Mainland students help to clear marsh
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KAILUA — While some young people spend their vacations at amusement parks or campgrounds, a group of teenagers from the East Coast decided to help restore a treasured landscape at a Kawai Nui Marsh cultural site on their summer break.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Yesterday about 17 Mainland students were at Na Pohaku o Hauwahine to cut 7-foot-tall guinea grass with sickles and to saw koa haole brush to the ground as part of a service vacation in which they volunteer on projects in the communities they visit.
High school students from the East Coast carry sickles and saws along a trail in Kawai Nui Marsh off Kapa'a Quarry Road. Their mission is to help restore Na Pohaku o Hauwahine, a 12-acre site of cultural significance. After work, they'll be hitting the beach.
Na Pohaku o Hauwahine is a 12-acre area in the marsh that includes a forest and an impressive rock formation that represents the Hawaiian mo'o goddess that is said to be the guardian of the Windward marsh.
For years several community organizations and thousands of volunteers islandwide have labored to restore the area with native plants, sometimes hauling water to the site by hand.
Someday they hope to expand their effort into the marsh and the surrounding landscape. Restoration in the marsh is also taking place at Ulupo Heiau and at a water bird habitat near Kaha Park.
The Mainland students said they chose this type of vacation because they wanted more than just surf, sand and sea.
"I wanted to go away for the summer, but I didn't want to go on those teen tours where you sit on a bus and tour," said Amy Dorf, a 17-year-old senior at Half Hallow Hills West in New York. "I wanted to get something out of it."
The students work with Chuck "Doc" Burrows, who is the director of service projects for 'Aha Hui Malama I Ka Lokahi, an environmental group. He's also vice president for Kawai Nui Heritage Foundation and the Kailua Hawaiian Civic Club, two organizations committed to the preservation and restoration of the marsh.
The organizations are also working to develop the marsh into a cultural learning center and hope to have trails, passive activities and a learning center there some day.
During most of the year, many local students help with the restoration. The students from the Mainland pick up the slack during the summer, Burrows said. The Mainland students benefit because they get a taste of Hawaiian culture when they work in the marsh, he said.
"For the Island students, it's a means to understanding the concept of malama — taking care and restoring the health of the ecosystem," Burrows said, adding that more volunteers are needed all year round and he hopes to attract faith-based groups to his program.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Sunburn and blisters are part of the experience but the students said they don't mind because they are learning to like the physical labor, said Lexie Barker, a 15-year-old sophomore from Philadelphia's Agnus Irwin High School.
Chuck Burrows, of the environmental group 'Aha Hui Malama I Ka Lokahi, gives the young volunteers a briefing about the terrain, which includes a forest and a rock formation signifying a Hawaiian deity.
"It's kind of exciting because I've never done it before," Barker said, as she grabbed a handful of grass and sliced it with a quick stroke.
The students are in Hawai'i for a month and work every day from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Yesterday they received a 45-minute lecture on the marsh and the restoration activities there as well as some brief information about native plants before picking up their tools.
After a day of work, they play, said Alex Mayer, a 15-year-old student of Tenafly High School in New Jersey. The students are never too tired to go to the beach or surf after working, which Mayer said is a great way to spend the summer.
Joining the Mainland students were about 12 local students with the Youth Conservation Corps, who are hired for the summer to work on projects throughout the Islands. These high school and college students make about $1,000 and earn college credit working from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Lilah Akin, 16, from Hale'iwa, said the money was a bonus because she just wanted the experience.
"This is like no other summer job," Akin said. "The main reason for doing this is my school doesn't offer classes like environmental science so I have to go out and find these things myself."
Sachi Lopez, a 17-year-old McKinley High School student, said she hoped the job would help her make a decision about a career choice in the field of environmental conservation. So far, she likes it.
"You can see how much you do to help an environment," Lopez said.
"You can see from the beginning of the day to the end that 12 people can do a lot."
Reach Eloise Aguiar at 234-5266 or eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.
