Maui Middle School Mālama

Maui Middle School Mālama

Creating aloha ‘āina messages that only appear when the waters flow. Sharing aloha with children half-way around the world. As Hōkūle‘a returns home, we look at a few of the ways the voyage has inspired Kamehameha Schools Maui haumāna to share acts of mālama honua—caring for island Earth and its people—locally and globally through creative, awareness-building art projects.

The haumāna took part in the international Memory Project, in which students make portraits of other students from different countries who have faced hardships in their lives. The project is a way for youth to reach across geographic and national boundaries to let their counterparts in difficult situations know that there are people who care about them. The second part of KS Maui’s mālama honua efforts brought street art techniques to bear on local water issues. The haumāna use paint that only shows up when it gets wet to paint slogans around the campus that deal with the water issues facing farmers on Maui. Building awareness of their connections both globally and locally helps these students understand their roles in efforts to mālama our honua.