HomeMy WebLinkAboutComm No 0021.126 - Testimony - CA-7 - PONC fund and Maintenance fundCahara Stecher
6th grader
Volcano School of Arts and Sciences
Volcano, Hawaii 96785
February 5, 2019
Charter Commission
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Regarding: 2% Land Fund Program
Aloha Commissioners,
My name is Cahara Stecher, my parents are Hawi and Alessa
Stecher. I am a sixth grader at Volcano School of Arts and Sciences, I live
in Mountain View. I feel appreciative that I get to go to Kawa once a month.
When I am there, I learn to observe and get in touch with my surroundings,
I learn hard work and persistence. Kawa is important for us all: my
classmates, me, you, my community, and the whole world because all of us
know that countless happy memories were made there, and we are only
halfway to make Kawa an amazing place. Even though Kawa is already
beautiful, the wildlife, the people, the plants make it an amazing place.
Kawa is also important to the Hawaiians because Kawa is not a place for
golf courses, fancy hotels, swimming dolphins, Kawa is a place to find
anything that sustains you through the hardships of life.
At Kawa, we learn about all sorts of different plants, we pull invasive
plants out and we put in plants such as wiliwili, kou, kukui, niu coconut, and
naupaka. We learn to put rocks carefully around the plants so they are
protected. The people who teach us are from Na Mamo 0 Kawa, Kumu
James Akau, Kaui Felder, Duane Pua and Clarissa Pua. We work thinking
the trees we planted will grow big and strong. We work thinking that what
Comm. No. 21.126
we are doing today will affect us tomorrow and the next generations to
come after us. We love the land and would be glad to plant new plants,
learn new techniques, and embrace the future. Kawa is not just for me and
my class, it is for everybody to love. It is not the fake image of Hawai'i that
the ads say are true, it is not the fake image of a hotel, Kawa is the real
Hawai'i, a place that me and you love.
In 2006, 2010, and 2012, 63% of the voters in Hawaii approved the
land fund. Please use some of the money to buy Waikapuna, another
piece of true Hawai'i. Hawai'i is a unique place and found nowhere else in
the world, that means Hawai'i is full of beautiful places and things. We
don't want to destroy all of this and make room for hotels, we want these
locations to remain the pure and the true Hawai'i for all.
Kawa is so important to us all. We are always overjoyed to go there
and plant the beautiful native plants. Kawa is not the rough and bumpy
beach that you think it is, it is not the bug infested forest, it is not the really
dry place where you always need water, Kawa in not what you think it is.
Kawa is the place where much hard work was put into, Kawa is the place
where you go to have fun, Kawa is the place where you need to go for a
hard days work, Kawa is the place to go to with friends, and lastly, Kawa is
the place that is timeless, the place that you always remember, the place
you take your grandkids to, the place where you love. We love Kawa and
we would be glad if you kept the 2% Land Fund as it is.
Sincerely,
Cahara Stecher