Hawaiʻi Rising

41. Grassroots Community Development Group: Uplifting Kūpuna and ʻŌpio on Hawaiʻi Island

A conversation about intergenerational community development with Trina Nahm-Mijo, president and founder of the Grassroots Community Development Group, or GCDG, on Hawaiʻi Island.

GCDG has been a 501(c)(3) since 2005 and is best known for its award-winning program Keaʻau Youth Business Center (now Hawaiʻi Youth Business Center), which piloted an innovative hands-on skill-building curriculum in music and sound recording, digital arts, and culinary Arts. GCDG’s project Moʻo Pōʻai: Kūpuna Naue ʻŌpio has two parts. The Kūpuna component develops capacity in communities on Hawai’i Island to learn about the practice and application of Hoʻokuʻu ka hewa/Hoʻoponopono ʻike to health and social services in their communities. The ʻŌpio component supports media literacy classes in schools to increase social media proficiency while supporting social justice values in Hawaiʻi Island youth.

Website: gcdghawaii.org

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

40. Hui Aloha Kīholo: Community Stewardship of Kīholo Bay

An interview about ʻāina stewardship and community care with Kuʻulei Keakealani and Monika Frazier, the cultural director and interim executive director of Hui Aloha Kīholo.

Hui Aloha Kīholo is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect, perpetuate, and enhance the cultural and natural landscape of the Kīholo Bay area on Hawaiʻi Island through collaborative management and active community stewardship. They work closely with the Division of State Parks through a Curatorship Agreement to steward the Kīholo State Park Reserve.

Website: https://www.huialohakiholo.org/

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

39. Hoʻopae Pono Peace Project: Putting Together the Pieces of Peace

A conversation about peace-building and intergenerational community care with Laulani Teale, the coordinator of the Hoʻopae Pono Peace Project.

Hoʻopae Pono Peace Project builds strength in the Hawaiian community, and in its connections with others, through culture-based support for the prevention and resolution of family and community issues, support for youth as nonviolent warriors, and promotion of nonviolent solution-building and activism.

Website: https://www.eapono.org/

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai’i, Hawaii

Tanya Mailelani Naehu: Hoʻoulu ka ʻāina i Kūmimi

Our third ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi special episode with guest host Krisha Zane. 

He kamaʻilio ʻana me Tanya Mailelani Naehu (Hui o Kuapā) e pili ana i ka hana o kona hui i ka loko iʻa ʻo ʻŌhalahala ma ke ahupuaʻa ʻo Kūmimi ma ka mokupuni ʻo Molokai. 

For our English-language episode with Maile and Hanohano Naehu, see episode 1. Hui o Kuapā: Restoring Fish Ponds on Molokai.

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

Kalani Puaoi me Kekaiokalani Naone: Ke kalo a me ka ʻai pono

ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi special with guest host Krisha Zane.

E hoʻolohe mai i ko Kekaiokalani Naone (Uluhāhāloa) lāua ʻo Kalani Puaoi (Mole Kumu) manaʻo e pili ana i ke kalo ma ka ʻaoʻao mahiʻai, ka hoʻomākaukau ʻana, a me ka ʻaiaola.

For our English-language interview with Kekai and his co-founder Lahela Paresa, see episode 35. Uluhāhāloa: Kalo, Cookbooks, and Community. For our English-language interview with Kalani, see episode 38. Mole Kumu: Kalo and Food Security for the Westside.

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

38. Mole Kumu: Kalo and Food Security for the Westside

An interview about kalo cultivation and food security with Kalani Puaoi from Mole Kumu.

Mole Kumu is a culture-based organization in the ahupuaʻa of Waipiʻo on Oʻahu that uses Hawaiian core values to help guide what food security and sustainability looks like. They actively promote food security, community health, and aloha ‘āina through a cultural lens. Their programs include kalo and ‘ulu cultivation, indigenous microorganisms, community education, and lāʻau lapaʻau (traditional Hawaiian healing plants).

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

ʻĀinaaloha Ioane: ”Mai poina a hoʻomau”

Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi special with guest host Krisha Zane ma ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi!

Kamaʻilio ʻo Krisha me ʻĀinaaloha Ioane e pili ana i nā mele a ʻAnakala Skippy Ioane a me ka hana o ka hui ʻo Keliʻi William Ioane Legacy Foundation.

For our English-language interview with ʻĀinaaloha and Haʻawina Ioane, see episode 5. Keliʻi William Ioane Legacy Foundation: Growing Up in King's Landing in our feed.

For an immersive special episode from KWILF's 2021 Makahiki celebration, see Celebrating Makahiki in Keaukaha.

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

37. Project Koa Yoga: Creating Space for Belonging

A conversation about yoga and social justice in Hawai‘i with Laura Toyofuku-Aki and Victoria Roland, the founders of Project Koa Yoga.

Project Koa Yoga diversifies yoga and wellness in Hawai’i while uplifting Hawai’i’s people, land, and culture. They are expanding what yoga can look like in Hawai‘i through programs that diversify and increase people’s access to yoga, teaching trauma-informed yoga and meditation with NGO partners who serve marginalized communities such as houseless folx and survivors as well as providing scholarship-based Yoga teacher training for BIPOC and QTIA2S+Māhū folx.

Website: www.projectkoayoga.com

Tags: Hawai‘i, Hawai'i, Hawaii

36. Seed of Love: Connecting People with Place on Molokai

A conversation about ʻāina-based healing and learning for youth with Ketty Mobed, Todd Yamashita, and Cara Fitzpatrick at Seed of Love.

Seed of Love is a community care farm on the island of Molokai that works with the land and community to create healing and educational opportunities with an emphasis on youth and community members with little or no financial means. They believe that the most effective means of engaging our local and Hawaiian youth is by connecting their cultural experiences with a sense of place and purpose. A lot has changed since the pandemic and, as we return to a new normal, Seed of Love is providing an inclusive, outdoor, open-air learning platform that has important relevance for youth including educational opportunities that reflect the values, practices, and homesteading lifestyle on Molokai.

Website: seedoflovehawaii.org

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

35. Uluhāhāloa: Kalo, Cookbooks, and Community

A conversation about kalo (including ʻono recipes!) with Lahela Paresa and Kekaiokalani Naone from Uluhāhāloa.

Founded and led by Kānaka Hawaiʻi, Uluhāhāloa envisions Hawaiʻi’s economic, social health, and well-being restored in the next generation through an active connection to traditional Hawaiian practices, values, and lifestyles. Their Hāloa Circle is a twelve-week program that seeks to educate and challenge Native Hawaiians to eat their traditional ancestral food Hāloa, kalo.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/uluhahaloa/

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii