Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 7, 1 Iulai 2022 — Moloka'i Drug Free Movement Getting Real About the Impacts of Drug Abuse [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Moloka'i Drug Free Movement Getting Real About the Impacts of Drug Abuse

Sisters 'AIū Haliniak-Kali, Amber Kaholoa'a, and Barbara Momikai Haliniak have launched the Moloka'i Drug Free Movement to address drug addiction on their island and help fomilies to heol. - Photo: Aiianna Nieole Patterson

By Lisa Huynh Eller Drawing from their personal experienees with drug abuse and their deep faith in God, three Moloka'i-born sisters reeently launehed the Moloka'i Drug Free Movement. Their dream is to help families reeover and heal from a drug epidemic that has gripped their island home. Sisters 'Ala Haliniak-Kali, Barbara Momikai Haliniak, and Amber Kaholoa'a saw a need to bring their eommunity together to address one of Moloka'i's most eoneeming issues - drug addiction. "It is a huge problem that we need to deal with," said Kaholoa'a. The sisters' passion comes from their daily struggles with the impacts of drug abuse. Haliniak has been sober for nearly a year, Kaholoa'a has been sober for almost three years, and Haliniak-Kali watched the people around her deteriorate from abuse. Tragically, a drug-addicted young mother and ffiend

recently committed suicide. "You think there's nothing out there, but there are people who care," said Kaholoa'a. The idea for the Moloka'i Drug Free Movement originally eame from Haliniak after her own five-year struggle with drug addiction. "Her children were taken away and she found herself living house to house with other drug addicts and ended up living on the streets," said Gayla Haliniak, Barbara's mother. "She eame back to Moloka'i on her own and started her treatment at Ka Hale Pōmaika'i. She started attending parenting classes, landed two jobs and found a home of her own. She worked hard to get her five children back in her household." Barbara Momikai Haliniak knew her family loved her and wanted to support her. "It was me that didn't want their help; I let the drugs eome first in my life," she said. "When I eame home to Moloka'i, I saw a lot of young people who were drug-addicted - family and ffiends that I knew were walking the streets with mental heahh issues that eame from drug addiction. It's painful to see

- and I was one of them on O'ahu. When I started my sober journey, I reached out to my sisters, to start a drugfree movement for our people who are struggling with addiction and overcoming generational curses." The sisters and their extended family pooled their resources to put together the first Moloka'i Drug Free Movement event on May 7, 2022. About 400 people attended the event whieh featured guest speakers from O'ahu and Las Vegas, including Augie T, Terann Pavao, Derricka Lindsey, Mana Olayan, Kehau Manijo, and Shay Santiago. Resource agencies set up information tables and offered their kōkua, while island businesses donated door prizes. "Those children who live within the homes of drug users - they have nobody to talk to," said Haliniak-Kali. "We wanted to let them - kids and adults - know we're here to talk. We're here to help you get by. We know what you've been through. We're here to listen. Period." Though she never used drugs herself, Haliniak-Kali has been surrounded by drug use her entire life. She described herself as the "enabler" in her family, the person who picked up the pieces that addiction left behind. The women speak bluntly about their experiences, and this realness is what helps their message get through. "Yes, our guest speakers [at the event] were kind of rough around the edges, but that's real," said Halin-iak-Kali. "We don't need to hear about D.A.R.E. We don't need to hear from professionals who studied drug abuse and say, 'don't do drugs, stay in school.' We need to hear about real-life experiences - like how girls get raped, beaten, and used for the dope. How people go to jail and get beaten for the dope. How people steal ffom other family members for the dope. That's the truth." The group's future plans include hosting an 'ohana campout in September, creating a ministry for women, and establing a small detox center on the island. Having a plaee for people to detox on Moloka'i, where they ean be supported by their culture and community, is important to recovery, Haliniak-Kali said. "To be here at home, you still feel culturally rooted, you still feel morally rooted," she said. "Moloka'i people are built differently." The movement is not only about events and resources but also about changing attitudes and leading by example, Kaholoa'a said. Part of the reason why so many people don't reach out for help is because they were taught to tough out their way through problems. So many kids, including herself and her siblings, were raised with a fighting attitude - you give and you get "lickins." She said that "hard mentality" is not helping anyone. "Our goal is to help more families, get families involved in our movement, and to get these families to teach other families," Haliniak-Kali said. "We want to get the kids to teach other kids to show eaeh other love." ■ For more information about the Molokai DrugFree Movement, email molokaidrugfreemovement@gmail.com.