Educational farm raising money
| • | Map: Cultural Learning Center site |
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer
For 25 years the Ka'ala Farm's Cultural Learning Center in upland Wai'anae Valley has taught fourth- and seventh-grade youngsters the ways of ancient Hawaiians, known as po'e kahiko, or people of old. In centuries-old restored taro patches, children have been given hands-on farming experience, as well as knowledge in how to apply those techniques in the modern world.
The center, a nonprofit Native Hawaiian Cultural Education and Environmental Conservation agency, is on 97 acres of land leased from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
Throughout its existence the only access to the center has been across 7.5 acres of adjacent private land.
The farm rents that land for $300 a month. Now the private property owners want to sell the acreage for $250,000. Were the land to go to other private owners, the farm could risk losing its access to the center.
So, to keep the award-winning program operating, the farm has begun to a fund-raising campaign to buy the access land. The farm has until the end of June to come up with the money.
About half the money has already been pledged by major donors, said Eric Enos, founder and program director at the farm.
"We're coming down to the home stretch," he said. "And it's a critical home stretch. First we got the big donors. Now, the small donors are starting to come in — $50, $75, $100. And that's great because it shows there is ownership at many levels."
Enos said he is confident the total needed will be raised.
Acquiring the land would save Ka'ala Farm $3,600 a year in rent, said Lilette Subedi, executive director, a sizeable amount for a nonprofit organization. It would also guarantee access to the center.
"But it's not just that," Subedi said. "Should anything ever happen with regard to our lease with Hawaiian Home Lands, at least the 7 1/2 acres would provide us a real land base. Right now we don't have any real assets."
Originally, the payment deadline was March 31. However, the Trust for Public Land was able to negotiate a three-month extension for the farm.
"The Trust for Public Land is a very important partner in this work and taking care of all the legal issues of the title search, conducting the appraisal of the property and negotiating the extension option," said Subedi. "Because these are thing we don't have the funding to support.
"We're a nonprofit. We have to constantly find funds from private resources. People don't understand. The state doesn't give us money to run the program. The Department of Education doesn't give us money to run the program."
The program accommodates dozens of school classes a year. In 2001 more than 1,700 students attended the one-day programs, which take four to five hours to complete. The sessions give kids such experience as working with lo'i, or taro patches; making kapa fabric from tree bark; and fishing for 'opelu, or scad mackerel.
The program can handle up to 60 children at a time. A $150 contribution from the school is asked to help defray the more than $800 it costs run the activities for half a day.
"We actually give the children an introduction to the valley," said Subedi. "We talk about the relationship of land to people in ancient Hawai'i and what it means to us today. We talk about our values and the practices that help to personify those values. And while we say they are Hawaiian core values, we also understand their universality."
For more information on the program or to make a donation, call 696-4954.
Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8038.
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