HYA 2019

Billy Kinney, Graduate Student, Urban & Regional Planning On July 16th, our group of fourteen departed Hawaiʻi at a very tumultuous time. Our incitement, personal contributions, and attentiveness to each other’s needs and sensitivities would hinge upon our personal ability to cope with separation in relation to ʻāina. However, aloha ʻāina cannot be blamed for…

Na Hiwa Kaʻapuni, Undergraduate Student, Hawaiian Studies & Political Science As we near the end of our journey here in Naples, Italy, we begin to reflect on the familiarity of what we have experienced thus far. Although many of us have never visited this ʻāina before, we have come to realize that all our engagements…

Na Kawaipuna Kalipi, Graduate Student, Educational Administration Hauʻoli Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea! Itʻs day 17/18 on Mauna Kea and day 15 since weʻve been gone from Hawaiʻi. Although we are all extremely grateful for the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of our kūpuna we also yearn to be with our lāhui on the mauna today…

Na: Kamaliʻi McShane Padilla, Undergraduate Student, Hawaiian Studies & Ethnic Studies Before starting our huakaʻi to Europe I left this hoʻohiki to my ʻāina and ʻohana at home, “no matter how far I go, I will always return”. No matter the distance I travel or the duration I stay away I will always find a…

Na Maluhia Low, undergraduate student, Hawaiian Studies             Cobbled stone streets, buildings manicured in history, food cherished as one would their newly born child, a language foreign but pleasant to the ear, and friendly haole[1] greet us daily in Turin, Italia. The sunlight goes well into the known hours of darkness back home, allowing our…

Na Kanoelani Pacheco, Graduate Student, Education Aloha nui kākou e nā hoa heluhelu, mahalo for continuing to accompany us in our journey abroad.  As we follow in the footsteps of the 18 kānaka ʻōiwi who were strategically selected and encouraged by King Kalākaua to study abroad, we cannot help but feel the hopelessness of not…

Na Cameron Grimm, Graduate Student, Political Science On September 15, 1884, Prince David Kawananakoa boarded the Mariposa for San Francisco as part of the Hawaiian Youths Abroad program (HYA). He joined Thomas P. Cummins at St. Matthew’s Hall, an acclaimed military training academy in America. Six months later, Prince Kawananakoa’s two brothers, Prince Kalanianaole (Kuhio)…

By Ihilani Lasconia, UG Student in Ethnic Studies They Could Never Sever Us from Our Piko, Our ʻIewe is the ʻĀina from which Our Ea rises *Written in reference to convictions about being abroad during all thatʻs happening on Mauna a Wākea and witnessing kānaka wake up to their kuleana and organizing in ways unseen…

Na Kamalei Marrotte, undergraduate student, ‘Ōlelo Hawaiʻi a me ʻIke Hawaiʻi “Na wai hoʻi ka ʻole o ke akamai, he alahele i maʻa i ka hele ʻia e oʻu mau mākua” Who shall discredit knowledge when it is a path well trod by my ancestors.Kalanikualiholiho  Being so far away from home with very little to orient…

Na Kauʻi Martin, undergraduate student, Kinesiology & Pre-Medicine On this lāpule, we start our day with a huakaʻi to Hastings to visit Matthew Makalua’s grave. It was about a 4 and a half hour ride from the University of Exeter. We traveled on a motorcoach and as we looked out the windows, there were lots…