Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 6, 1 ʻAukake 1984 — Farm Project Director Digs Waianae Youths [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Farm Project Director Digs Waianae Youths

Kawehi Ryder is a young, vibrant, aggressive and fluid-speaking package of human energy who digs working with alienated youths, dropouts, young adults and anyone else who find themselves socially and economically disadvantaged. Ryder has been heavy into farming during his young adult life — working the land and making it productive. He was a part-time se!f-employed farmer in Kahaluu until three months ago when he accepted the farm manager's position with the Kaala Eeonomie Development Project in Waianae. For the summer, he is teaching and training 12 Waianae High School students how to farm on more than 24 acres of land in Waianae Valley. This is state land zoned agriculture with a long term lease. A good portion of it is in the eonservation district. On July 1 1, Ryder led his high school charges and six core workers into the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Honolulu headquarters to view the ceded lands slide show. He then herded them into the OH A conference room to watch the proceedings of the Resource Development Committee meeting. "1 brought them into town to show them what's happening outside of Waianae, what OHA is and what it is doing. I hope they get something out of it," Ryder explained. "I look at farming for these kids and young adults as an employment opportunity. Its a work and learn kind of thing while earning a salary," he added. When questioned what happens to the students and their work project when school resumes, Ryder said: "We're trying to hook on to a land base for them. We hope to plug these kids into some kind of interaction with other groups. We'll be involved with them all they way." "While they're in school, we'll keep nurturing their interests and meet with them regularly. In fact right now we don't work continuously. We take field trips such as the one to OHA and visit other

similar projects and farms. We also take time out during the middle of the week to evaluate what we're doing," Ryder stated. The Kaala project, whieh was started six years ago, dealt mainly with the social rather than the eeonomie aspects of alienated youths. But now it is heavy into farming and Ryder has been the current stabilizing force of this project. His prime interest is continuing the project on a successful course. Kaala began with seed money from the John Howard Association and Queen Liliuokalani Children's Trust. The Honolulu Community Action Program serves as the liaison agency and Cliff Chillingworth is the community coordinator who works closely with Ryder, the Kaala project and other like interacting activities with other agencies. Funding also comes from the Administration for Native Americans (ANA), Alu Like and city block grant. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs provides resource assistance through Human Services Specialist Sam Holt. Ryder grew up in Kahaluu in a fishing environment, learning the ways of a fisherman from his father. But he turned to farming in his adult years after majoring in alternative education and minoring in Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaii. He started his college career at New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, N.M., before finishing up at UH Hilo. His education degree, he says, blends well in what he's doing with the kids. Ryder is no stranger to such programs as Kaala. He developed similar farm projects for Queen Liliuokalani Trust on Molokai and in Punaluu on Oahu. Evidence of Ryder's three short months with the Kaala project is clearly visible in the many planted acreages of diversified truck crops. The project's primary farming crops were watercress and luau leaves but an irrigation problem has kept this on a limited basis while concentrating heavily on truck crops.

Swee» potatoes in foreground, bananas to the left and corn to the extreme rear grow hand in hand in this section of Kaala Farm.

This worker tends fire while others continue to elean area.

An irrigation ditch is being unclogged to let water flow freely.