, said Ka'ehu'iki Herrod, 15. When the spirits are present, like the cooling wind, they make you feel good.
From left, students Ka'ehu'iki Herrod, Napualeipiliohanapunahele Kupono Bajo, Kellen Kala'iokekoa, Maile Bernie Matalena Manutai and Richelle Umbay separate roots from taro plants at Kamananui Farm and Education Center in Waialua.
His grandmother, who passed away in October, was present there, he said. "I feel she was comforting me."
Herrod said he would not have known that reassurance if he hadn't taken the summer school course, where the students earned a social studies credit.
Some 13 boys and girls from Waialua and Mililani high schools participated in the four-week summer school program, learning Hawaiian language, hula, and culture along with taro farming from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. On Saturdays, the city taught them life-saving and water safety.
The students said they came to learn more about their culture, and each took away something special.
The course was developed by Waialua High School and Cheyenne and Kalei Bajo, who operate Kamananui Farm and Education Center on 6.5 acres of land in Waialua. The center has been host to day-long classes and field trips for college and other students for about two years. This was the first summer school program.
The program was supported by the state Department of Education, Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center, Hui Kalo O Waialua and the city.
On Friday, a ho'ike was held to show parents and friends what the students had learned. It was followed by an imu dinner.
Waialua High School principal Aloha Coleman said the program fits well with her goal to extend learning beyond the classroom.
"I want to open the walls of the school and build more bridges with the community," she said, adding that partnerships will improve the future for the entire community, which has suffered economically since sugar production closed there.
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"We want to build it so the families stay in the community and strengthen the community from the inside," she said.
Richelle Umbay, taro in hands, was among the students of a recent program that focused on Hawaiian language, hula, culture and taro farming.
The Bajos have the same goal. They gave up a successful restaurant in Waimea on the Big Island and returned home to see if they could make a difference for the youths in Waialua. They had moved to the Big Island to get away from drug and other problems here, but found the same difficulties there.
Working with youths on the Big Island, however, had given them a sense of fulfillment not found in the restaurant business. They began focusing on helping young people through taro farming.
The farm, four years in cultivation, is fed by a bubbling spring, where koi and orange tilapia swim between huge stands of ginger. A dog kennel, horse stable and goose pen provide homes for pets.
Once school was out for the summer, the students returned to the center to work and to practice for their ho'ike. Some rode a horse for the first time.
The change in the students was incredible, said the Bajos. On the farm, students are asked to care for plants, and in the process learn skills that help them to care for themselves — and others, said Kalei Bajo, 34. Soon they learn they have capabilities.
"You can see the pride building within them in a couple of days," Bajo said, adding that the program can help troubled youths.
"When I see them get into trouble, I see a big void," he said. "They're filling the void with something negative. So we're just trying to take that negativity out and fill it with something positive."
