Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 12, 1 Kekemapa 1990 — Keala re-elected president of civic club association [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]
Keala re-elected president of civic club association
More than 560 persons representing 41 clubs attended the 31st annual convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs held Nov. 14-18 at the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki. Membership in the association has grown to over 2,350 and includes 44 clubs in Hawai'i and on the mainland. The clubs were founded in 1918 by Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole to stimulate Hawaiian leadership and provide assistance to the Hawaiian people. Clubs today continue that mission and also provide scholarships for young Hawaiian men and women, work to increase public awareness of Hawaiian issues and to represent the interests of the Hawaiian people. Officers elected
Re-elected by the convention delegates to new two-year terms were association president Jalna Keala and first vice-president H.K. Bruss Keppeler. Keala is a member of the Ali'i Pauahi Hawaiian Civic Club and Keppeler is a dual member of the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu and Prince Kuhio Hawaiian Civic Club. Elected as second vice president was Reynolds Nakooka Kamakawiwoole(Hawaiian Civic Club of Hamakua), taking the plaee of Walter Victor, Jr. (Laupahoehoe Hawaiian Civic Club). Ethelreda Kahalewai (Pu'uloa Hawaiian Civic Club) was elected as treasurer and will replace long-time association treasurer Betty Lou Stroup. A new feature of this year's convention was the presentation of workshops on Hawaiian leadership, parliamentary procedure, genealogy and sovereignty.
Awards and recognitions Andrew H. Berard of the 'Ahahui O Lili'uokalani Hawaiian Civic Club of southern California, was honored as the outstanding Hawaiian civic club member for 1990. Berard has been a civic club member for five years, is a director in his club and has chaired his club fundraising event for the iast three years. He is a board member of the mainland district eouneil. Berard is married to Brucella Halani Hopkins and they live in Cerritos, California. They have three children and six grandchildren. He graduated from Kamehameha Schools in 1956 and California State University of Los Angeles in 1971 with a B.S. in electrical engineering. He has been with Hughes Aircraft for 24 years and has demonstrated outstanding leadership and managerial abilities throughout his career in engineering, program management and in the business community.
The outstanding non-Hawaiian award for 1990 was presented to Dr. Terry Shintani, director of preventive medicine at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center where a majority of the center's 18,000 clients are Native Hawaiians. Dr. Shintani has continuously advocated for oublic understanding of the health concerns of the Hawaiian people, and education of Hawaiian people on how they ean improve their health. Shintani is an associate member of the E Ola Mau organization of Native Hawaiian health professionals and is a elinieal faculty member at the University of Hawaii School of Public Health and School of Medicine.
The Prince Kuhio outstanding Hawaiian Civic Club award was presented to the Ainahau O Kaleponi Hawaiian Civic Club. No award was given this year for outstanding Hawaiian because no application was received for individuals who are not civic club members. However on the final day of the convention session, concerned delegates asked the association board to re-examine the qualification criteria for this award and to streamline applieahon procedures to encourage more clubs to submit entries. Receiving special recognition on the convention floor was Dr. George H. Mills, four times elected president of the Association, who was honored that same week by the Hawai'i Cancer Research Institute and Hawai'i Medical Association for his 40 years commitment to medicine in Hawai'i. Dr. Mills is the first and only Native Hawaiian director
of the Hawai'i Medical Association, and has been honored numerous times for his long service as Kamehameha Schools physician and active member of the association. He was instrumental in helping the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center obtain a $1 milliorr grant for research on prevention of breast and cervical caneer in Native Hawaiian women. Resolutions
Among the top resolutions adopted this year were those supporting: • the inherent right of the Native Hawaiian people to self-determined goverance • a full and fair resolution of all controversies. surrounding the Native Hawaiian trusts • tuition waivers for persons of Hawaiian ancestry to attend the University of Hawai'i • timely and fair resettlement by the Kalapana T ask Force of Kalapana residents displaced by the Kilauea lava flow
• research on alternative energy source development in Hawai'i • election of OHA trustees by islands with proportional representation • a state energy conservation program • county tax exemptions for Department of Hawaiian Home Lands homesteaders Next year's convention will take plaee Nov. 6-10 at the Royal Waikoloan Hotel in south Kohala, aecording to convention chairman Walter Rodenhurst, Sr. The 1992 convention is planned for Kaua'i and in 1993 the convention site will be Las Vegas, he said. Convention story, continued page 16
Jalna Keala was re-elected president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 31 st annual convention.
Andrew Berard
Dr. George Mills
Screenings show Hawaiians care about health
from page 9
At the civic club convention, Claire Hughes, chair of the committee for health and human services of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, presented a report on the Native Hawaiian breast health project and health risk screening project, whieh began at the convention last year. The Native Hawaiian breast health project included a free screening mammogram. Hughes said in the
beginning some meaieal tacilities did not understand the new free examination voucher process, and billed the first participants in error. These individuals called the American Cancer Society and the error was corrected. She said if anyone who should have received a free examination was billed, they should eall Fran Sambueno at American Cancer Society. She will need to see a canceled eheek and receipt.
The health screening project was conducted during the convention in the ballroom entry without charge or cost to the Association or to its members. Its purpose was to help Hawaiians leam how to use such screening projects to protectand improve their individual health. Nutritionists from the Department of Health also put up a display in the conference hall of traditional Hawaiian foods. This diet was used to
reduce weight and improve health conditions of 20 participants in the Wai'anae diet study at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center last year.
Agencies participating īn the health screening were: the State Department of Health (DOH), Queen's Medical Center, American Cancer Society Native Hawaiian Breast Health Project, and senior medical resident volunteers, all of whom are Native Hawaiians, from the University of Hawai'i-John A. Burns School of Medicine. The screening included blood pressure test, blood sugar and blood cholesterol measures. Nutritionists, the medical residents and nurses on duty explained the screening results and counseled members on what they ean do to improve their health. Hughes noted these screenings and counseling would cost well over $100 in the private medical system.
Hughes also reported on the Native Hawaiian breast health project whieh began at last year's convention through the efforts of Dr. Brian Martin and JoAnn Tsark, Hughes' health committee. They originally estimated that they would screen 500 women in a two year period. However, they eompleted 842 surveys in one year. They budgeted for up to 500 mammograms, then managed to get an additional 200 vouchers for free mammograms for
a total of 700 vouchers. By September this year, 484 mammogram vouchers were returned, a 70 percent return. Hughes said, "We have found out that indeed, Native Hawaiians do care about their personal well-being, and that they will participate in lengthy surveys to help us to better understand what the health needs of Native Hawaiians are."
Hughes said the project was originally only on O'ahu, mainly because equipment was lacking on fhe neighbor islands. However, a portable mammogram maehine from Castle Hospital was taken to Moloka'i this summer, again through theefforts of the Native Hawaiian team. They planned for 135 mammograms, and did 185 in the two days instead. There are 100 additional names on a waiting list. She said because this population was never screened before, a higher number were found to need follow up care. "We found that non-participa-
tion in health care has more to do with gaps in the medical system than the fault of the people." Hughes stressed that early detection of cancer and early treatment in most cases means cure. There is a lower ehanee for cure and higher cost for delayed detection and delayed care. "This is especially important for Native Hawaiians to understand, as our cure rate is about half the rate for all other ethnic groups who suffer from cancer."