Ankle deep in mud, about 110 BYU–Hawaii students gathered in Kahana Valley to serve for the BYUH Service Center’s Hawaiiana Day. Some of the volunteers said Hawaiiana Day was not only a day to be ambassadors for the school, but also an opportunity to connect to Hawaiian culture.
Lindsay Johnson, a freshman from Maryland majoring in peacebuilding, admitted it was hard to wake up early and come volunteer but after helping, her perspective changed.
"In my peacebuilding class, I learned the land is a sacred place and just walking up the mountain at Kahana Valley, and through the stream, you could feel the sacredness of the land and the respect the Hawaiian people give their land because of how they take care of it,” said johnson.
Johnson said beyond the benefits of feeling immersed in Hawaiian culture, students were connecting the school to the community.
“It helps bridge the gap between the community members and BYUH students. It is our way of giving back to the land as part of having our school here.”
According to council member of the BYUH Service Center Rachel Howden, a senior from Utah majoring in peacebuilding, the Service Center chose Kahana Valley as the site for service because both the community and the students experience benefits.
“Every semester we try to do different projects to help the community. Not only are we helping people but we are helping expose students to indigenous Hawaiian culture because most of the people that come here to school are not from Hawaii. At least for me, I love learning the traditional customs.”
Miki Tomita, a regular volunteer at Kahana Valley, helped instruct the BYUH students on their tasks for helping preserve the area. There were three different duties students could choose to do, depending on level of difficulty. Tomita said all improvements are trying to keep the spirit and look as it was hundreds of years ago.
One group was assigned to fixing the irrigation system for the taro patches. Another was taking out weeds in the taro patch and a final group was clearing the brush for further access to the stream.
Tomita said she got involved with volunteering at Kahana Valley when she was a high school teacher because some of her students developed volunteer projects here. Now, Tomita explained she comes almost every weekend, and has for the past ten years, helping in any way needed.
“Kahana valley is a very special and sacred place. It is the only intact Ahupua`a or land management system left from pre-contact of the western world 800 years ago. The state owns the land, but they practice it as a living park which means all the residences, whose families have been here from hundreds of years, put on programs to teach culture on Hawaii practices.”
Rebecca Walker, a special instructor of anthropology, told the students serving that their efforts to preserve the Ahupua`a in Kahana Valley makes a profound impact. She explained the Ahupua'a system was very substainable. It led the people to develop their arts like surfing and hula.
Walker also noted their service was valuable because they were representatives of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“We are representatives of the Church. About 85 percent of the people who live in kahana are on church record, but only about 5 to 10 percent attend church or are active members. Anytime we serve in Kahana, it is in part missionary work to show them our aloha and we are still there for them if they go to church or not. Hopefully one day we can build bridges and bring back more members.”