What is the role of empathy and curiosity in our work and lives? Aunty was great at inspiring both in her circles and questions. In the story of Poha and Popo, Popo is trying to entertain grandson Poha while on a walk, but doesn’t realize that he can’t see what she sees. After several attempts to point out the view, she lifts him up out of his stroller so they finally can see the same thing, and they both look at the cows together and they laugh.
I appreciate how Aunty had the knack of turning a simple story into a powerful life lesson. I don’t know that I have any powerful life lessons to share today, however, we had the experience this past weekend of participating in the Keiki Fest on Molokai. This is an event put on by the Community Action Team. A handful of partner organizations from my work came over to volunteer as well, and we had such a wonderful time at the event. Everything at Keiki Fest is designed to show the kids that they are loved and special. A program throughout the day included entertaining emcees such as Tony from The Braddahs and great local talent, live music, watermelon eating contests, dozens of service provider booths, and a passport to get filled out. The showing out of the community and the close ties amongst folks was evident throughout the funny and uplifting program.
This event also includes safety education with our partner Molokai Child Abuse Prevention Pathways as the last passport stop before keiki get to choose their own toy. This year the event was outdoors for the first time, with a main tent where folks could relax and escape the heat. Later in the day, the fire department came and did a “wet down” with their giant tanker truck, and kids and adults alike delighted in basically a giant sprinkler of water from two hoses held by the firefighters. The scene was pure joy.
Putting on an event on Molokai takes commitment because you can’t just go to the store to get all the things you need. On a rural island, it takes resourcefulness, planning, and a ton of logistics to pull off something like this. It makes you appreciate the little things and the big thing even more, for instance having melons for the watermelon eating contest (they were bought and shipped over via Kamaka Air) having bountiful toys as prizes for the keiki (the team flew to O‘ahu during sales season and stocked up on prizes for all ages) and all the other little touches that make an event like this special. Additionally, there’s a spirit, an aloha and a connectedness amongst folks that you can’t experience just anywhere, and that makes all the logistical acrobatics possible.
One of our colleagues who volunteered with us had a happy and emotional homecoming, as he lived on Molokai during a pivotal time of his life and hasn’t been back in a couple of years. Home always calls, and witnessing him visit his special places and encountering people that he knew during that time of his life, it was a gift to see through his eyes how that shaped him into the person he is today, someone who does so much for community.
I often think of what it means to be from somewhere, especially in Hawai‘i, where our culture ties us to the places of our ancestors. Even if we struggle, we potentially have the privilege of knowing and reknowing, experiencing and re-experiencing, rebuilding our relationships to our land, our people, and our identity, past, present and future.
Here’s a poem from Aunty Pua that she often shared to ground Guts on the Table, it’s called “I Come from a Place” by her dear friend Aunty Ho‘oipo DeCambra. Although it’s about the west side of O‘ahu, it reminds me of our time on Molokai.
Aunty Pua and Aunty Ho‘oipo are part of a generation that fought and sacrificed so much in order to for us to be where we are today. While we still have far to go, we may never truly understand or know what they and those before them went through so we could enjoy many of the Hawaiian kine things we think of as common today. This continues on with our future ancestors, like the amazing aunties and uncles who put on Keiki Fest and work tirelessly to make Molokai a safe place for children and families.
What would you write about the place and the time that you come from, and who we are (becoming) in this moment? Who are the heroes, friends, and places that would populate your poem?
I COME FROM A PLACE
Ho`oipo DeCambraI come from a place
Where pale golden fields
And sharp mountains
Surround a halau,
A halau crying to be recreated
For po`e Hawai`i.I come from a place
Where menehune trails
Are silhouetted
Against the horizon’s colors
Of blue, green and silvery gray.I come from a place
Where black lava rocks
Melted together over time
Embrace the coastline,
While ehu colored limu
Cling to the deepest recesses
Close to the ocean’s bosom.I come from a place
Where people love old cars
They like fixing them
And making them well
And the challenge
Of getting to town and back
Just one more time.I come from a place where people
Are satisfied
With the bare minimum
Income
And living conditions.I come from a place
Where Puanani dreams mouse poems
And a kukui nut leaf mirrors her beauty,
And Diane remembers seeing
Lono calling the rain
And Robbie is willing to say,
Kaneaki Heiau is our sacred site.I come from a place
Where Dr. Fred Dodge dreams
and works for Makua
to be given back to the Po`e Hawai`i
and Isabel swims in front of
Rest Camp, and dreams of a soon to be
The greatest Marine Science School for our kids.I come from a place
Where it is dark
And Kamaka teaches us about
The light in the heavens
And dolphins dance on water for your birthday.April 1986
I hope this week you have the experience of seeing another and being seen yourself, and having big belly laughs of joy and wonder, like being drenched by cold water on a sweltering spring day.
Mahalo,
Dawn
Halawa Valley, Molokai taken 4/24/25