WAIWAI HEALTH FELLOWSHIP

The Waiwai Health Fellowship is a youth program offered by KKV in partnership with the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP).  Each summer, 25 to 30 youth from in and around the Kalihi community come together to explore health and healing and expand their understanding of community health and healthcare.  Open to students who are entering their junior or senior year of high school, or will have just recently graduated, Waiwai is designed to expose aspiring health professionals to various roles in the health field and to have them experience KKV and Kalihi’s various health resources.  

During the program, the Fellows spend mornings rotating among different programs and departments within KKV such as Hoʻoulu Āina, Roots Café and Food Hub, Maternal Child Health, and the Gulick Elder Program.  The Fellows meet with doctors, nurses, dentists, community health workers, public health and cultural practitioners and learn how to see food, land and ancestral wisdom as part of making our communities healthier.  In the afternoon, students engage in activities such as discussions on health and social justice, as well as workshops and talks with guest speakers.

The program employs various pedagogical activities, including photo-voice (taking photographs of people and places with a written narrative), historical and personal timelines (mapping out events that impacted the health of their family), and community crawls (trips to significant places in Kalihi that tie into health).  As both teachers and students, the Fellows participate in culture circles and are given reflection prompts that promote critical thinking, youth leadership and community healing. The Fellows also practice filling out applications for professional schools and college programs.  Upon completion of the program, the Fellows each receive a $500 stipend.

By facilitating and deepening connections, and building a sense of identity and place, the Waiwai Health Fellowship provides Kalihi youth the opportunity to re-see the abundance that lies in our community and in themselves.  The Fellows discover what it means to be healers in our community.

Waiwai will be in its sixth year in 2022 and is taking place from June 6 to July 9 with planning and preparation already well underway.  For more information and/or an application form, click HERE.  Join us!