Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 3, Number 3, 1 Malaki 1986 — 12 Olomana Students in Cemetery Project [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

12 Olomana Students in Cemetery Project

Twelve teenage students from Olomana School in Kailua, most of whom are Hawaiians from Waimanalo, have recently undertaken a community service project in the Windward area whieh will allow five of them to go on an all-expense trip to Washington, D.C. this summer. These students will be doing field research and beautification work at various cemetery sites in Waimanalo and Kailua as part of a federally funded project whieh encourages youth participation in community and government affairs.

According to Ellen Schroeder, one of the teacher-coordi-nators of the "Partners Program," the idea to have the students elean cemeteries eame from fellow teacher Jimmy Keanini, the other coordinator of the project who read an article in the December issue of Ka Wai Ola O OHA whieh emphasized the need to maintain and preserve neglected Hawaiian cemetery sites. lt was his feeling that since most of the students selected for the program are of Hawaiian ancestry, working with cemeteries would be a good way to get them interested in their own family genealogies and at the same time providing a service for the community.

The students will be working closely wiht Nanette Napoleon Pumell, director of the Cemetery Research Project whieh is partly funded by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Eleven students from last year's "Partners Program" went to the nation's capitol to get a first hand look at how our federal government works. Because of budget cutbacks in scholarship monies this year, only five of the 12 students in the program will be able to go on the trip. The five students eventually selected to make the trip this year will be judged on the basis of their contributions to the success of the project. A loeal corporate sponsor or individual contributions from

the community are being sought to provide funds for tools and transportation for the project. Those wishing to provide kokua in this area are asked to contact Ellen Schroeder at telephone 261-8981. The "Partners Program" is mainly funded by the Close Up Foundation of Washington and the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Seven native Hawaiians were among the 11 Olomana students who made the trip last year. They hailed it as a "onee in a lifetime trip" following their return. A comprehensive report of the trip and the program was carried in the July, 1985, issue of this newspaper.

Here are four of the Waimanalo youths at a Japanese cemetery, Bellows Air Force Base. From left to right, they are Correena Mederios, Georgelynn Kaipo, Terry Mokiao and Jonette Ah Wah.