Love Letters to Wai

The Kalihi Valley Instructional Bike Exchange KVIBE in partnership with Na Pua Ku’e, Hawaii Peace & Justice, Oahu Water Protectors, and Wisdom Circles Oceania, held a March workshop series celebrating wai (“water”) entitled Love Letters to Wai. The goal of the series was to build understanding and to cultivate civic leadership among the youth in Kalihi.

The workshop series began with a classroom exercise on March 8, with Na Pua Ku'e, Hawaii Peace & Justice, and Wisdom Circles Oceania to educate the youth about critical water issues on the Island of Oahu, including the Red Hill pollution by the U.S. Navy.
On March 26, Na Pua Ku'e and Oahu Water Protectors took the group on a tour of historically significant sites related to water, including Pearl Harbor and the Navy’s Red Hill fuel storage facility. The youth learned the Hawaiian place names and mo’olelo (stories) of these places.

Wisdom circles Oceania staff ran a poster workshop at KVIBE. When asked how creating posters makes them feel, one KVIBE youth participant responded “Art makes me feel free” while another responded with “I wish we had more art in school.”