Day 5 Manaʻo for Cohort Waikolu August 14, 2026

Mahalo nui to everyone in our August session of Cohort Waikolu and to all of the amazing team members and volunteers who made this week possible! From our last day together, we especially appreciated the interactive presentations and being able to move our bodies in new and familiar ways. To reflect on our five days of cultivating pilina with self, others, and ʻāina, below are the transcribed sticky note messages from our full ʻumeke closing exercise together: 

• Be comfortable with having your own identity, it brings us together
• Pilina
• Follow the light and put love first
• Be proud of the technologies of your Kānaka ʻŌiwi ancestors, and don’t forget them. 
• Our kuleana are not burdens but are what connect us to others 
• Pilina: It takes commitment, time, effort, understanding, and being present. 
• You can build pilina wherever you live—no matter your background—as long as you honor ʻāina and culture. 
• To coral reef: We care, we are trying, together we may help you heal. You are important to us all whether we all realize it. 
• Spreading kindness and joy
• Having a kuleana/responsibility as kaikuaʻana to help share this culture, practices, and languages with my students and to actively engage with it myself as a kaikaina
• Cultivate pilina to the ʻāina
• Continue to move forward with resilience and in community
• The ocean by the Elks is, as you know, a good connector.
• The rainbow is ephemeral. We can only try to make it possible for a moment. 
• Knowing where you came from will help guide you to where you want to go
• I know nothing. 
• Your resilience does not go unnoticed. Know that the care you have given me allowed me to travel both land and sea to make a difference. Know your resilience lives on. 
• Trust yourself. Trust each other. 
• Cultivate joy in your communities and stay present
• Stay open & lead with connection. [drawing of ocean waves]
• That we (many of us) are settlers here because our ancestors are from elsewhere.
• We believe that you are important and indispensable. We thank you for taking on all the kuleana inherent with your role. 
• When you give of yourself, you get back so much more. 
• Never be shame but stand firm in your faith
• Silence is one of the best ways to gain knowledge. I have an obligation to kaikuaʻana to gain wisdom and the kuleana to my kaikaina to impart what I know. 
• Openness. I want to share the importance to be open—to new experience—to difficult conversations—to learn—to grow—to fail—to try. 
• How important it is to learn about, respect, and nurture Mother Earth/ʻāina
• You are safe and deeply loved <3 
• Build pilina with the people and places around you.
• To my children: Remember that you will find your kuleana and I will be there for you. 
• Building pilina is important to be kākou → “we are all in this together.” 
• Find joy in kilo (observing) Mānoa and all the journeys of kaikuaʻana and kaikaina together as part of this ʻāina.
• Our relations (kaikuaʻana and kaikaina) with you are reciprocal and our kuleana to you is diverse, but all important. Mahalo 
• Practical school of learning: Live like you have no tomorrow. Learn like you will live forever. 
• Connection beyond just performance or use. A true pilina that builds kuleana from love.
• Keep moving kuleana to ʻāina and community
• No person has all of the information, experience, and perspective to chart a path forward on their own. 
• Aloha: True invitation
• Your kuleana is to mālama the people in your community, the ʻāina upon which you call home, and to never stop learning about them. 
• That getting to understanding you more where not such a competition 
• In order for our kaikaina to thrive it is our kuleana to rely on our kaikuaʻana and our moʻokūʻauhau to navigate our future. 
• We are all connected as people no matter position, education, department, degree, kuleana; we need to connect first as humans! 
• Always begin by listening—pilina.
• In order to connect with someone or the ʻāina, listen first and listen deeply. 
• Work to build that pilina and sit with your given moʻokūʻauhau, even if it’s difficult. 
• Path of perpetual learning
• Every group brings the ability to teach and sustain you in new ways. Make sure to be bold, speak your mind, listen with intention, and give what you can to feed and be fed.
• The building structure on the UH Mānoa Campus: Challenging the existing structure—the building—like Kuykendall. The structure/architecture perpetuates oppression/power. 
• Look for the magic; it’s probably there.
• Continue to approach new experiences with wonder
• As you search for your kuleana, wonder about a topic that keeps you up at night and ask WHY? Then grow with it becoming YOUR WHY! That kuleana will guide you with purpose. 
• You take care of ʻāina, ʻāina takes care of you. 
• Stay curious. Always can together. 
• Pay attention with a curious mind and open heart. [drawing of waʻa and border designs]
• American Samoa: Always remember that ʻāina doesn’t end at the shore, but continues at depths beyond the horizon. 
• (Stay curious) Articulate your questions
• Seek to understand one new thing about this place (this ʻāina) each day.