A Year in Waipahu

Our Waipahu home is 54 feet above sea level.  Work is at 16 feet, our Credit Union is at 162 feet, and the Okinawan Cultural Center is near the top at 414 feet.   The land slopes gently downward into Pearl Harbor (Hawaiian terms are Wai Momi or Puʻuloa), ending just above sea level. The nearest peak to my home is Pālehua.  I see it everyday walking out my back door.  The peak is just over 5 miles as the hawk flies, about 12 miles by road, and approximately 2600 feet above sea level.   Everyone who lives here lives on a volcano.  For most of the islands, including O`ahu, the volcanoes are inactive. On the Island of Hawai`i, there are still active volcanoes. Please enjoy a favorite song made in honor of, and blessing for, this peak:  Pālehua . Waipahu can be considered part of the outermost edge of the Waianae Volcano range. Pālehua is the end of that range.  Having erupted 3.9 million years ago, the Waianae range now forms the b...

I first read Kiana Davenport's sweeping Hawaiian novel in 1996.  I was living on O’ahu and doing my clinical residency at The Queen's Medical Center.   At the time, reading the book added considerably to my change in spirit and perspective. So when I moved back (this time to Waipahu), I picked up the book again at my local library.   In reading it a second time, I wondered what might have changed.   What I found was the story and writing hold up all these years later. The book could be called “historical fiction,” though it defies the typical category.  It might be safe under the word “novel,” which is on its cover.  But I would argue that word also doesn’t capture the book’s essence.  Perhaps it should be placed under the spirituality or intercultural relations categories, but it defies these as well. I’m convinced the Waipahu library has the best category for it: Hawai`i.   The book captures some things about life h...

Privacy.   One of the vows of a board certified chaplain is to honor the boundaries of personal information.  While I spent about half of my career in health care, I always followed both the HIPAA guidelines around patient information (basically don’t share) and the Hippocratic oath of do no harm.   It was the same in higher education, where I spent the other half of my career.  I always followed FERPA guidelines around student information (basically don’t share) and the ethics of teachers. As a clergy member, my denomination, The United Church of Christ, required regular boundary training.  I helped to teach this within some chaplaincy programs, and always followed the training of my mentors. All this is to say, I have realized INTERVIEWS ARE COMPLICATED.  It’s not just the boundaries of Hawaiian culture which I describe in a prior post.   It’s the intense feeling of protection I have over the people I meet.  I don’t (and they don’t) know wh...

Our abode replete with rainbows It had to happen.  At some point, any place you move to, stops being completely new and starts to be your residence.  This is true whether you move across the street or across the world.     A year is plenty of time to allow this transition.   For us, this transition to "resident" has definitely been underway.   In this transition, things are experienced differently.   Instead of finding a new doctor, we are scheduling appointments and refilling prescriptions.   Instead of always looking things up on GPS, I know my way around more intuitively.   Instead of meeting new people all the time at work, there are the beginning of familiarity and patterns.   There are even the beginnings of familiar routines, such as shopping at Costco.       Even my weekly role on our KNDI 1270 AM radio show feels less awkward; I am starting to relax and enjoy the experience more.   Transitioning Perspect...

Deep Water. At least that's what it felt like.    In the past week, it seemed as if someone had taken me way out in the ocean, picked me up, and tossed me over.     What better way to see who lives beneath the surface?     A great way to learn to swim. A great way to feel like you are part of the ocean. The Hawaiian word kaiāulu refers to community, neighborhood, village. “Communities, at all levels, are what comprise Hawaiʻi. At the community colleges, we strive to encourage and empower our kaiāulu of students, faculty and staff on-campus so that they can empower the broader kaiāulu of which they are a part.” —Ākea Kiyuna, Assistant Professor, Hawaiian Studies, Hawaiʻi Community College This past weekend, I attended five unique festivals, fiestas, and funerals in Waipahu.  I was either invited as a special guest or helping out.   This was the Deep Water   The first event was May Day at Waipahu Elementary School.  As a special guest, I...

Augie Tulba (r)   My eyes were opened.   Homelessness was always something I cared about.  At times, I dealt with individuals directly.  At times, I supported my local shelter.  At times.   But in my life, homelessness always felt like "a problem" that was "over there." That was despite the fact that I have faced housing insecurity in my past.   When I arrived in Waipahu, my eyes were opened.  Homelessness is an ever-present reality here.  It is not something "over there."   Augie Tulba   One person making a difference is our local councilmember, Augie Tulba.   Augie is from this community, and has become famous in Hawai'i and beyond as a comedian and radio show host.  Even before he got into politics, he has been a mainstay of local culture.   A note about City Council: The entire island of O'ahu is managed by the City and County of Honolulu.  So, councilmembers have a very high degree of responsibility, for the...

  Half of Waipahu was there.  Or so it seemed.  I was a guest of guests, with a fortuitous invitation.  These were new neighbors my friends wanted us to meet.   It was a small event at first.  When we arrived, there were only a few people dispersed around lots of extra seats and tables.  The event was held outside, on their sizable lot.  It had been raining; I thought maybe that had kept people away.   Various individuals drifted around the event space, completely relaxed.  That was my first clue.  We had arrived "on time" but it was nowhere near the actual  start time.  Come to think of it, there was no actual  start time. I thought to myself: Most good parties I had attended back on the continent were like this.  Whether at a church, a venue, or someone's home, the more relaxed the timeline, the more likely the party would be fantastic.  Definitely the case here.     Welcome was taken f...