Honestly, I feel a little unprepared and scared because I never grew a plant before and don't even have a pet, so I'm not used to taking care of something else.. In a way, the time rushed up on me and I didn't realize that it was time to take our plant home already. Hopefully, I can pull it together so that my tomato plant can flourish. My plan for my tomato plant is leaving it outside so the sunlight can reach my plant. It's been raining a lot in Mililani so I don't plan on watering it too often. If the day is hot, then I will water my tomato plant when I go home. I plan on recording data and taking pictures of the growth at least every other day. I'm not entirely sure what I will be doing differently between my two plants yet. I may add fertilizer to one from my grandma. I hope that I will continue to stick to my plan and care for my plants so that they can grow successfully.
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Before going out to find only locally sourced food to eat this weekend, I did some research. As expected, there aren't a lot of places that sell only locally sourced dishes or food in general. I know that Down to Earth, Whole Foods, and ʻAi Love Nalo would have some options, but they were all difficult to find or drive to. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to go to any of these places because I was on campus for a retreat. I know I should've tried harder to make it a part of my schedule, and I regret not doing it. I know that locally sourced food would've been a better and smarter option because of the nutrients that are taken away in processed foods. It also could've helped to support local stores and farms that work hard to farm food here in Hawaiʻi.
Last class, we took a field trip to the College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources in Waimānalo that does research for UH Mānoa. I really enjoyed the fact that we were able to learn about food resources as well as get our hands a little dirty and help out. Uncle taught us about how their organic farm goes through the requirements and procedures to be one. He also taught us about the different kinds of kalo and how you can identify them by just looking at their leaves. What I found really interesting is that the uncle that was helping us actually majored in Chemistry and chose to use his degree working in a hands on environment than in a lab. I think it's a great reminder that you can use your degree in multiple ways and follow your passions instead of succumbing to a life in an office or lab. The whole experience was very humbling because it reminded me that even though our heads are focused towards school and college, we need to give back to the land that gives us so much in order to survive and thrive.
Throughout this quarter, I learned a lot of life lessons. First off, we learned what mālama honua means and how it applies to the world we live in today. We learned about being a "Hawaiian scientist" and using knowledge from our ancestors as a guide for technology today and in the future. We also learned about the history of our campus, our ahupuaʻa, and specific locations in Kapālama like Mokauea. Although we weren't able to go, it helped me to realize how ignorant I've been towards Kapālama, especially since I've gone to school here for the past 12 years. As Hurricane Lane passed on through, we were tasked with observing everything around us from somewhere we normally spend time at but don't take the time to notice. We also spent time in the mala to make do simple tasks like pull weeds, water the plants, and work on the aquaponics system to not only help the garden overall, but also spend time giving back to the ʻāina that supplies so much for us. I really liked learning more about our own wahi pana because it was a strong reminder of how important one's sense of place should be.
One of the major takeaways I've gained from all of these experiences is that I need to be more aware and care more. I take so many things for granted--this beautiful campus--and don't realize the beauty I'm missing. I still don't know it as I should, care for it as I should, or love it as I should, and I've realized that I can be everything I hate about our generation: so focused on our own things that we're unable to see the bigger picture. I'm promising to myself now that I will do better in the second quarter. Another takeaway I've gained so far is the fact that we have to start caring more about our future; not only our future, but our children's children's children's future. We need to start looking at what we're doing now and fixing or improving those things so that we can improve the future. This reading really hit me deep. It opened my eyes to my own ignorance and even though I know there is so much about my actions that could change, it was very thought-provoking. I really liked the opening sentence. It shows how we are mindlessly trudging through life without looking at the small but very important things around us, which is very true. We live in a day and age where we are so wrapped up in our own business that we forget about everything else, even everyone else.
On our field trip to Mokauea, I hope to learn more about our ahupuaʻa of Kapālama. I also want to experience a part of Hawaiʻi that I've never really thought about, Mokauea. To be honest, I never learned about the Hawaiian name before "Sand Island", nor did I learn the history behind it and I loved hearing more about it in class. Even though I've been going to this school for the past twelve years and counting, I never took the time to learn about other places in our ahupuaʻa, and neither have our teachers. I think that since our ancestors knew it was important that an ahupuaʻa was from mauka to makai, we have to learn more about the makai in Kapālama. I think it will be a very fun experience considering we spend most of our time up on the hill.
A Hawaiian scientist is someone who can take the Hawaiian culture and incorporate it into modern science and beliefs. It's a perfect balance of both aspects and using the past as a guide to move into the future. Ancient Hawaiians were some of the best scientists because they paid attention to the small details around them. They didn't need modern technology to know what moon phase it was or how to sail across the ocean. Hawaiians were observant scientists and defied all odds to have the amount of knowledge about the world around them.
The whole experience of Hurricane Lane was very stressful. As we have never really faced a natural disaster here on Oʻahu, we didn't really know what to expect. A lot of families were last-minute scrambling for supplies in case the storm hit hard for a long time. Looking back at it, I'm very glad the hurricane died down and didn't hit us with full affect, or really any affect.
Although hurricane Lane never quite hit Oʻahu as strongly as we thought it would, there was still a lot of damage done on other islands. I'm glad the weather on Oʻahu didn't change much. I live in Mililani, and if I'm being completely honest, the weather wasn't too out of the ordinary. The skies were a light gray color. It was overcast and the sky was filled with Nimbostratus clouds. The wind was a little stronger than normal and felt like 15-20 mph. There was also on-and-off periods of rain, where it wasn't quite raining or drizzling, but somewhere in the middle. To be honest, the best part of waiting for the hurricane to hit, was seeing the beautiful sunsets the offset of blue in the clouds created. Mālama Honua means "to take care of the land or earth", and that is exactly what I intend to do. To me, it means giving back to the land that gives us so much. Even though we don’t realize it, we use the land for absolutely everything and without it we would be nothing. We live in a day and age where people are so eager to enhance technology, that we don't realize how much it is affecting the environment. I can see the physical strain humans are inflicting upon the environment and I want to be one of the people that step up to implement change. I don’t want to stop technological advances, but I do want to find smarter ways to create modern technology. The thing is in order to move forward, we have to look to the past. And I believe the greatest example of caring for the land is looking back at our ancestors, who figured out a way to live in harmony with the land instead of in constant conflict with it. So, I think mālama honua is the basis for a new world.
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AuthorKaulana Kanno is a Kamehameha student that wants to share her journey in Mālama Honua with others so they can learn and incorporate similar activities in their own lives. Archives
November 2018
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