Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 6, 1 June 2008 — Sodal workers: they're everywhere, they're everywhere [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Sodal workers: they're everywhere, they're everywhere

Aloha mai kākou. On May 16, 2008, the School of Social Work at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa held its 2008 Convocation. This event provided 16 undergraduate BSWs, 76 graduate MSWs and two post-graduate PhDs in Social Work to gather with their famihes and friends in joint celebration of their scholastic achievements and shared support. The following are specific excerpts from my Convocation Remarks. "Wann greetings to family, faculty and wellstudied and victorious graduates. I am pleased to be here and am honored to look into the faces of 2008 School of Social Work change agents. I carry great hope and a spirit of expectation for the work and contributions you will and must make to Hawai'i's present and future. Thirty-two years ago, when I graduated from the UH School of Social Work, the jury was out on where I was headed, but the Regents of the University of Hawai'i on the reconunendation of the faculty conferred the degree with all the rights, privileges and honors thereunto appertaining, taking the hope-filled risk on me. Now it is YOUR time with all the rights, privileges and honors thereunto appertaining to step forward to make a positive difference. Hold close to the lessons from our ancestors that guide and chart our steps today. You face an oeean of opportunities and iisks; and successful navigation of these forces starts first with strength and clarity of spiritual values. 'Ōlelo no 'eau, gathered and published by Mary Kawena Puku'i, heighten values of the spirit and provide wise counsel. Their relevance lives on through the generations. 'A'ohe 'uhi e loa'a i ka pōkole o ka lou. There is no success without preparation. Fire up your passion to make a positive difference for humanity so your professional

hfetime produces well-being and reawakening modeled by giving back. Let service, not selfservice, define your excellence and leadership. Take on difficult tasks with focus, discipline and courage. He po'i nā kai uli, ka ko'o, 'a'ohe liina pūko 'a. Said of one who remains eahn in the face of difficulties Invest your time in working on the front line, at the grass roots, in direct service or eommunity organizing; superb experience and training for puhlie service and/or elected office. O ke kalma niannia niahope ke kūkiihi. Learn all you ean, then practice. If and when puhlie service beckons you to the level of elected office, whether for the neighborhood, for the Native Hawaiian private and puhlie Trust, for the Legislature or for the Nation, you will achieve that kuleana because the people have placed their trust in you. They expect in return ethical discerning judgment and prudence. Hawai'i as well as the Hawaiian conununity needs remarkable and honest poliīieal leadership. An 18th century writer notes: Pohtics is the most hazardous of ah professions. There is no other in whieh one ean hope to do so mueh good to his fehow creatures and neither is there any in whieh, by mere loss of nerve, one may do as widespread hann. There is not another in whieh one may so eashy lose one's own soul, nor is there another in whieh a positive and strict veracity is so difficult. But danger is the inseparable eompanion of honor. With ah its temptations and degradations that beset it, pohhcs is still the noblest career any one ean choose. If puhlie service, specifically polhieal office, will be your ulthnate destination as a Social Worker; or a coimnunity change agent in the private or puhlie sector is your conmhtment, Ua ahu ka hnu, e lāwalu ka i'a. All preparations have been made; now let us proceed with the work." 43/48 Editor's note: E kala niai, Chairperson Apoliona's May eohimn was incorrectly titled. lt should have been titled "Truth be told." KWO regrets the error. C

LEO 'ELELE ■ TRUSTEE MESSAGES

Haunani Apuliuna. MSW Chairpersūn, TrustEE, At-large