Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 6, 1 June 2011 — Expanding horizons at the UN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Expanding horizons at the UN

By Melissa Moniz Hawai'i students from elementary to graduate school recently made trips to the United Nations, expanding their knowledge about indigenous issues and skills in international peaee building. Graduate students from the University of Hawai'iMānoa attended the U.N. Pennanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in May to discuss indigenous issues related to eeonomie and social development, culture, the environment, education, heahh and human rights. This year marked the 10th year that UH Professor Lilikalā Kame'eleihiwa has led a group of students to the Pennanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. A highlight she said, eame in 2008. "Our students attended the UN PFII right after 144 nations voted to support the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and we now teach that document in Hawaiian Studies 107 as a road map to peaceful reconcihation between indigenous peoples and colonizers who have taken indigenous land," she said. "About 1,100 students a semester take (the course), so we are really spreading the word." Kame'eleihiwa says inspiration for the trips to the U.N. eame from sisters Haunani-Kay and Mililani Trask, who were among the first Native Hawaiians to actively participate at the U.N. In 1993, Mililani Trask took Keali'i Gora with her to Geneva to attend a U.N. working group session, and Gora has attended every year since, Kame'eleihiwa said. In 2001, UN PFH was held in New York, whieh made it more accessible in tenns of travel and housing costs, so Gora took two students on the trip. "Then in 2003, the theme for the UN PF1I was

Indigenous Youth, so we took five students from Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies and five from Hālau Kū Māna Charter School," adds Kame'eleihiwa. "Students learned so mueh from the U.N. that we decided to make it an annual trip, although now I only take graduate students." The students who attended this year are Ka'ahiki Solis, Kameha'iku Camvel and Kalei Laimana along with alaka'i (leaders) Kame'eleihiwa and Gora. "Some of the goals for the trip are to expose Native Hawaiians to the intemational arena at the United Nations and to the inner workings of the PFII," says Kame 'eleihiwa. ' 'We expect our students to meet as many other indigenous peoples who attend the conference as possible. One of the benefits is that our students get to see where Hawaiians fit in to the indigenous world, and that compared to many, Hawaiians have many rights and assets denied to other indigenous peoples." While there, students collect copies of all interventions made about the Pacific and help organize the pennanent record of those interventions for the UN PFII delegate from the Pacific. Copies of these records then heeome available in the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies library. BUDDING LEADERS In April, all eight of the fourth and fifth graders from Kawaiaha'o Church School attended the Montessori Model United Nations (MMUN) held in New York. Students 'Elia Akaka, Makenzie FaamausiliCacoulidis, Kealoha Garvin, 'A'ah'i Kelling and sister Kaley Kelling, Brandon Shin, Tanner Wong and Seth Williams made the trip along with their alaka'i Kaipo'i Kelling. The students of Kawaiaha'o joined 1,500 students

from throughout the world to play the role of ambassadors from U.N. Member States to debate current issues on the organization's agenda. "This is our second time going. We went two years ago with three delegates and this year we have eight, so we spent a lot of time preparing," says Kaipo'i Kelling, the school's head teacher for grades 1 to 5 and father of two children who went on the recent trip. The student delegates made speeches, prepared draft resolutions, negotiated with allies and adversaries and resolved conflicts - all in the interest of mobilizing international cooperation to resolve problems that affect countries all over the world. "They leam about world issues with eaeh school representing a specific country," adds Kelling. "So we chose Belgium because of the similarities with Hawai'i, such as the Kingdom of Belgium and the Kingdom of Hawai'i." The MMUN allows elementary students to explore the real problems of the world and encourages them to discuss and negotiate possible solutions for issues that people face around the world. The Kawaiaha'o students worked months to leam about their topics, fonnulate resolutions and prepare a two-minute speech. The topics included freshwater resources, toxic chemicals, aiding refugees, malnutrition, creating opportunities for poor fanners, terrorism, reconstruction after civil conflict and Ananeial resources forrefugees. The students presented their ideas at the three-day conference. "I liked regular caucusing, whieh was talking to other people to see if they have the same idea as you," said Garvin, a fourth grader. During their trip, the Kawaiaha'o students documented what they learned in a joumal, whieh they continue to work on. They also incorporated what they leamed in their May Day program and created a chart illustrating the resolutions submitted following the conference. "We leamed how to make resolutions, whieh are recoimnendations on issues to heeome intemational laws," says Kaley, a fourth grader. "And we also got to meet a lot of people from around the world and made friends." Kawaiaha'o Church School plans to attend MMUN every two years, instead of annually, due to the fundraising involved to pay for the trip. "This is for them to leam about the world and have opportunities," says Kelhng. "It allows them to see what other children their age are doing and where they eome from and make those connections that everyone is the same." ■ Melissa Moniz is a Contiibuting WriterforKa Wai Ola. Afonner Associate Editor atMidWeek, she has chosen a new careerpath as afidl-time mom to spend more quality time with her husband and two young daughters.

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Young peaee builders, from left, Kealoha Garvin, Tanner Wailani Wong, Makenzie Faamausili-Cacoulidis, 'A'ali'i Kelling, Seth Williams, Kalehuakea Kelling, 'Elia Akaka and Brandon Shin. - Courtesy photo bySteven Wong