Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 7, 1 Iulai 2013 — Trustees meet with Molokaʻi residents [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Trustees meet with Molokaʻi residents

By Harold Nedd Kaunakakai,moloKA'I — An estimated 80 Moloka'i residents turned out for a meeting that brought new attention to a string of eommu-nity-driven efforts, ranging from guarding the island's stoplightfree rural lifestyle to helping the middle school work its way off a list of Hawai'i's most underperforming puhlie schools. The two-hour community meeting at Kūlana 'Ōiwi Hālau also allowed a eouple nonprofits to put faces to missions they have tied to such priorities of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs as improving prenatal care and expanding housing opportunities for Hawaiians. But the low-key tone of the meeting with OHA's top leadership was clearly set by a grassroots organization called I Aloha Moloka'i, whose president, Kanohowailuku Helm, showed an eye-catching video

that portrayed efforts to protect the island's laidback paee and actively discourage developers. In its testimony, the Moloka'i Land Trust also spoke about steps it is taking to preserve about five miles of pristine shorelines on the island's northwest coast as part of a broader effort to ensure that Moloka'i continues to move to a slower eloek than crowded Honolulu. Butch Haase, executive director of the Moloka 'i Land Trust, credited a $ 1 00,000 OHA grant for helping efforts on Moloka'i to stand

apart from all things commercial and exist on its own terms. "The iniīial investment by OHA paid dividends," Haase said. "It allowed our organization to get set up and preserve a quiet existence that is integral to the heritage andlifestyle of Moloka'i." For Gary Davidson, principal at the 200-stu-dent Moloka'i Middle School, the hot topic was the community's

ability to rally around the need to raise the quality of education at the school, where student achievement had been lagging for about eight years, starting in 2004. Davidson pointed to support from such community partners as OHA for a dramatic turnaround at the school, whieh has seen a sharp increase in the number of students meeting state standards in math and succeeding in writing. In testimony, he suggested to trustees that the school is now better positioned to teach skills

that would prepare students for a bright future due to support from OHA, whieh contributed $40,000 three years ago to build laptop eomputer laboratories for the school's students, who are predominantly Hawaiian. "OHA believed in us when others didn't and that made a huge difference," Davidson said. "The students noticed that somebody cared. It also made them feel like they were important." Other speakers at the community meeting included Punahele Aleon, program manager at Moloka'i General Hospital Women's Health Center, who took hope from a $133,232 OHA grant expected to significantly enhanee prenatal care for Hawaiian patients, saying that the program will help "to provide our babies the best possible start in life." In her testimony, Zhantell Dudoit Morris, executive director at Moloka'i Habitat for Humanity, made it known that a $290,000 OHA grant will help build 15 homes on Moloka'i, where she's focused on "helping Native Hawaiians succeed as homeowners." The community meeting was the second of five planned on Neighbor Islands through September. Last month, the trustees held their community forum and regular board meeting on Maui. In July, they will meet on Lāna'i. ■

Neighbor lsland meetings

0HA's Board of Trustees and Community meetings on the Neighbor lslands continue on Lāna'i this month. The two Lāna'i meetings are scheduled as follows: • Community meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 17 at Lāna'i High and Elementary School cafeteria. • Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, July 18 at 9 a.m. at Kō'ele Lodge Library, One Keomoku Highway. For more information, please eall Leinani Zablan at (808) 565-7930. Additional Community and B0T meetings are planned on Kaua'i in August, and Hawai'i lsland in September. More details will be announced in Ka Wai Ola and on www.oha.org.

I OHA trustees and | CE0 listen as Gary Davidson, principal of Moloka'i AAiddle School, speaks about recent successes athisschool. -Photo:Ryan Gonzalez