DOE orders school garden razed for fence

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

KAILUA — A Hawaiian cultural garden planted and nurtured by students at 'Aikahi Elementary School for years was uprooted at the direction of the Department of Education this week, displacing hard-to-find native plants and removing a resource for children who visited the garden as part of their Hawaiian studies program.

DOE officials said a fence was needed on the sloping bank on the mauka side of the campus to improve security. The plants had to be removed for the construction.

Val Ching, who built the garden next to his property for the school six years ago, said he couldn't understand why the fence was being built and why he wasn't notified sooner. Ching is an artist and Hawaiian cultural specialist in plants and gardens

He said he received a letter addressed to "Resident" notifying him that Marine volunteers would be clearing the property in 10 days to make room for the fence.

It felt like a slap in the face after all the time and effort he put into the school program and teaching the children, Ching said.

'Aikahi principal Molly McCarthy, who took charge this month, said the way the whole thing unfolded was unfortunate.

"We don't mean any ill will to anybody," she said. "We want to get along with the neighbors. Mr. Ching has helped the school a lot over the years. We didn't mean to cause him grief."

Although most of the plants on the slope are gone, the school has agreed to give Ching more time to harvest the mulberry and remove some of the remaining plants.

The fence posts are scheduled to go in next week.

The children built the garden with Ching. Up until a year and a half ago, Ching taught them about the plants and their uses as food, medicine and in ceremonies. Some of the plants also were used for art, Ching said.

The garden had included ti, ferns, native hibiscus, milo, banana, heliconia, 'olena or turmeric, Hawaiian cotton, false sandalwood, shampoo ginger and the shrub 'akia, he said. Taro and sweet potato also were grown.

"This thing is sacred to me," he said, recounting how he planted the mulberry, which is used to make kapa. The mulberry in the garden comes from a line of wauke plants brought to Hawai'i 900 years ago, Ching said.

He was using the mulberry to make a 40-foot-by-40-foot kapa wrap for ancient bones, or iwi, that had to be reinterred. With 10-days notice, he didn't have time to harvest the bark, which must be pounded and shaped within a couple of days after harvesting.

Ching wasn't the only person to plant on the slope. Several others had done the same, Ching said. The slope is about 15 feet wide and 600 feet long.

Ching said he and a neighbor had cared for about half of the area.

McCarthy said Ching should have gotten more notice, and the school and the Marines have offered to help him move the plants.

The school didn't realize what was involved in harvesting the mulberry or that he would need so much time to move the plants, she said.

"He put his hand on his heart, so I knew his plants meant a lot to him and it was hurting him," she said.

The need for the fence was identified during a January school inspection, McCarthy said. Trespassers have been causing damage, and in one case even pitched a tent, she said.

"They were worried that trespassers had come in, hidden behind shrubbery and watched what was going on, then went in and took things," McCarthy said. "It's still not totally secured, but it will be a little more secured."

Gayle Kurosawa, who has taught at the school for 15 years and who helped build the garden, said she understands the need for security, but the garden will be missed.

It gave students hands-on experience and a sense of ownership and responsibility, Kurosawa said.

The variety of plants also was a plus, and it's always better to see the real thing, she said.

"Now we won't be able to show them," Kurosawa said.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.