New center nurtures Hawaiians

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

On a hot afternoon, the air-conditioned comfort of a new office is a pleasant thing, but it's the warmth of the Native Hawaiian Center that is its most cherished asset.

Volunteer Stephen Young, right, helps Chris Kuahine with math at Honolulu Community College's new Native Hawaiian Center. The center, to be blessed today, aims to create a safe space for Hawaiians. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

The center, which houses assorted federally-financed programs intended to foster Native Hawaiian scholars, occupies only a small corner in a campus short on space.

But it's becoming a haven of higher education for students who, staffers acknowledge, often shy away from a college career because they're convinced education is not part of their game plan.

One is Thaila Lono'ae'a, who was raised largely in foster families and has worked full-time since she was 16. She earned her graduate equivalency diploma from Farrington High School when she was 17. Her workplace, a printing business, encouraged employees to broaden their skills, so she ended up at HCC for an associate degree in marketing and now is seeking another associate degree in communication arts.

Academics, never a priority when she was growing up, will be a central focus for the next generation as well as for herself, she said.

"Even my daughter goes to Punana Leo," the Hawaiian immersion school, Lono'ae'a said. "Doors have become open to me that would otherwise have been non-existent for anyone in my circumstances."

Clearly, a student like this has tapped an inner strength, but she insists that it helps to be made to feel qualified for college studies.

The center, the result of a five-year, $1.7 million federal grant, is the newest segment of the college's Native Hawaiian education program, which also includes Hawaiian language and studies. Another is the Po'ina Nalu vocational education project, with offices housed within the center.

Its other features:

• A computer lab offering access to and instruction in both Macintosh and PC systems.
• The "halau 'ike," a gathering place where students can do homework, receive tutoring or simply talk.
• An exhibit of Hawaiian artifacts, including weapons, tools and musical implements.

The five-year grant began last year with the construction phase, in which HCC construction trades students supplemented the work force. When the grant expires, its staff hopes operations will continue under the regular college budget.

"One of the important things about this is it affords students a place to socialize and study together and get the benefits that all these programs provide," said Troy Kawika Baker, who entered HCC after serving a prison term, became its student body president and graduated last year.

"It's created a Hawaiian sense of place," said Baker, now studying political science at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

And nobody wants to envision going back to a campus without such a place.

"It's an incubator," said Tom Kamaki Linker, the center's transition coordinator who helps students enter the work force or transfer to a four-year college. "All kinds of stuff goes on here ... you might come out here just to talk story in the halau, and then connect with another Native Hawaiian student in their class."

They find people like Leon Florendo, the college readiness coordinator, primed to help them catch up on some academic basics, if necessary.

Overall, this "incubator" radiates a sense of welcome.

"We are among the poorest people in the state," Baker added. "We obviously come in with low scores. Coming to college is intimidating, if you're coming in with a handicap.

"This is a safe place for them to come."

Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.