Some Healing Women Offer Help To Teens
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Del.icio.usNa Wahine Council has decided that it’s time to act and fight substance abuse - whether it be within each member’s ohana, community or their own lives.
The group was established about three years ago in Waimanalo by seven women (ages 17 to 29) who all have struggled with drugs and violence at some point. They also launch an out-reach program March 30 for teenage girls to promote healthy development, clean lifestyles and affirm cultural identities.
Co-founder Oriana Coleman couldn’t be more excited to get it off the ground.
“It’s still in the early stages,” she said. “We’re working on structuring a curriculum for the girls, and for the time being we are doing community service through Girl Circle, a mainland curriculum that two of us (co-founders) are certified to teach.”
Na Wahine’s mission is to make Waimanalo a healthier and safer place for each generation of young women. “We try to take care of emotional wounds and be strong for our women,” she explained.“It’s just a place where adolescents and teens can come to express and share things so they don’t seek out other negative outlets.”
The group is all-inclusive and welcomes women from all backgrounds and cultures.
“We want to raise our youths to be self-sustaining and strong, and we want to perpetuate that in our community. We try to use our experiences - no matter how hard, traumatic or tragic - to educate these girls and use it toward the betterment of the generations to come.
“Whatever you’re missing in your heart, we can fill it.”
Na Wahine Council meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second and last Monday of each month at Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center’s Waimanalo satellite unit. The girls’ group is an eight-week program that will meet at 5 p.m. Wednesdays at Waimanalo Health Center. Both programs are free and open to the public.
For more information, call Coleman at 428-8262 or Sherice Naeole at 366-0205.
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