HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0349.558 2006-2008 Swallow, Linda
From: mcma0159@d.umn.edu
Sent: Saturday, June 16, 2007 7:43 AM
To: counciltestimony@co. hawaii. hi. us
Cc: mcma0159@d.umn.edu
Subject: McMahon, 6/16/07 = Punalu'u
I am writing in support of Resolution 169-07.
My name is Megan McMahon. I live in Minnesota, and recently visited Hawaii for the first
time in May. I came as part of a 2 1/2 week-long class offered through the Oniversity of
Minnesota-Duluth. When I boarded the plane to Hawaii with 25 other students and our
Professor Mike Sunnafran k, and his wife Donna- they were all strangers to me.
All of the people we encountered in kiawaii were strangers to me at first as well. But then
we came to the Big Island and spent time in Ka'u and Punalu'u and Pahala and my life was
_`orever changed. I saw a different life than what I have at home in the big city in
Minnesota.
I saw generous, caring people who valued the simple things in life- hunting and fishing
for their food, taking care of their families and sharing music and laughs with friends.
Developing Punalu'u or any of the area within miles of there, would ultimately ruin these
people and destroy their culture. They would not be able to continue fishing and hurting,
or sharing music and stories with their friends at the Beach Pavilion at Punalu'u.
Students, such as myself, would no longer be able to come to Hawaii to take Intercultural
Communication classes and form friendships with local people and learn about their customs
and lives. If they did attempt to still come, it would be hard for many of them to afford
it, as the local economy changes, and none of them would ever be fortunate enough as my
peers and I were, to get a true grasp at local Hawaiian life in the area. They would be
experiencing the same things they could experience at home, at the resorts on the North
Shore of Lake Superior. The entire point of learning a different culture and seeing new
places and new faces would ultimately be lost.
Please don't take this one-of-a-kind experience away from other students. And more
importantly, please don't take away the customs and happy lives of my Hawaiian friends. I
would not know what true generosity and loyalty were if it wasn't for them. They are Hart
of a dying breed of genuine, truly good human beings. When I boarded the plane to leave
Hawaii, I left with tears in my eyes and a full understanding of the true meaning of
"Ghana". And it's all because of the people, of Ka'u and Punalu'u and Pahala. None of these
people are strangers anymore- they are my family. Please take good care of them, as they
have done for me.
Sincerely,
Megan
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