No One on Molokai Succeeds Alone

Molokai High School seniors who received Kapa Curious scholarships, left to right, Kaʻehuiki Linker Meyers-Moss, Kailie Kaauwai, Chaystin Joao, Kahikikala Helm and Timika McLaurin.

By Keomailani Hanapi-Hirata

Molokai nui a Hina, our home where our Tutu still hangs her muʻumuʻu outside on clothes lines to dry and where our uncles can read the ocean like a map.

For our ocean loving ‘opio who wants to be a marine biologist because they learned to read the ocean from the uncles fishing down the wharf. Our charismatic ‘opio dreaming of becoming a teacher because they carry the voice of Aunty Mikiala Pescaia, who never lets a single oli and moʻolelo fade from memory. That young entrepreneur, that learned resilience watching their ‘ohana mālama the same taro patch for many generations.

No one on Molokai succeeds alone. Your dreams were born in the middle of an ʻohana dinner or perhaps at a luau with food cooked by Uncle PJ Augustiro, your dreams shaped while participating in Kaʻahele i Molokai walking from Hālawa to Kaluakoʻi, your dreams shaped as you cheered for your champions on the field at Ka Molokai Makahiki, your dreams shaped while helping neighbors clear storm debris before finishing your own homework, your dreams shaped at canoe practice with Uncle Kekama Helm. All of us here invest in you, our future. When we award a scholarship, we are honoring our entire islands circle.

On behalf of David and Kekai Daunhauer (Kapa Curious), Alapai and Mililani Hanapi, Kaiuwailani Oliveria (Kawainohia Collections), Aleʻa Heen (Rush Ko), Keo Hirata and Tapu Hanapi, we humbly awarded Scholarships to five seniors from Molokai High School; Kaʻehuiki Linker Meyers-Moss, Kahikikala Helm, Kailie Kaauwai, Chaystin Joao and Timika McLaurin.

As our ‘ohana continues our annual scholarship tradition of investing in our Molokai ‘opio, we remember why we humbly share our aloha with our future ‘opio. Our scholarship awards are not just an investment in their dreams; they are receiving a promise from their community. “We will mālama Molokai for you and we trust you will mālama Molokai for the next generation. Hold your aloha close, let it be the compass when the maps are redrawn, the anchor when the tides are uncertain, keep dreaming and do not be afraid to be curious.”