Hoʻokahe Wai Fellows
A community of practice for stream educators
Though we work with nearly 3,000 students per year in the Pālolo, Mānoa, and Makiki waters, there are quite a few factors limiting us from making a greater impact on student learning and streams health. In discussing the healthy growth of our program, we set out to address the following…
Finite calendar and staff capacity caps us at around 40 school partners per year and favors a breadth over depth of partnership. We want to deepen our partnerships without turning schools away.
Low bus inventory and a short window of daily time availability for buses to be used in field trip transport (roughly 8:30-11:30am) have severely hindered our ability to provide service to North Shore, Leeward, and Windward communities. This creates an equity and lack of access issue.
Busing students into town to support our own watershed monitoring and restoration efforts, may leave their own home streams unstewarded.
Limited number of individuals skilled in conducting in-stream monitoring with students that are legally permitted and scientifically sound.
Meet our fellows
Kanaloa Bishop - Punaluʻu Stream
Who are you representing on this journey? The community of Ko'olaupoko and Ko'olauloa… Stream lovers and protectors of wai, reef people, farmers.
Biggest challenge facing the stream and/or area you steward… Invasive species and erosion
Future vision of health for your stream and place… A stream packed with natives so that it is a food source, loʻi kalo and other food crops abundant, a fishpond at the mouth with ʻamaʻama and awa, a living reef heʻe and pākuʻikuʻi, people thriving.
Favorite quote, ʻōlelo no'eau, saying …. ua lawa mākou i ka pōhaku, ka ʻai kamahaʻo o ka ʻāina. — We are satisfied with the stones, the wondrous food of the land
What are you most looking forward to by participating in this Fellows Program? Making a positive impact on stream ecology and educating youth/community
Jon Watase -
Palolo Stream
Who are you representing on this journey? Saint Louis School and the community of Pālolo Valley. I’m a proud graduate of Saint Louis, and my ties to Pālolo run deep. Taking care and being a steward for this place means a lot!
Biggest challenge facing the stream and/or area you steward… The biggest challenge is the impact of people-whether through neglect, misuse, or lack of awareness.
Future vision of health for your stream and place… A vibrant learning space where community members come to restore the stream, grow food in a thriving food forest, and feed one another. A space of nourishment, education, and healing.
Favorite quote, ʻōlelo no'eau, saying …. he 'onipa'a ka 'oiā'i'o — Truth is not changeable.
What are you most looking forward to by participating in this Fellows Program? Working with great people!
Mele Ana Kastner - Kaʻaʻawa
Who are you representing on this journey? Kualoa Ranch and especially Kaʻaʻawa Krew.
Biggest challenge facing the stream and/or area you steward… Connectivity and invasive species.
Future vision of health for your stream and place… For Kaʻaʻawa Stream to be completely connected year-round to the sea and to see ʻōopu, hapawai, hihiwai, and ʻopae flourishing in the valley.
Favorite quote, ʻōlelo no'eau, saying …. He ʻaʻaliʻi ku makani mai au! ʻAʻohe ka makani nāna e kulaʻi. — I am wind resistant ʻaʻaliʻi; no gale can blow me over.
What are you most looking forward to by participating in this Fellows Program? To learn about hydrology and how to effectively restore riparian spaces.
Aolani Higgins - Kalihi
Who are you representing on this journey? Kalihilihi-o-Laumiha; Hoʻoulu ʻĀina is proud to be part of the Kalihi community because we reflect the strength, resilience, and aloha of the people who call this place home.
Biggest challenge facing the stream and/or area you steward… The stream is hard to access due to steep, slippery hillsides. Nearby ponds are accessed by many without knowledge or respect, leading to litter, erosion, and invasive species like bass and Samoan crab. Downstream, the area becomes very urban and industrial, causing increased trash and pollution.
Future vision of health for your stream and place… A thriving Kalihi where land, waters, and people are in balance; streams run clear and full, nourishing food forests with native species outnumbering invasives. A community deeply connected to ʻāina and each other, rooted in care and reciprocity, where traditional food systems thrive and generations steward the place with aloha.
Favorite quote, ʻōlelo no'eau, saying …. ʻO ka hā o ka ʻāina ke ola o ka poʻe — The breath of the land is the life of the people.
Heleleʻi ka pua ʻōhiʻa, A ʻula ka ʻoʻopu, Ola i ka wai — When the pua ʻōhiʻa rains, red are the ʻoʻopu; water thrives!
What are you most looking forward to by participating in this Fellows Program? Getting tools to safely lead keiki in stream work, learning native cycles to restore habitats and food sources, being part of a supportive collective, and learning techniques to work safely, correctly, and pono.
The name of this cohort is an excerpt from the phrase, “Hoʻokahe wai, hoʻoulu ʻāina”- when the water flows the land thrives – practical and metaphoric guidance spoken by the influential kalo farmer and healer, kupuna Harry Kunihi Mitchell to a small group of University of Hawaiʻi students in the 1980s who sought his expertise in their reclamation and restoration of a former terraced loʻi that had tragically become a neighborhood dumping site. The resulting Ka Papa Loʻi o Kānewai has now been stewarded by generations of students, teachers, and community members as a gathering place, an ancestral food hub, and a beacon of possibility for other young students who seek to heal problems they witness in their watershed. We hope calling upon Uncle Harry’s words and legacy will ground the cohort’s facilitators and fellows in seeking authentic connections to indigenous ways of knowing, teaching, and learning throughout the process and remind us all to answer the call to cultivate the passions of our eager students.