Sign-Waving in Lualualei

Yesterday (August 18, 2010) was the sign-waving in Lualualei as well as an official site visit by the Hawaii Land Use Commission (LUC). I went there to get footage of this event for The Hawaii Independent and to support the sign-waving. KITV was also there covering a little bit of the story on the proposed industrial park. The rain was a bit of a problem but we've managed to get a lot of positive replies from cars passing by. I unfortunately didn't get to hear much of the meeting with the LUC but I think everything went well (other then rain). It was some of the Concerned Elders of Wai'anae, students, and families who had attended this event, but anyone is welcome to come and show their support. I am pretty sure that there will be more things like this so feel free to participate and kako'o. These are just little things that we can do to make a big and positive impact on our community.

You can get more information about this event at these links here:
http://www.thehawaiiindependent.com/story/lualualei-community-fighting-to-save-farmland/

http://www.kitv.com/video/24682391/index.html

"Rails" July 22, 2010 (3rd day after eviction of homeless)

This is a video of "Rails" on the 3rd day after the eviction of the homeless. Now that there aren't any homeless living there, will the area be used for something? It seems like they're gating up the area. Was it necessary for them to evict homeless people to use this area for something else? Is it more important then homeless people not having somewhere to stay? Could they have not helped and made sure that all the homeless people had somewhere to go after the eviction? These are some of the questions that I think about every time I pass this area.

Homeless Being Evicted From Rails: Individual Reflection

I am one of the students of Ka Makani Kaiaulu 'O Wai'anae which went to witness the eviction happening at "Rails" today (07/19/10). Witnessing the homeless people and families being evicted was a very sad thing to see. You could see the emotions that they were going through off the looks on their faces, but you could only imagine how they must have felt unless you have gone through that yourself. The saying, " I know how you feel" could not have been said there today, because honestly, you wouldn't know how THEY feel. When most people passes "Rails," they would see it as a dirty area where a bunch of homeless people live. Fortunately we've gotten the privilege to meet and listen to some of the stories of the people living there.We got to hear some of the struggles that they are and were facing. Most people have negative thoughts and things to say about them, but I see them as people of our community who has been put into a hard time in their life. I feel that WE as a part of the same community must support and be more considerate to EVERYONE in our community because we share the same home. Equality, Respect and Aloha are only some of the things that we must have in order for our community to become a better place. There was one thing said by a homeless woman at "Rails" which had really touched me. She said that one of her daughters had asked her where they were gonna go, and she said, "wherever The Lord will take this feet." I could see how she stayed positive while she was in a negative time by striving and depending on FAITH, and I respected her for that. What I want the state to realize is that evicting homeless people is NOT getting rid of the problem, but only creating more. They must find other ways to malama this 'aina and the people who live on it.

Homeless Being Evicted from Rails

Today, the homeless people, at rails, were being evicted from their homes. Some of us students from the Ka Makani Kaiaulu O Waianae Enironmental Justice Institute, decided to go ahead and be a witness to this event. We took some pictures of the homeless being evicted or we would film some b-role of Rails of the things that were going on at the time. Through my eyes, this event was really heartbreaking and I couldn't feel any sorrier than I was feeling at that time. It was like a baby being taken away from it's family, something tragic that should never happen. I wish I could have done something to help the homeless find homes for their families but that power was not in my grasp. Seeing large groups of police get involved was also ignorant to me because believe it or not, there were some cops who despise the homeless but there were also some cops who wanted to help. The expression upon their faces played out the whole story of how they were feeling. As I walked along Rails, I came across young children that were packing up their belongings. It hurt me to see their homes being taken away from them. It may not have been an appealing home to live in but what you have to understand, is that it was "THEIR HOME." My support, was the greatest thing that I could've gave to them.

Everyone, should realize that homeless people are normal people just like ourselves. They shouldn't be judged for how they appear or for what they have. They should be treated equally like everyone else. Is that so hard to do? By the way things are going on nowadays, our economy is in major trouble. It's not easy to make a living. Rents are higher than ever, bills are raising, more and more money is being demanded day by day. They have to make a living just like we do. What is our state doing to help our people through these hardships? Is it helping? Are the decisions they're making, the right ones? Is there any proof of this changes? Ask yourself these questions.

We all need to work to survive in life. Every penny counts because it was all earned somehow from someone. After being a witness of this event, I was speechless. What could've I said to make things better? "Nothing".. Like I said earlier in this blog, MY SUPPORT, was the best
GIFT/ CONTRIBUTION I could offer. People that have homes should really take the time to appreciate it because the people I've seen and spoke to, would feel like they've won a million dollars if they had a home to go to. They don't have a permanent home, they're always on the go. The parents of these families, amaze me of how strong and determined they are to help their children survive. Imagine if you were in their spot, how would you feel? What would you do? How would you deal with it? Would you be ashamed to say that you were homeless?

The quote that continued to be said by the homeless people were,

"WHERE ARE WE GOING????"

-KUAIKA KAEO

Maui In Our Lands

On Tuesday June 29th 2010 we had a special speaker (Mrs.Walterb Aldegure) come and speak to us about the story of Maui and how we can still see him in the mountains down Lualualei. In the story we are told that Maui starts off as a chick then he turns into a rooster then becomes a man.

After hearing the story we hopped into two vans and started on our quest to find Maui the man and after looking really hard we found all of the stages that Maui went through it were.

It taught me that our island has more than the eye can see it provides food for us shelter and also the history of our ancestors.

Hello my name is Jordan I am 16 years old also I live in Wai'anae and I am currently with a program called Ka Makain Kaiaulu 'O Wai'anae.. Well I came to talk about not all but at least one of the problems happening in the community of Wai'anae and that problem is our homeless situation!!
because why do those that live on the beach or not in a sheltered home have to be treated so differently we're all people shouldn't they have just the same rights as those people with money or those on a more higher level well I think that no matter if you live in a 5 story mansion or a little tent on the beach everyone is a person so treat others as if there as high as you...
So on June 28, 2010 the group of teens all went down to rails where they were holding a homeless meeting with the city and state people about the homeless having to move and there were not able to go to any beaches on the Makaha side or any beach near them.. So everyone was like where are they to go?? with only one homeless shelter only able to house 300 and there is already homeless 300 homeless sheltered at the Wai'anae shelter maybe some aren't even homeless but what is it to them?? you tell me!! so yup that's my story of the community of Wai'anae where lots of people know this community as home!!

Land Use Commissions summary

My name is Naomi and i have lived in Wai'anae my entire life. Being part of Ka Makani Kaiaulu 'O Wai'anae gave me, along with nine other youth the opportunity to testify for the Wai'anae community in the Land Use Commission meeting that took place on the 1st. The day started off early, one hour earlier than what i would usually wake up to get ready for this group. We then all loaded up into the vans and were off to the Land Use Commission office in town. We had a some-what difficult time finding the room, especially because there were NO SIGNS ON ANY OF THE ROOMS! Luckily, we had veterans who knew where the room was :) The room... the room was small with chairs up against the wall and hardly any foot space, it was warm and stuffy and was very uncomfortable :(. After sitting through a heated argument on if the Land Use Commissioners would let construction take place on the Big Island, it was finally our turn. The head of commissioners said they needed a five minute break, which turned into a 2 1/2 hour break. So, we all went to eat lunch and then took a mini field trip to the 'Iolani Palace's nice, shady, green lawn where we all enjoyed our lunch. Lunch was so ono, and i could resist a short nap under the gigantic Monkey Pod tree. Dosing in and out of consciousness, i dreamt of winning todays meeting, allowing the Concerned Elders of Wai'anae to be able to speak during future meetings that involved the PVT being placed in Lualualei. My 20 minute nap was over and we were back on our feet to the meeting. We nearly filled the whole conference room up, all 14 of us. It was our time to testify so Haku spoke in Hawaiian and then testified with a letter written by us. After our testimony we all took our seats and held our mini signs that said, "why us?" or "respect our Kupuna!" Aunty Walterbea took the stand and testified for the Elders and then our own Kimie testified by herself and spoke about our amazing Kupuna. In the end, the Concerned Elders passed with flying colors :) Not one commissioner disagreed to let the Elders intervene! The only mad people that were there were one of the Tropic Lands owner and his really mean lawyer. The first of July was a win for Wai'anae. I think that we did an excellent job and showed 'em whos boss ;)