Ka Pe‘ahi Lono: Monthly Message for December

Date/Time sent: 12/05/2022 11:00 am

Aloha mai kākou e UH West Oʻahu ʻOhana!

Orange glow of the eruption at Mauna Loa in the evening with the moon peeking through the clouds.

During this makahiki season, we are reminded of the beauty and majesty of our ʻāina, our Hawaiʻi! Volcanic eruptions – a paradox – brings destruction and life; a natural regeneration. This photo was sent to me by my niece who lives in Waimea. While we marvel at the power and energy of our mother earth it is also important to be reminded of our kuleana. When you get a chance, please take a peek at this very short film, “Mother of Mothers” (3:18), by filmmaker Craig Foster (Oscar for “My Octopus Teacher”). Mahalo to Dr. Louis Herman for sharing this.

This holiday season I wish you all the opportunity to embrace our ʻāina and feel its warm embrace. And, I wish for you and your ʻohana good health. A precious gift we can all share is the generosity of spirit — the precious gift of kindness! We must Inspire Kindness as Kathryn Good writes. I share her 15 ideas to practice kindness during this season:

5 Ways to Be Kind to Your Community
Be a good neighbor.
Support local businesses.
Remember the caretakers.
Be generous.
Help people.

5 Ways to Be Kind to Your Friends and Family
Eat and drink well.
Have family time.
Reconnect.
Pick up the phone.

5 Ways to Be Kind to Yourself
Organize.
Get outside.
Stay calm
Read.
Feel your emotions.

I continue to be inspired and humbled by the acts of stewardship and support shared by so many of our UH West Oʻahu ʻohana this year. I sincerely appreciate all that each of you do to provide a world-class education, conduct high-caliber scholarship, and offer impactful outreach and engagement locally and globally.

E mālama pono!
Maenette Benham, Chancellor

Section divider made up of two canoe paddles.

Health and Well-Being Reminder

The Hawaiʻi Department of Health has asked UH and other state agencies to remind everyone that COVID-19 vaccines are still one of the best tools available to protect against the COVID-19 virus. The virus remains a serious health concern, especially for those in high-risk categories. Information on the new COVID-19 bivalent booster, vaccination options for children and vaccination sites near you.

The new booster is specifically designed to protect against original COVID-19 and Omicron sub-variants.

Keep in mind, kūkūlu kaiāulu! Please strengthen our community with your passions, respect for one another, and patience! Please respect an individual’s personal choice to wear a face mask. Mahalo to everyone, for your patience and empathy, your good work and commitment to care for one another!

Revitalizing the life of our campus

UHWO Spring 2023 Convocation

Friday, Jan. 6, 2023
10:15 a.m. – Noon
Convocation in C-208 Multipurpose Room
Lunch – Nāulu Outdoor Learning Center

The RSVP Flyer will be out soon!

Important Highlights

Here are several highlights you might have missed:

Hana Lawelawe: On Leadership

Hauʻoli Lono i ka Makahiki

Makahiki is a traditional Hawaiian festival spanning up to four lunar months that starts when the constellation Makaliʻi (Pleiades) rises in the evening sky in Hawaiʻi usually but not always around the end of October and the beginning of November. Makahiki lasts until approximately February and is focused on the god Lono and celebrates land, fertility, and harvest. It corresponds to a change in weather when hot, dry conditions become wet, rainy and windy. Traditionally, festivities during this time included feasting and games.
(Contributor, Lilinoe Andrews)

Kūlana o Kapolei, Dr. Manu Aluli Meyer shares that this is a season when we share peace, gratitude, and excellence. She writes:

Peace – dedication to Lono, our deity of abundance, harvest, our orifices, winter clouds, rains, and specific rainbows.
Gratitude – we gave evidence of our gratitude to the Konohiki + Aliʻi for the bounty gained by living in our kuleana.
Excellence – we competed in multiple games to know who was lanakila! Surfing, running, ulumaika, umaʻuma, oracy, etc.

Please see this summary of Makahiki 2022 Kūlana o Kapolei.

Statement of Peace, Gratitude, and Excellence this December 2022

Both Christmas trees in the Administration building with a close-up of a Pueo ornament.

My question to you: How are you being gentle with yourself during this season of many competing priorities? I know, firsthand, that many of us take on a lot during the year’s final months. We are closing out the semester’s work as we both prepare and participate in a full season of celebrations, gatherings, and shopping. Oh, and by the way, we are doing all of this while also managing all the seasonal germs! Did I mention that many of us have already begun planning for 2023? So, ʻtis the season when we all feel overwhelmed! Hmmm, do you wish you could just hibernate instead of juggling so many priorities?

So, from me to all of you, I share some calm in the storm through these words from Joy Harjo’s poem, Eagle Poem. I hope you will find the time and space this makahiki season to connect with the spirit of her words.

Eagle Poem

To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear,
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.
From In Mad Love and War © 1990 by Joy Harjo.

I am grateful to have you as part of our community, and we wish you abundant peace, joy, rest, and health as you navigate the season.