MA'O FARMS AND WAI'ANAE'S HIDDEN BEAUTY

Wai'anae, Hawai'i is one of the most underprivileged areas in all of Hawai'i. Only 5.1% of Native Hawaiians in Wai'anae have a bachelor's degree or higher, and 38.9% of Native Hawaiian families in Wai'anae with children under Five years old live in poverty. The coast of Wai'anae is lined with tents and tarps where families live, and numerous health and education problems impact the disadvantaged youth.

Ma'o Farms, is a best practice that seeks to change this.
Ma'o was established at the turn of the new millennium with a desire to address the important needs of our youth and community. A group of residents, traditional practitioners, teachers, and business experts created the Waianae Community Re-Development Corporation (WCRC), a federally recognized 501 c 3 nonprofit organization. The goal was to build a strategy that would impact five critical areas of need: out-of-school youth, sustainable economic development, agriculture, health, and Hawaiian culture. Youth leadership and social enterprise development became the core objectives, with strategies to build a localized movement to put the value of aloha aina into action. Students here are given an opportunity to work on the land, learn Hawaiian culture and values, and receive a high quality education.

Special thanks to Henry Mochida for providing extra footage and statistics from his film, Blue Tarp City.

www.ourpublicschool.org

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• our public school
• ops
• education
• reform
• students
• best practice
• Ma'o
• Farms
• Mao
• Wai'anae
• Waianae
• hidden
• Beauty
• homeless
• youth
• Hawaii
• Hawai'i
• Native Hawaiians
• tourism

[wattm2]

I love this; way to go, and hoping others will follow your direction, again mahalo!

[Student57478]

Ma'o has been the most beautiful place I have ever worked at. I use to work there when I was in High school, and I miss it. It's been fun working there.

[britbrit317]

keep it up ma'o.you guys are doing great things..miss working there...