Author Archives: Brandon Roberts

Putting the Home in Homestead

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

Shelter is considered one of life’s basic necessities, yet many people struggle to fulfill this need. With humble acceptance, Halona and Gay Kaopuiki blessed their future home site with the help of Habitat for Humanity (HFH) and many Molokai residents.

The Kaopuiki family had the land since 1989, yet it has been without a real home. Upon the land sits a small, rundown storage building, and off in the field sits an old yellow school bus that served for a time as the Kaopuiki dwelling.

“We lived like pioneers for a long while,” Mrs. Kaopuiki said with a sense of appreciation and pride.

“It (HFH) could not have happened to a better family,” said Bill Bohnacker, first time HFH project supervisor. He plans to start construction within the week, and soon will be looking for volunteer carpenters.

HFH is a non-profit organization that provides a means for people to have a place to call home through individual and corporate donations as well as sweat-equity. According to the Molokai HFH Web site, a Partner family will invest labor, sweat equity, into building their homes and the homes of others. HFH participants’ mortgage payments go into a revolving Fund for Humanity used to build homes for other deserving families.

Volunteers or interested parties can get involved by contacting Jean Han at the Molokai HFH office at 808-560-5444 or via email at ohana@pixi.com.

Make it Yours

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

Workshop gives intellectual property rights insight.

By Brandon Roberts

The people of Molokai have a creative spirit and an eye for the entrepreneurial. In order to call the island home, people must harness this spirit to embrace success. An informal talk-story with Molokai’s inventors, artists, and business people shed some light on intellectual property rights.

John Wordin, Molokai resident and inventor, hosted a workshop last Tuesday at the Kuha`o Business Center to inform Molokai about the patent, copyright and trademark process.

“The American Dream is to create something out of nothing and make money,” Wordin said. “The vehicle you make money with is business.”

Feed Those in Need

Monday, February 18th, 2008

Local musician puts music in the air and food on the table.

By Brandon Roberts

From the small country of El Salvador came the sounds of Hawaiian music. Sounds that bring us together, and often we gather not just for celebration but to accomplish something.

Ekolu Kalama made the journey from Molokai to El Salvador to visit a good friend. While there, he was informed about a benefit concert for a small organization known as Libras de Amor.

Libras de Amor (Pounds of Love) is “focused on significantly diminishing the rate of malnourishment in children under five, and pregnant or nursing women of the rural areas of El Salvador,” according to the organizations website.

Kalama was able to do what he loves, play some Hawaiian vibrations. This time though, his love was able to benefit many Salvadorians.

“People were crying, everyone was so sincere,” Kalama said. “It is not just to take but to give back.”

In the couple of hours that Kalama strummed his ukulele and guitar, he was able to raise $1,500. This money was enough to feed 24 people for an entire year. “It is the ultimate trade,” he said.

This small country is the most densely populated in Central America. Chronic malnutrition affects 25.6 percent of children under five in rural areas and 60 percent of the rural population has no access to basic health services.

Not only is this country in a nutritional crisis, but it has been rocked by civil war and social strife. “Giant holes were in buildings and roads,” Kalama explained. “There were armed guards at the stores, barbed wire and graffiti.”

At the time of Kalama’s journey it was also his birthday. He shared some of the cake with the servants at the house he was staying at. This, he found out, was frowned upon. “Serious lines were drawn between the servants and success,” he said. “Regardless of status, I have cake and you can eat it with us.”

This generosity was the same that emanated from his ukulele. The same generosity he shared with the children of El Salvador and Libras de Amor.

Libras de Amor gives rural Salvadorians the opportunity to have a healthy family. This ideal is provided through four components; health services, food safety, nutritional consumption and health promotion.

Libras de Amor is currently concentrating work in the rural areas of Ahuachapán, located near the Guatemalan border. They will gradually expand to other areas affected by malnutrition.

“We are going to change El Salvador one child at a time!” Kalama said before departing the stage.

Kalama does not plan on just a one-time donation. He has been in contact with other musicians and surfers to help with future fundraisers. “If I was able to feed this many people, imagine what a big celebrity would be able to accomplish.”

For more information please visit www.librasdeamor.org. The Web site is in Spanish language, but the google search engine can translate it.

Hawaiian Soul Food

Monday, February 11th, 2008

Seasoned chef plans sustainable kitchen.

Many on Molokai have a shared goal to make the island self-reliant. Hotel Molokai Chef Mia Gaines-Alt has this vision, and pictures her kitchen as a way to promote and develop it.

“We need to support ourselves and each other,” Gaines-Alt said Wednesday morning at an American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) meeting. “We do not need to rely on the barge or Honolulu.”

Molokai is predominantly a rural community. So where do the islands’ grown goods go? Gaines-Alt would like to see Hawaiian agricultural talents stay on Molokai for the community to benefit and enjoy.

Some of the projects on her plate are to create a viable market for farms on Molokai by harnessing locally grown goods for the kitchen at the Hotel. She also plans to be involved with the Future Farmers of America (FFA) program.The FFA promotes agricultural education to students.

Gaines-Alt is seeking fresh Molokai produce like fruit, berries, leafy greens and even fish to promote a sustainable kitchen at the Hotel. She also has plans for an herb garden on the Hotel grounds.

Gaines-Alt describes herself as eclectic by nature. “We never graduate from thinking outside the box.” She likes to grab a spice off the shelf and see what happens.

Gaines-Alt began experimenting with foods as a toddler in Oakdale, California. However, her first love was music, so she went to college as a Music major.

Fortunate for Molokai, the life of a starving artist drove her hunger toward something different, food.

Some of the other tasty changes from the kitchen are fryer and cooking oils that use zero transfats, like canola and extra virgin olive oil. Her first cooking job was in an Italian restaurant, so a hint of the Mediterranean cuisine can be found in many of her dishes, but Island favorites like kalbi ribs and the loco moco are here to stay.

The Hotel Molokai can be contacted at (808) 553-5347 or online at info@hotelmolokai.com

War on Terror Comes to Kaunakakai Wharf

Monday, February 4th, 2008

Security measures could add to consumer costs.

The War on Terror goes on, and so do the costs to U.S. citizens. Molokai is not isolated as the latest federal security measures will impact the island sometime this year.

The Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program will require maritime and port workers to purchase tamper-resistant biometric credentials. The program is a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and U.S. Coast Guard initiative.

The card will be valid for five years, and the price tag, $132.50, includes a background check on the applicant. Those who have undergone a background check will pay a reduced fee of $105.25.

Young Brothers Ltd. will have to purchase around 400 cards for its workers. The company’s vice president, Bruce McEwan, said the cards will cost Young Brothers “tens of thousands of dollars.”

An Aug. 28, 2007 notice from Young Brothers stated that the TWIC program is not limited to employees of the maritime industry, so anyone who visits a designated waterfront facility, like Young Brothers, will be required to have the card. Young Brothers currently screens people by asking for picture identification.

Small-business owners and workers who pick up and ship freight at the harbor say the card is an unfair monetary burden. Adding to the cost, there is no enrollment facility on Molokai, so applicants will have to travel to Honolulu, the nearest place where the cards can be issued.

The TSA contractor Lockheed Martin designated the enrollment sites, which did not include Molokai and Lanai.

“Business commerce will surely be hurt because of this added travel cost, which will undoubtedly be passed on to customers” said Barbara Haliniak, President of the Molokai Chamber of Commerce in a letter submitted to the Hawaii House of Representatives.

“Cruise ship passengers and inter-island ferry passengers will not need the card, because they go through security screening when boarding,” said Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

An estimated 750,000 individuals will require TWICs. Enrollment and issuance will take place over an 18 month period. Enrollment for a TWIC began in Honolulu on Nov. 7, 2007. To obtain a TWIC, applicants must provide fingerprints, a digital photograph and pass a TSA security-threat assessment.

New Meaning to Silent Majority

Monday, January 28th, 2008

Land Use Commission omits public testimony from official records.
By Brandon Roberts

Nearly 100 community members testified in November's LUC hearings on Molokai.

In an unprecedented move, the Land Use Commission (LUC) chose to omit all public testimony from the La’au Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) hearing last November.
"To selectively censor testimony from the official record of the La'au LUC hearings is wrong under any circumstance," said Molokai Planning Chairman DeGray Vanderbilt.
Under the instruction of former LUC Executive Officer Anthony Ching, the Court Recorder did not type any verbatim testimony of Molokai residents during the Nov. 15-16 meetings This announcement was included in the Nov. 15 transcript by the Court Recorder.
With the resubmission of Molokai Properties Limited (MPL) draft EIS, the Molokai Planning Commission (MoPC) will find it difficult to review past public sentiment when none was recorded.
The MoPC has formalized a letter to the LUC asking for an explanation as to why public testimony was omitted and to request that all testimony be included on the official records.
A videotaped copy of the LUC meeting recorded by Akaku Community Television, Inc was sent with the request. The intent of the MoPC to include this video is to assist the LUC in recreating the official meeting record.
At the first EIS hearing held May 2007 in Hilo, HI, all public testimony was recorded verbatim. At the Nov. 15-16 hearing only the commissioners and MPL attorneys were verbatim and “that does not give an accurate account of the meeting,” Vanderbilt said in a phone interview.
At the Nov. 16 hearing, MPL attorney Isaac Hall went on the defensive. “Many of the people involved have not read the document in the kind of depth that it needs to be read in.” The public was given less than two weeks to review the 3,000 plus-page final EIS.
“This is not justified in any case,” Vanderbilt said. “Public testimony is the guts of the meeting, why it should or should not be accepted.” The neglected opinions leave many wondering if it was a purposeful omission.