Community Health Centered Around Land
Ho'oulu 'Aina addresses the health needs of Kalihi valley by fostering the connection between people and land. Through four interwoven program areas, the community comes together to create a 100 acre upland resource of forest, food, knowledge, spirituality, and healthy activity. As we restore this land to health and productivity, we learn that the healing is reciprocal.
School groups learning about Hawaiian culture and ecology, non-profit groups interested in community service, families looking for bonding activities, youth attracted to new forms of exercise, and elders in need of medicinal herbs and healthy food - the reasons people come to Ho'oulu 'Aina are innumerous. All are welcome, each brings a special gift of breath to this land, and every access in unique to the individuals and to what the land has to offer.
Ho'oulu 'Aina staff work together with each community group to create a synergistic experience, bringing health to land and people.
Participants engage in docent-led service-learning projects. Each project helps us to broaden our understanding of culture, history, ecology, and community-building through an intentionally metaphoric educational experience. Hawaiian cultural values are vital to the teach-learning experience, and we seek and follow the ancestral wisdom of kupuna from across the Pacific and throughout the world.
School groups learning about Hawaiian culture and ecology, non-profit groups interested in community service, families looking for bonding activities, youth attracted to new forms of exercise, and elders in need of medicinal herbs and healthy food - the reasons people come to Ho'oulu 'Aina are innumerous. All are welcome, each brings a special gift of breath to this land, and every access in unique to the individuals and to what the land has to offer.
Ho'oulu 'Aina staff work together with each community group to create a synergistic experience, bringing health to land and people.
Participants engage in docent-led service-learning projects. Each project helps us to broaden our understanding of culture, history, ecology, and community-building through an intentionally metaphoric educational experience. Hawaiian cultural values are vital to the teach-learning experience, and we seek and follow the ancestral wisdom of kupuna from across the Pacific and throughout the world.
History
in ancient times, Kalihi valley was known as home to the ancestral gods, Wakea and Papahanaumoku. Referred to often as sky father and earth mother, they lived at the prominent mountain peak, Kilohana.
For generations to follow, people honored the sacred stones and waters of Kalihi, making ho'okupu for their journey to these wahi pana. The fertile land flourished with kalo, as evidenced by dry-stacked stonework left by ancestors of that era.
Since the time when Kamamalu held kuleana to the 'ili of 'Ouaua and Maluawai, this land has passed through the care of several families. But in the 1970s, a land developer acquired the land with the intent to build a gated, luxury-home community, potentially destroying the forest and sacred archeological sites.
For 30 years, community members joined forces to fight against this development. Their voices were heard, and the land is now protected by DLNR from further development. In 2005, a lease was awarded to Kokua Kalihi Valley, a long-trusted non-profit organization providing health care to the ahupua'a of Kalihi.
While it is unique for a present-day health center to be the caretakers for a large parcel of land, Hawaiian and Pacific Island cultures recognize land as an integral part of community health.
For generations to follow, people honored the sacred stones and waters of Kalihi, making ho'okupu for their journey to these wahi pana. The fertile land flourished with kalo, as evidenced by dry-stacked stonework left by ancestors of that era.
Since the time when Kamamalu held kuleana to the 'ili of 'Ouaua and Maluawai, this land has passed through the care of several families. But in the 1970s, a land developer acquired the land with the intent to build a gated, luxury-home community, potentially destroying the forest and sacred archeological sites.
For 30 years, community members joined forces to fight against this development. Their voices were heard, and the land is now protected by DLNR from further development. In 2005, a lease was awarded to Kokua Kalihi Valley, a long-trusted non-profit organization providing health care to the ahupua'a of Kalihi.
While it is unique for a present-day health center to be the caretakers for a large parcel of land, Hawaiian and Pacific Island cultures recognize land as an integral part of community health.
Land Restoration: Preparing for the Next Generation
During the 30 years that the community fought for this land, the valley saw much abuse. The forest was littered with trash and abandoned cars. The soil was strip-mined and sold for profit. Plant nurseries introduced aggressive invasive species and tropical exotics that upset the balance and diversity of the native forest.
Through political activism, the community was successful at protecting the valley from developers, but the history of neglect and misuse of this land calls for a second wave of activism. This time, in the form of helping hands.
Collaborations, partnerships, and creative problem solving are the recipe for restoration here at Ho‘oulu ‘Aina. Using chainsaws and machete, we reclaim the forest from the swollen, overgrown albizia. Using recycled concrete, we build access roads to protect upland forest. And using laulima, many hands, we collect and haul out the immense amount of plastics and metal left here by disconnected generations.
As we restore the land to health, we restore in children a sense of place, in elders a sense of pride, and in all those in between a sense of respect and honor.
Just as our ancestors before us, we love this valley, and we joyfully contribute our part of this legacy.
Through political activism, the community was successful at protecting the valley from developers, but the history of neglect and misuse of this land calls for a second wave of activism. This time, in the form of helping hands.
Collaborations, partnerships, and creative problem solving are the recipe for restoration here at Ho‘oulu ‘Aina. Using chainsaws and machete, we reclaim the forest from the swollen, overgrown albizia. Using recycled concrete, we build access roads to protect upland forest. And using laulima, many hands, we collect and haul out the immense amount of plastics and metal left here by disconnected generations.
As we restore the land to health, we restore in children a sense of place, in elders a sense of pride, and in all those in between a sense of respect and honor.
Just as our ancestors before us, we love this valley, and we joyfully contribute our part of this legacy.