Growing ʻŌpio in Hauʻula

On Saturday, July 8, we wrapped up our 2023 summer ʻŌpio internship program, a paid five-week summer internship program for 15-20 Hauʻula students hosted at Maunawila Heiau Complex. It was a busy 5 weeks for our ʻŌpio, gainning valuable green career experience and building their cultural knowledge. The ʻŌpio’s primary project this summer was to prepare Maunawila for the construction of a 2nd traditional hale which will serves as a gathering and educational space. The interns worked hard hauling wood down the mountain, debarking and preparing the wood for building, learning and memorizing ʻōlelo noʻeau, oli, and pule. The ʻŌpio also learned a number of skills related to hale-building, including lashing together an olokea (scaffolding) that will be used to build the hale later this year. In addition to completing the olokea, our ʻŌpio built 3 new lele (a stand/shelf) creating dedicated locations for individuals who bring hoʻokupu (offerings) to leave them. The ʻŌpio learned the value of hard work and, perhaps, more importantly, learned to value each other. The ʻŌpio learned information about Maunawila and the story of Makuakaumana, the prophet who built Maunawila Heiau. They also had a few opportunities to share what they learned about Maunawila with collaborating programs who visited and spent time at Maunawila with us. The partnership with our collaborating community partner programs has also allowed our ʻŌpio a chance to go on huakaʻi (field trips) to Hauʻula beach park, Kahana, and the Waiheʻe water tunnel in Kāneʻohe. The relationships formed between our ʻŌpio and the those in our collaborating programs has given them connections that we hope will last beyond a lifetime. We wish our ʻŌpio the best of luck in all they do, and hope they enjoy the rest of summer.

— Mamo Leota