By Heidi Chang
“Hoʻoulu ʻĀina means to grow the land, to grow that which feeds, and to grow because of the land,” explained Puni Jackson.
Jackson is the director of Hoʻoulu ʻĀina, a nature preserve nestled deep in Kalihi Valley on Oʻahu. She began working there as a volunteer coordinator in 2005.
Upon arriving at Hoʻoulu ʻĀina I was greeted with a blessing of rain, so we talked story inside Jackson’s office. On one wall are some two dozen photographs of beloved kūpuna who have passed on, including Dr. Kekuni Blaisdell, Dr. Isabella Abbott, George Helm, Aunty Malia Craver, Papa Henry Auwae, and Dr. Carlos Andrade.
“We were taught by Carlos Andrade that the word ʻāina, the word that we use for land, includes more than land. It includes all that feeds, which includes the people, the birds, the ocean, every part of our ʻāina that is producing abundance is actually part of our family,” Jackson said. Hoʻoulu ʻĀina is part of Kōkua Kalihi Valley (KKV), the only nonprofit community health center in the country that has a 100-acre nature preserve as a site for healing. Its programs bring people together around forestry, food, culture, spirituality, and healthy activities.
The decision to preserve the area as a public resource was made by the Honolulu City Council back in 1980 after the community united against a proposed residential development there.
Then in 2005, the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources granted KKV a 20-year lease to restore the land – and recently extended their lease for another 35 years. Today, Hoʻoulu ʻĀina is the only large-scale nature preserve within Honolulu’s urban core.
“We perpetuate the values of our kūpuna through food production – farming and gardening, forestry and native reforestation. We practice lāʻau lapaʻau and grow lāʻau lapaʻau. We have lomilomi practitioners here and hold classes for birthing mothers and families welcoming their new babies into their homes,” said Jackson. “We provision canoes, people, schools and communities.”
Hoʻoulu ʻĀina also provides place-based learning programs for keiki that integrate culture and science. And everyone, from keiki to kūpuna can sign up online for free events or volunteer and engage in mālama ʻāina practices.
When the skies cleared, I went hiking in the forest with “Uncle Scotty” Garlough. He started as a volunteer there in 2010 and is now Hoʻoulu ʻĀina’s operations manager.
“I think what’s special to me and why I enjoy working here is that Kōkua Kalihi Valley believes that the life of the land and the life of the people are the same. And so, if we have healthy land, then we have healthy people,” said Garlough, as we hiked deeper into the forest past koa and hala trees and ʻawa plants. Other than our footsteps, the only sound was the excited chirping of birds in the canopy above us.
The land of Hoʻoulu ʻĀina was once a center for agriculture, as evidenced by the agricultural terraces and irrigation channels on the property. However, the terraces needed to be restored, so Garlough learned how to do that – as well as rock wall and hale building. Today he teaches those skills to others.
He was also mentored by many cultural practitioners in hoʻoponopono, including Aunty Lynette Paglinawan, and is now dedicated to helping people overcome trauma. Born at Tripler Army Medical Center, Garlough never knew his father. Like so many others who have come to Hoʻoulu ʻĀina, he has personally experienced the healing that this land provides.
“I grew up with a younger brother and a single mom, who at an early age was incarcerated. So, having no family, we lived with her girlfriends, sometimes around the KPT (Kūhiō Park Terrace public housing project) area and within KPT. When she got out of prison, she was diagnosed with cancer and given less than a year to live. So, our journey was really about becoming adults at a young age. That’s what led me to self-medicating and fooling around with hard drugs and being homeless and things like that.”
He added, “Just overcoming all those obstacles puts me in a position where I can deal with the kids in Kalihi.”
Looking back, Garlough has seen a transformation in both the people who come here and the ʻāina itself. “When we first came here, the place was full of pain, it didn’t feel safe. The land was overgrown, people came to the back of the valley to trash the land, to do drugs.”
These days, he maintains, “We’re here to restore the land. And we’re here to heal the land and the community, and the easiest way to do that is with the help of the community. We don’t do the healing. The land does the healing. And just by having people come on the land, they soon realize that. All we do is provide a safe space.”
Garlough believes “that in holding our aloha circles and having people bring someone that they love, that creates a happy spot. And hopefully, when you came to this land, you didn’t feel pain. You felt the wonder, the joy, the love.”
Everyone can experience that wonder when they visit Hoʻoulu ʻĀina’s garden. That’s where they grow kalo, ti-leaves, ʻōlena (turmeric), lāʻau lapaʻau plants, kale, papaya, arugula, bananas, peppers, chard, lettuces and a wide variety of flowers that invite the presence of butterflies.
Each year, Hoʻoulu ʻĀina engages over 5,000 volunteers through four interwoven program areas: Koa ʻĀina (Native Reforestation), Hoa ʻĀina (Community Access), Mahi ʻĀina (Community Food Production) and Lohe ʻĀina (Cultural Preservation). Hoʻoulu ʻĀina will accept payments to schedule and design a workday tailored for individual groups. For more info visit hoouluaina.org.
All of the food grown at Hoʻoulu ʻĀina is organic and provided to the community through the Roots Café and Food Hub located at Kōkua Kalihi Valley at 2229 N. School St. in Honolulu. Call 808-791-9432 or visit rootskalihi.com.
