Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 7, 1 July 2016 — FLOWERS, JERRY (MANUWA) [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FLOWERS, JERRY (MANUWA)

>► Q1 RESPONSE My vision for OHA and its Board of Trustees is helping and advocating for the Hawaiian people and our counterparts. In our lāhui we are struggling and I feel the reason for this is a laek of communication. Our eommunication needs to advance in order for the voices of the islands of Moloka'i and

Lana'i to be heard. When communication is effective, our lāhui ean grow in physical, mental, and spiritual health. >► Q2 RESPONSE For the Hawaiian people and our counterparts, my strategy is to rely on the experiences of our Hawaiian leaders of the past and how they were with the people. Our leaders would keep the people informed whether the information was good or bad. Also, they would Mālama the 'Aina and the kūpuna as a whole, while nourishing and embracing all that were in need. Our Hawaiian People needs to know that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) is not a dance party, but an entity within the State and Government that is there for the people and not the paycheck. >►03 RESPONSE:The use of our mana and ancestral values was always done by everyone working for the better. Our past Leaders were very fundamental and educated in the details of our counterparts— yes our Beloved Queen was overthrown, but this was done to not allow bloodshed to our people. We must love ourselves and the people to move forward in this day and age. OHA and the people of Hawai'i needs to eome together and form a unity that will allow us to tackle the climate, health, wealth and any other pressing issues in our community. ■