4-H Teaches Leadership, Responsibilities to Children

Photo by Marissa Motas

Photo by Marissa Motas

By Léo Azambuja
Several children of all ages showcased their animals during the annual 4-H Club Expo in Kualapu‘u earlier this month.
“It’s a youth development program,” club leader Lane Kamakana said. “We try to develop leadership, responsibility and life skills; and that’s the biggest point of our whole program.”
The 4-H season begun in November, when the kids started showing up for monthly meetings, according to Kamakana, a 4-H program alumni.
“Our steer project started in December, our swine project started in March, and our Clover Bud project started in April,” he said.
Thirty three kids showcased their animals at Lanikeha Community Center on June 7, in an event that started at 9 a.m. and finished at 4 p.m.
The 4-H club is divided between market and showmanship classes. The market animals are for children 9-to-13 years old who raise goats and swine; and children 14-to-17 years old who raise swine and steers. The younger children, 5-to-8 years old, participate in the Clover Bud project, which involves smaller animals only for showmanship.
“We had a judge come in from Mississippi. She judged the animals based on a market class,” Kamakana said, adding this means how well an animal will go for in the market.
There were 18 kids in the market animals program this year. They brought six steer, nine swine and three goats that were auctioned off to local markets and private buyers.
“One of our biggest buyers is our grocery store in town, Friendly Market,” Kamakana said. “They buy the animals, slaughter the animals, and put the meat out in their store.”
There were 15 kids in this year’s Clover Bud project bringing lap animals, chicken, rabbits, chameleons and tortoise.
Most of the money raised with the market animals goes to the kids, and most of them use it to start a college fund or to save it for future purposes, according to Kamakana.
He said the 4-H Club has been on Molokai for a long time. Many of his uncles and aunties participated in it when they were young. This was Kamakana’s first year as a club leader.
The four Hs in the 4-H program stand for their pledge: “I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living, for my club, my community, my country and my world.”