Yesterday's 'Ahahui Lā'au Lapa'au kick-off party was an amazing success! Mahalo to all who donated their time, talents, food, kala, and aloha to this awesome event. We had so many wonderful raffle prizes and silent auction items; oil paintings, handmade jewelry, gift certificates, handmade natural beauty products, tinctures, clothing items, native plants, and so much more! Congratulations to all who took those awesome gifts home with them yesterday and again, mahalo to those who donated. Your generosity helped us to fundraise toward club t-shirts, printing costs, and future events.We also had some excellent mea ‘ai and inu donated to our event that helped keep everyone healthy and satisfied - coconut date rolls, vegetarian curry, baked ‘uala, green salad, smoked kalo dip, raw veggies, fruit salad, pickled onion, whole grain chips and hummus, sushi, mamaki tea, and apple-banana-peanut butter smoothies to name just a few. Again, mahalo to those who donated their culinary talents to our pā‘ina yesterday. It wouldn’t have been the same without the ‘ono grindz.The “seed bomb” making was also a great success. We made ‘uhaloa and nīoi seed bombs (seeds encapsulated in rich dirt and natural fertilizers) that will be ready for planting in just a few days. These seed bombs can be used in cultivated areas or for “guerilla gardening” in the wild.If you didn’t have the opportunity to join us at our pā‘ina yesterday, mai hopohopo – don’t fret – we will have an all-member pā‘ina at the beginning of fall semester to welcome new members and re-group after summer.Mahalo ā nui! See you at Kū Like Kākou!
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We just received notice of this great event on campus:---------------------------------------------From the UHM Global Health and Population Studies Program:We have set up a jam-packed week's worth of events for National Public Health Week April 6th-9th, with the cross-cutting theme of health and human rights. The six main tracks of the symposium are* "Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Health"* "Food Security and Nutrition"* "Violence"* "Refugee, immigrant and in-migrant health"* "Achieving universal access to health care"* "The Future of Public Health Emergencies"This free, week-long series of interactive events focuses on core areas in global health with a human rights perspective, including Native Hawaiian and indigenous health, forced migrant health, structural and domestic violence, and food security and nutrition. Our illustrious speakers include the former Director of Global Health at USAID Frederick 'Skip' Burkle, Kekuni Blaisdell, George Kent, Jon Van Dyke, Cindy Spencer and many others. Events include lectures, workshops, socials with free food and drinks, an "NGO-Off" where dozens of organizations present their work in 5 minutes a piece and documentary showings. Please see the attached fliers.Monday, April 6th:A free public health mixer with food and drinks at Dave and Buster's from 5 to 7 pm. RSVP to hpha@hawaii.rr.com. Meet and mingle with the speakers and facilitators from the symposium in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. All are welcome!Tuesday, April 7th:The interactive Symposium on Health and Human Rights will be held from 4:00 to 8:30 p.m. in Biomed B103 at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. The 4 main themes will be Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Health, Food Security and Nutrition, Refugee/Immigrant/In-migrant health, and Violence. The symposium will be filmed by award winning documentary writer/director/producer Danny Miller.1. Four keynote speakers will speak from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. about the main themes, including noted human rights author and professor Dr. George Kent, the Domestic Violence Action Center’s Cindy Spencer, Dr. Kekuni Blaisdell and Professor Jon Van Dyke.2. The “NGO-Off!” (Non-Governmental Organization) - From 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., 12 representatives from local and international organizations will talk about their programs, all of which are active in human rights issues related to public health in Hawaii and internationally, and how audience members can get involved. Each organization will have 5 minutes to make their case and will be escorted off stage if they go over time. The atmosphere will be fast-paced, informal and fun. Organizations include the Peace Corps, the Immigrant Justice Center, the Spark Matsunaga Institute for Peace, the Hawaii Institute for Human Rights, Friends of Samoa, Amnesty International, the UN Association of Hawaii, Ma'o Farms and many others. Refreshments will be provided.3. Interactive breakout workshops – A large spread of food from Kristy’s Kitchen will be served, and participants will break down into 4 interactive workgroups based around the main themes in Biomed D207, T208, T211 and C104 to eat and brainstorm opportunities for continuing action. Each group will have 2 facilitators, and will focus on at least one collective local and international action to improve health through a rights-based approach. Our accomplished facilitators include Kawika Liu, Jody Leslie, Nancy Partika, Friends of Samoa, Jennifer Rose, Joshua Cooper, John Robert Egan and Nicole Littenberg.Wednesday, April 8th:Reverend Jory Watland, former Director and co-founder of Kokua Kalihi Valley, will talk about the need for universal access to comprehensive health care in Hawaii and the United States at 5:30 p.m. Following his talk, 2 documentaries (Sick Around the World, Together We Are Stong) will be shown. Large quantities of popcorn will be distributed to all.Thursday, April 9th:Harvard Humanitarian Scholar, former Director of Global Health at USAID and Woodrow Wilson Senior International Fellow Dr. Frederick ‘Skip’ Burkle will deliver the closing speech, wrapping up the underlying conference themes and looking toward the future. Following the closing talk, 2 documentaries will be shown: Seeds of Hope and Unnatural Causes.--------------------------------------In addition to the 20 cosponsors, 12 presenting groups, 8 facilitators and 6 keynote speakers, approximately 10 organizations with mandates related to health and human rights will have tables in B court. Parking refunds will be provided to the first 60 community members and invited organizations to arrive on Tuesday. RSVP to kcoontz@hawaii.edu.Kristopher M CoontzProgram AdministratorGlobal Health and Population Studies ProgramOffice of Public Health SciencesUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa
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I read through the latest script last night. Obviously this guy wanted to use our Princess as a main character simply because he needed an exotic angle to make a sub-standard love story seem more interesting.What I found most ironic was the disclaimer on the second page: "This film is based on historical fact. Some events and dates have been altered for dramatic license."Yah, no kidding.How about this alteration of historical fact: there are no bayonets present at the signing of the Bayonet Constitution. (There's very good reason why the constitution was named after a weapon...)Or these "alterations"...The Royal Hawaiian Band plays Hawai'i Ponoi at the ceremony for the declaration of the Republic, but then shows them walking off. There's no explanation as to why they walked off...if I didn't know Hawaiian history, I wouldn't understand this move at all. There's no way for the audience to know that they were protesting.The narrator at the end talks about the 1993 Apology Bill for the ILLEGAL overthrow of the kingdom, but there's not one single thing within the movie to illustrate that. I mean, how is the audience supposed to understand why it is illegal? The only mention made is when Thurston sends a message to Stevenson...but you're expected to figure out for yourself why he did that or what it meant, and what happened as a result? There's no way John Q. Public could figure out what all of this means without doing research on his own... and how likely is that?How about the portrayal of Thurston as some idiotic hot-head who can't keep his mouth shut and his gun in its holster? While the thought of this is entertaining, I think this portrayal is more accurate of his descendants, and not necessarily of him. I mean, do we really want the world thinking that someone that stupid was able to take away our kingdom? It makes us out to be idiots as well.Or what about the sympathetic Dole, who wasn't sorry that he had a role in stealing our kingdom, but who was sorry that we couldn't vote once American law took over. Poor thing, yah...? He feels so guilty...I think the most damaging part, however, is at the end when Ka'iulani says that "...an entire nation died..." Then Dole tells Ka'iulani that the nation, "...lives in you." And then the next thing you see is Ka'iulani dying.Yes, lets just tell the entire world through illustration that we believe our nation is dead, and that the Princess who fought so hard for that nation believed it too. Obviously the writer of this movie believes that, or he wouldn't have structured the script that way.Of course, filmmakers have always used that "dramatic license" disclaimer to create wildly inaccurate fantasies about actual events...Hawai'i is not the first to fall victim to it, nor will we be the last. Unfortunately the film is still being made. And at some point, an audience somewhere will walk out of a theater thinking, "that's a shame about what happened to Hawai'i," then never think about it again.Thanks to Maoliworld for posting the script.
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