Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021 Pohaha I Ka Lani Final Report_Waipio Valley Lookout, Hamakua TMK No.: (3) 4-8-004:006 Pōhāhā I Ka Lani PONC Stewardship Grant 12 Month Report January – December 2021 Stewardship Expenses In 2021 Covered By Jesse & Kūlia Potter PŌHĀHĀ I KA LANI P.O. BOX 412 KURTISTOWN, HI 96760 Website: www.pohahaikalani.com Email: pohahaikalani@gmail.com CONTACT PERSON: Kūlia Kauhi Tolentino-Potter, President Phone: Mobile (808) 937-4243 Email: kauhikoa21@gmail.com TO: County of Hawaiʻi Parks & Recreation Department CC: Department of Finance, Property Management Division Maikaʻi Waipiʻo (Beautiful Waipiʻo) - Princess Miriam Likelike Maikaʻi Waipiʻo Beautiful Waipiʻo Alo lua i nā pali With cliffs facing each other E pōʻai a puni ana Surrounded by cliffs A hapa naʻe makai With an opening toward the sea Hui: Chorus: Maʻemaʻe ka pua Beautiful are the blossoms I ka holo aʻe a ka wai Rain-washed Ua ʻenaʻena i ka lā. Sun warmed and Mōhala i nā pali. Blooming on the cliffs Hoihoi ka piʻina Delightful the ascent ʻO Koaʻekea Koaʻekea Piʻi nō a hoʻomaha An ascent that takes one to rest I Ka Holokūaīwa At Kaholokūaīwa PONC STEWARDSHIP GRANT January – December 2021 Waipiʻo Valley Lookout Parcel, TMK: 4-8-04:06 12 Month Report (No Grant Awarded in 2021) Introduction: Maikaʻi Waipiʻo is a mele written by Princess Miriam Likelike in which she describes Waipiʻo Valley and speaks of the land section of Koaʻekea. The PONC Parcel TMK: 4-8-04:06 at Waipiʻo Valley Lookout area is part of the land section called Koaʻekea as it continues on as the pali (cliffs) that one can see while in Waipiʻo Valley. According to a famous moʻolelo (legend), Koaʻekea was a chief and his wife was named Kaholokūaīwa. She is also featured in the Maika’i Waipi’o mele. Kaholokūaīwa is the name of the pali located next to the area called Koaʻekea. According to the moʻolelo, the couple had three children, two sons named Hiʻilawe and Makanikeoe and a daughter named Laukaʻieʻie. The additional land sections we currently steward from Bishop Museum and Kamehameha Schools are all locations associated as being the homes for this particular family. As being the last parcel one sees while entering the sacred Waipiʻo Valley, we felt it is important to continue to steward this sacred space even though 2020ʻs PONC Grants were not awarded for any of the PONC sites (during 2021). We needed to utilize our family’s personal funds to cover expenses we faced in 2021 to care for Koaʻekea. In addition, we found ourselves needing to volunteer larger amount of hours to upkeep the area, hosting workshops and mālama ʻāina days. It hasnʻt been easy as we needed to cover costs throughout our stewardship (2016 – present) as a family when PONC funds couldnʻt cover certain expenses but it was needed to care for the parcel in addition to covering expenses each time the awards were late. We are currently waiting on 2020ʻs PONC grant to be awarded. PONC awards are currently (2) two years behind. With this, it will allow one to realize how much personal funds was needed from our family to cover expenses as we continue to steward this parcel throughout these years. With grant awards being late, it was our family needing to cover costs to hire people to provide assistance with weed eating, mowing, hand weeding gardens, digging up clumps of grass, helping to cut bamboo and prepare the bamboo for fencing etc. The area has seen a lot of progress in 2021 as we were able to care for the established gardens, replaced the bamboo fencing, dug out large sections of guinea grass clumps, in addition to hosting many opportunities for people to attend workshops and mālama ʻāina days. We are still finding large metal items and trash that had been buried on the site. Since we are not allowed to take trailer loads of trash to the rubbish dump (starting this year, per County of Hawai’i rules) we needed to fit as much of the trash in our truck to haul out. Assistance with this would be greatly appreciated. The pig problem at the site is really bad so we have lost our kalo, lots of the sugarcane, ʻōhiʻa trees and the base of the ulu trees have been girdled. When funding for 2020 arrives, we plan to put in better fencing as the bamboo fencing is not keeping pigs out. Due to Covid-19, our programs continue to keep up with mandates to ensure all will be safe. We continue to work with many local volunteers in addition to hosting visitors to help care for this sacred site. Items are sanitized to help keep all safe. We have been using masks when hosting groups at the site as during our communication with each group of volunteers, we go over our safety protocols that we have in place. Background: As an organization whose founder has genealogical and deep cultural ties to Waipiʻo Valley, the stewardship of Koaʻekea (Waipiʻo Valley Lookout PONC parcel) is a significant kuleana and blessing. When hosting families/groups/individuals, Pōhāhā I Ka Lani shares the mo’olelo of Koa’ekea to give the area honor of being called the traditional cultural place name of Koaʻekea instead of Waipi’o Valley Lookout area. Koaʻekea is considered a traditional Hawaiian land section known as ʻili, which is a smaller land section within the larger ahupuaʻa, or land division from mountain to sea. Koaʻekea is also a type of bird (indigenous white-tailed tropic bird, Phaethon lepturus dorotheae) that frequents the area. Koaʻekea is also famous for being the ʻili that aliʻi kaulana (famous chief) ʻUmi-a-Līloa entered into Waipiʻo Valley when returning as a man to eventually conquer the valley from his cruel brother Hākau. Koaʻekea signifies an entry point into he manawa pono (a pono time) for Waipiʻo Valley in that time. Pōhāhā I Ka Lani believes that the revitalization of this ʻāina of Koaʻekea will be the beginning of a new manawa pono for Waipiʻo Valley. Summary of Progress Throughout 2021, we were under the impression that the 2020 award would come in so we continued to work hard to volunteer so areas would not become overgrown. We used personal funds during January – March 2021 to care for the site as we were under the impression the grant would start in March 2021. We had no idea that our family would be left with covering expenses for an entire year of stewarding the site in addition to volunteering so many hours to care for the site. During a time when most people were staying home, we were at Koa’ekea volunteering to host many groups (visitors and locals). Throughout the year, we continued with our programs and covering expenses and remained hopeful that the 2020 grant would begin as we were hopeful to be able to hire individuals on a regular basis to help upkeep the area especially when we weren’t able to host volunteer groups. In addition to stewarding land parcels, we helped families throughout the island with ensuring they had food, needed home essential items, assistance with home gardens and doing our best to teach families about lāʻau lapaʻau. We offered classes, workshops, and mālama ʻāina days each week to ensure there were opportunities for individuals in a positive and safe setting. Additional Safety Precautions Due To Covid-19: We hired additional help to host groups to allow individuals to be placed in smaller groups to ensure we do our part to keep all safe. Meals and snacks were individually wrapped vs buffet style. Participants kept their gloves after using the gloves we provided. We offered masks to participants and we included social distancing. We sanitized tools, tables, benches, chairs and other items that participants came into contact with. Obstacles that were faced: Safety was a major concern especially when the cases of Covid-19 continued to rise. Coordinating with group leaders took a little more effort to ensure all safety precautions were in place upon arrival to the site and throughout the time period volunteers were with us. We were grateful that teachers were being allowed to bring classes to Koaʻekea to come and learn and to help out. Group hostings were different as it was difficult to work with a mask on or even try to share moʻolelo or chants/protocol. Additional costs as we needed to hire additional support for group hostings as we needed to keep group sizes small. Some days we hired 3 individuals to help lead groups of volunteers and additional costs were added as we also needed help with sanitizing items after groups left. Some days we were paying out $600 - $660 (per day) to cover the cost of hiring individuals for assistance. Theft in the area continued. Someone stole the solar panels for the gate near the kiosk and we havenʻt had the funding to replace it. So each time to open the gate, one would need to manually slide the gate open. Nothing is secure in the area with a broken gate as anyone can just slide the gate open. Our large white heavy duty tent was stolen along with all the tables we had at Koaʻekea. Since we have no place to store our tools or supplies, so many items are stolen off of the property. It has been tough needing to constantly replace tools and supplies. Mālama ʻĀina Days v Pōhāhā I Ka Lani volunteer stewardship workdays ➢ Pōhāhā I Ka Lani members volunteer work to conduct site stewardship work and oversee hired contractors doing site work. ▪ Site stewardship work includes mowing grass, weed whacking, large weed maintenance (Guinea grass & white shrimp plants are bladed), weeding of gardens & cleared areas, picking-up trash, miscellaneous tree work, sanitizing tools and other items used during group hosting. ▪ Contractor oversight includes on-site coordination of contractor work for accurate & safe completion. ➢ Over 2,800 volunteer hours was needed by Pōhāhā I Ka Lani for coordination, planning, site work, group hosting, documenting progress and reports. ▪ Pōhāhā I Ka Lani volunteer hours and expenses covered by Jesse and Kūlia Potter included for the year of 2021:  Volunteered to repair or do maintenance for equipment. When equipment needed to go into a shop for repairs or maintenance, we needed to cover expenses. We also needed to cover expenses that involved buying certain parts to repair equipment.  Purchasing of fuel and oil for mowers, chainsaws, weed eaters, generator and transportation.  Purchased supplies to maintain property. Since tools were stolen from Koaʻekea, we needed to buy new tools. Purchasing large amounts of gloves as part of our safety protocol, participants keep the gloves that we provide. In the past, we would have washed gloves and reuse them. Purchasing of face masks, wipes and other PPE to ensure all will be safe.  Assure safety of acquired equipment and supplies.  Inventory and assess current native plants. Clean up and try to save plants/trees after pigs come through.  Plant propagated plants based on Revegetation Plan.  Assess and inventory invasive species remaining on property.  Sponsor regular community workdays to reduce invasive species  Purchasing of plants to replace plants/trees that the pigs had eaten or destroyed.  Purchasing of food, snacks, drinks and other supplies that is needed to feed volunteers as many have given so much volunteers hours to care for Koaʻekea.  Communicate with schools, organizations, families, and visitors who are planning to participate in our mālama ʻāina days, workshops and/or classes. Update our Safety Plans as needed to keep all safe.  Implement Educational Plan including ongoing classes and workshops.  Cover costs to hire people to sanitize tools and other items that are utilized during mālama ʻāina days. Cover costs of the cleaning supplies.  Cover costs to hire people to help with hosting groups to allow group sizes to be smaller to ensure safety for all. Some days we have 3 people coming in to help with hosting of groups.  Cover costs to hire people to hand weed gardens, cutting of bamboo, preparing bamboo for fencing, helping to complete bamboo fencing, blading tall grass, weed eating shorter grass, mowing (most of the time we volunteered to mow grass to keep costs down).  Plan and coordinate gatherings and events.  Train individuals who we are hiring to help host groups (to allow group sizes to be smaller).  Advertise gatherings and events via social media/emails  Host gatherings and events.  Coordinate and oversee independent contractors work on site.  Ensure safety protocols are in place and followed.  Record keeping of groups we hosted, photos, keeping receipts on file/spreadsheet of expenses, complete mid report and final report.  Covering costs to haul green waste, hauling trash to Honoka’a rubbish dump.  Rental of chipper to help chip bamboo and smaller invasive trees on site. ➢ Covering Indirect Costs ▪ Liability Insurance ▪ Accounting Services ▪ Office Expenses ▪ Website Fees ▪ Office Utilities ▪ Vehicle Expenses & Fees ▪ Bank Fees Mālama ʻĀina Days Below: This group of volunteers are from other food hubs on this island. We donated plants and trees from our home, our farm in Waipi’o Valley and Koa’ekea in which were taken and planted in other hub gardens throughout the island. 10 9 individuals volunteered their time to clean this section. Above: The section where the banana clump is growing, on the upper left of this photo is where the hub members cleared. It may look like a small section but if you refer back to the previous pictures, you will see what it took to clear out the area. I am hopeful that it shows what it takes to upkeep the gardens at Koa’ekea especially since we don’t have constant hired help to upkeep the gardens. The bottom photo also shows hub members cleaning the banans to ensure they won’t be taking any unwanted pests (if any) with them to their hub gardens. 11 Many baby ulu trees in which we are preparing to be donated to many families. This is what it takes to be a volunteer during these times. These kūpuna came forward to help with our ulu tree program as we are doing our best to continue donating many trees, plants and cuttings to families. 12 This group made up of mostly kūpuna came together to help mālama and ensure that we are able to continue to donate many baby ulu trees. 13 Grateful that so many visitors were willing to volunteer at Koaʻekea (helping and learning). The positive feedback we received from each person was overwhelming as they contributed to being a positive impact on our island while connecting and learning so much. Much of the volunteers that we received during the summer of 2021 were visitors who chose to help out during a time when there was so much uncertainty. 14 This particular group of volunteers helped with weeding, mulching plants and helped with the bamboo fencing. With each group, we share the moʻolelo (stories/legends) of Wapiʻo Valley and surrounding areas, we share about plant uses, the history of the valley and with this particular group, they learned how to do lashings for bamboo fencing. 15 This group of visitors volunteered to help weed the location next to where the hub members had weeded out prior. Our local leaders showed the visitors how we mulch using old banana trees. 16 They were able to clear a large section in the front gardens. Grateful that these visitors chose to help with caring for the ʻāina during their time on island. 17 We contracted individuals to help us cut, prepare the bamboo prior hauling away the old bamboo, and finishing sections that volunteers weren’t able to do. 18 Progress of the bamboo fencing. 19 This group of volunteers helped with doing this section of the bamboo fencing. We contracted community members to help finish the remaining section of the bamboo fencing. 20 Ka’iana teaching how to clean bananas trees to ensure pests (if any) are removed before removing it from the property. On this particular day, we donated different varieties of bananas to Men of PA’A. 21 Community members coming out to help clean different varieties of bananas to ensure no pests are given to those receiving banana pulapula. We gifted community members banana pulapula to grow in their own home gardens. Teaching them this process so when it is their time to share with others, they will know how to clean pulapula so the cycle will continue. 22 Visitors came to learn and give a day of volunteering to clear the hillside of wedelia. 23 Volunteers still spending time in this particular location. There’s layers of weeds that need to be removed from this particular area. 24 Local group leaders also assisted in hauling away trash. Some of the hired help assisted with using large trucks (that were rented) to haul to Waimea’s Green Waste. 25 These volunteers helped to mālama ʻāina and also helped us with distributng of food boxes and bags to our community members. Families drive in through one gate and exit from the other gate. 26 Mele drives from Kohala each week with her baby to volunteer at Koa’ekea and to help us distribute food to families. She also helps us with delivering food to families in Kohala and Waimea. The amount of help we continue to receive is overwhelming. Many people coming forth to help keep families in different districts fed. Really appreciate volunteers such as Mele. 27 As families drive through Koaʻekea, volunteers load produce boxes and bags of food in the trunks of their vehicles. 28 Really grateful that we were awarded 4 Kupu teams throughout the summer. This particular crew continued to work on the area that so many other volunteers had worked on. It takes so much effort to care for Koa’ekea as in addition to the weeds, we are still finding trash. Large metal objects continue to dug out while weeding the area. 29 Grateful that schools such as Kamehameha Schools were able to come and learn about Waipi’o Valley and assist with tending to one of our front gardens at Koa’ekea. Schools such as Waimea PCS also came to Koa’ekea to hear mo’olelo of the area and we were asked to assist with one of their projects. 30 We were able to harvest and dry a large amount of Mamaki and Ko’oko’olau from our farm to be added to food donations given to families. We also donated large bags of Spinach, taro, taro leaf that were also harvested from our farm in Waipi’o Valley. Some weeks we include ‘awa, ‘olena salves in addition to different oils to assist families with having items that can further help them. Some weeks we are able to add bananas that we grew at Koa’ekea to food boxes made that are donated to many families. 31 Grateful that this group of youth were willing to dig out large clumps of grass. 32 This section was cleared out by a few large groups that came throughout this particular week. Unfortunately we can no longer take trailers to the dump to take this to the green waste so we covered this pile of weeds with large weed mats. The weed mats on the pile were taken so the clumps of grass grew back within the mulch pile. We need to work on this section again. 33 34 35 This particular Kupu team spent their time helping to care for this section of the gardens. We needed to clean up the mess that the pigs were leaving behind after they ate most of the tall portions of the sugar cane that was growing in the area. 36 This Kupu team spent their time tending to this garden next to the Waipi’o Valley road. When we started our stewardship at Koa’ekea, this area was overgrown with tall clumps of grass. We removed the clumps, placed weed mats over and eventually planted beneficial plants to clean the soil. We then added a wide range of plants in the area focusing on adding sweet smelling flowers so that as people walking or driving by, would smell the different flowers that were blooming. We also added many hula plants to this garden. 37 So many have come forward to help mālama Koaʻekea. Feeding volunteers and for those who come often to volunteer, we provide honorariums to them as we understant the hard work it takes to care for this area. We have no structure to provide shade from the sun (when needed), no water to wash up or water plants but people see the need to come forward to do what is needed. 38 This group of volunteers helped with tending to the area located in the back of the property. 39 This groups of volunteers spent their time helping to care for the back portion of the property. 40 Grateful the Allie Atkins was able to offer a Plant Workshop in which she taught how to farm according to the moon phases, she taught participants how to grow plants from cuttings and we sent home participants with plants to add to their home gardens. 41 Grateful that we were able to have our family member, Ilima Macfarlane come and teach self defense to women. 42 UHH and HCC students come each month to help us mālama the many differnet gardens we are caring for. In previous pictures, it shows how this garden was cared for but weeds grow back so quickly. 43 This grop helped to mālama one of the front gardens and mulched that particular garden. 44 Ava Fujimoto-Strait and her husband John Strait brought their students from Sam Houston State University to come and help tend to the gardens at Koa’ekea. Ava’s grandfather worked to help manage the flumes for the Hāmākua Sugar Plantation in Kukuihaele. They have been working with us throughout the years and does their best to come twice a year. 45 Hereʻs a picture showing one of the front gardens after it was weeded by Ava and Johnʻs students. We were growing Piko varieties of kalo in this location but the pigs had eaten the kalo and we werenʻt able to save any of the kalo to replant. 46 We did our best to save some of the sugarcane as the pigs have been eating the sugarcane growing on the property as well. For the stairs in this photo, we have to hand weed each step. Above: Hereʻs a photo of the front gardens after it was weeded in the ending part of December 2021. 47 On this particular day, we focused on weeding out an area that we were growing the kalo that we could save after pigs came through. Someone had cut the wires that were securing the panels and they pulled the panels away from the fence post. Through this action, we are figuring that they either stole our kalo or that was how pigs were able to get into the fence area and eat the kalo. The person/people also cut a section of the fence out which was a bit odd. 48 Below: Our volunteers need to hand carry weeds to the back of the property. The fibers from the guinea grass is a bit challenging as it is uncomfortable on the body. We have no water on site to wash off the fibers so we along with our volunteers need to just deal with the feeling of having fiber glass on our body. Our wheel barrows broke as we have no covering to put it in so it got rusted and wooden handles broke. We are hopeful for better volunteering conditions. 49 Grateful that these students were willing to volunteer with us while visiting Hawaiʻi. The group collectively put in 72 hours to help weed the gardens at Koaʻekea. With each group we noramlly put in a minimum of 4 hours. Some groups volunteer for 6-8 hours per day.