Willie K does Olomana Songs

 

Willie K sings opera. Sorry I ran short of camera card space at his powerful finish.

 

Aloha,

EmpowerMaui, LLC was formed in an effort to support sustainable and green efforts within Maui County. While we can't ignore our dependence on the rest of the state and our relation to the world, we are a small community on 3 islands within the State of Hawaii. As a community we need to pull together and work in a direction that will allow our island communities to be able to care for our own needs and the needs.

The time has come for each and every one of us to work towards meeting our own energy needs through the use of many types of alternate energy sources and conservation of our existing energy use. There is something each one of us can do today.

We have reached a point where we can no longer depend on unstable supplies for our food. We should not have to settle for a diet of highly processed nutrient deficient foods. We can all be involved in the growing of our own healthy foods, whether directly in our own yards, on a deck or in a community garden. We can gather together with neighbors and farm their yards. If we share the work, we can not only have good food to eat, but help our food budget go a lot further.

Land is a limited resource in the islands and we must stop thinking of it just as a commodity to be bought, sold and developed. We need this precious aina to produce our food. Looking carefully at how we utilize the land and designating it to be used in a proper way is more important than ever.
Water is a finite resource and that becomes all too apparent during our extended droughts. We need to look at not only conservation, but how to produce it from the ocean and air. These are technologies that are available and should be considered. Developing more conventional sources will eventually impact our islands environment.

Education is often forgotten about. We tend to train people and move them into a direction that isn't sustainable. We can only develop a limited number of resorts and housing tracts. We need to move people towards an education in sustainable trades and at levels that a family can afford to live.

• The Energy field will require many new people and in careers that could look very different from what those job look like today. The area of alternative energy and the developing of a SmartGrid with home automation will require many combinations of highly technical skills. The good news is that most of the younger generation has already acquired many of these skills just by being a part of our high tech culture. It's just a matter of training and moving them into the right direction to use these skills for the benefit of our community.
• The Agriculture (agri-culture with an emphasis on culture) will require many new people that love to work with the land and are able to learn the proper or "pono" way to farm. Learning to grow and care for our soils is a field in itself. There are many aspects related to farming that can support a workforce. Farming to raise food, grow building materials like bamboo and just caring for the soil are all important jobs and not independent of each other.
• The Food "chain" from harvesting, transporting, marketing and preparation of food for consumption, has many, many jobs.
• Maintaining a good supply of Water will require workers and with changes in our thinking and laws, it could even expand.
• Education is a never ending field and many of us may be called on to lend our knowledge to others. Education should be a right and not just for the privileged.
• Various other support industries can thrive as we allow our communities to thrive. Maui can be a model, as well as an attraction for the rest of the world. The arts, entertainment, environmental tourism are already a good source of jobs. We all need to play and enjoy our lives as we work to support our families.
• There are many other areas that impact on our lives daily, but if we can work together to take care of our basic needs and eliminate the fear, stress and anxiety that can happen when these basic needs are not fulfilled, we can drastically improve our whole community’s health.
  

So it is with this in mind that EmpowerMaui, LLC and through it's websites like this one EmpowerMaui.com, it's educational resource site EmpowerMaui.org, along with being involved in many of our community’s activities and even just growing our own food, that EmpowerMaui is hoping to help be part of the solution.

If you would like to find out ways that you can be further involved, feel free to contact us or one of our fine supporters.

It doesn't matter how much each of us does, just that we do something and now.

Mahalo for what you do!

Empowering Through Knowledge