Trojans Flying Off To Malama Kaho’olawe

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A trip to Kaho’olawe this week for 13 Mililani High School seniors should be an experience they’ll not soon forget.

As members of the school’s service-learning group, Hui Malama O Mililani, they leave Thursday and will stay until Monday (May 25) accompanied by social studies teacher Amy Perruso and Sandy Webb, who coordinates the MHS Science and Technology Learning Center, and two other adults.

“We work with Protect Kaho’olawe Ohana, a citizens organization, and we go over there to work on erosion prevention and so on,” explained Perruso. “It’s (Hui Malama O Mililani) to develop student leadership on campus around environmental issues. We do different projects throughout the year, and throughout their four years the students develop more skills. They spend their senior year preparing for the Kaho’olawe trip, learning about the history of the island.”

The island, which shares an underwater land bridge with Maui, was used until 1990 by the military for target practice, which had a devastating impact on its ecology. PKO is in charge of recruiting groups and individual volunteers to help with restoration work. Schools can apply through PKO to join the effort.

“We feel very lucky to be able to go,” added Webb. “This year we’re going with Aiea Intermediate School. Our group is very diverse, as we have students from all ethnic backgrounds.”

Students from a Molokai school will join the two Oahu groups on this trip. Together, they will wake up, watch the sunrise over Haleakala, share meals cooked in their homemade tarp kitchen and do whatever work is assigned to them by PKO volunteers - from moving rocks to planting grass and restoring cultural sites. Webb, who has made the trip before, recalled that each day also includes lots of talk, and someone will bring along an ukulele, so there’s always plenty of fun, too.

“Kaho’olawe is one of the ultimate challenges on how to solve a problem,” she said of the sacred place. “We are bringing Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian students; we also think it’s for anyone who wants to help.

“There’s also a spiritual healing that needs to be done. It’s all about respecting the practices of the people who have been here the longest. So much work goes into it, and when you see these kids and the kind of people they are, I just think that they’re amazing and that they’re an untapped resource.”

To prepare for the trip, the seniors performed environmental projects at Malaekahana, Pouhala Marsh and Ka`ala Farms Cultural Learning Center. They studied Hawaiian history and culture intensely and sharpened their scientific knowledge.

They also learned several chants, which they must recite in order to set foot on the island, Webb said. “We’ve also learned more so that we have something to offer. The kids are learning about what oli is all about.”

The mission of the MHS Science and Technology Learning Center is to get kids to meet and exceed standards at the same time they contribute to the community. The center hosts student science fairs, focuses on science investigation and more.