Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 8, 1 August 2007 — Jeno Enoceneio: Restoring the ʻāina and growing people [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Jeno Enoceneio: Restoring the ʻāina and growing people

Rūbert K. Lindsey. Jr. TrustEE, Hawai'i

On the gentle slopes of Mauna Kea in the ahupua'a of Kalalau, you will find a quiet man, carefully pursuing a dream that comes in two parts: to restore the land (mālama 'āina) and to grow people ( 'āina ulu) in accordance with Kamehameha Schools Strategic Plan 20002015. His hope for all who eome to Kalalau is that they will be nurtured by its spirit and that their lives will be blessed with meaning, hope, purpose and achievement. Jeno Enoeeneio (with son Jinnny and the 'ohana) has been working steadily for several years now building the infrastructure for his dream, Kalalau Victory Garden and Ranch (KVGR). He is its founder and architect. Kalalau is a verdant ehunk of real estate with very deep, red, mucky, rich soil, located in the vicinity of the old sugar camps of Pueo, Wainaku, and 'Amauulu in Hilo. It is Kamehameha Schools land, leased for more than 100 years by C. Brewer, on whieh sugar eane was grown until the 1990s, when Brewer shut down its Hilo operations. Now, it's Jeno's turn to take Kalalau into the future. The desired future for Kalalau from his view is a plaee where cultural, educational, eeonomie and organic agricultural practices will take root, where people will gather to learn how to live off the land and lift up their spirits. Kalalau is a pu'uhonua in progress. He invited me earlier this sununer to visit Kalalau and be part of the launching of the Alu Like Sunnner Youth Program at Kalalau. The day was June 12. For Summer 2007 on Hawai'i Island, Alu Like had 400 young people sign up for sunnner work. KVGR took in eight students. The visit will be one I will long remember. Jeno and his right ann, son Jinnny, were very clear about rules, expectations and protocols with their new charges. They emphasized work ethic, working together as family, asking questions, putting in an honest days work and have fun while doing it. He showed us the spot where one day a eultural center will stand. We toured the garden and received mini lessons in composting

and growing eggplant and kalo. We toured the ranch and received lessons in incubating eggs, treating mite issues in rabbits and fundamental organic farming practices. When I left Kalalau that afternoon, I knew things were going to be well. This group of youngsters, raised on digital television, iPods, computers, DVDs and text messaging, were in very good hands. For six weeks and six hours a day, they would surrender their technology-based gadgets and get "their hands dirty." The aloha and ho'okipa extended by the Enocencios to us strangers was surreal. Four weeks later, I had a follow up visit with Jeno and a Vietnam War buddy, Bert Imada from Kukuihaele, at Kalalau. It was Wednesday morning, July 12. We talked story in the lee of a giant albesia, surrounded by a flock of New Hampshire, Rhode Island Red, Plymouth Rock and Delaware chickens. While we talked, the chickens clucked and cackled. We chatted about earlier times at Kalalau when Jeno used to catch 'o'opu and gather 'ōpae in the streams and no one envisioned that sugar, as a commodity, would vanish from our economy. We talked of his military service. Jeno was a point man with the Americal Division in Vietnam and was lucky to make it home. It was in Vietnam where he eonnected with one of his best friends, Bert Imada. Strange how two guys who grew up on the same island met thousands of miles away from Hawai'i in the midst of a raging war. He was onee a poliee officer, the first (and probably only) Kanaka Maoli poliee officer in Manhattan, Kansas. We talked of his life of service to others, particularly on behalf of veterans, to youth on the Leeward coast of O'ahu and now to eight young people from Hilo. Of the eight who started, seven made it through Kalalau's Summer Camp. The one who didn't had an "off the job" injury and could not continue. Jeno knows it's a new time. Youngsters respond differently today to advice, instructions and suggestions. The road ean be bumpy at times. But he knows aloha, 'ohana, ho 'omanawanui, ho'olohe, ho'omau, justice, fairness, faith in people and flexibility are just some of the old fashioned basics whieh still work in this new age as he pursues his dream. Mahalo to you Jeno and your 'ohana for all that you did this sunnner in service to our young people. May your dream for Kalalau be fulfilled. S