 I'm Joshua Cooper. Welcome to Aloha Sustainability in Hawaii and Peace in our Pacific, the UN SDG movement in Moana, New York. Today we're looking at ending poverty and empowering people, looking at Hawaii's approaches to ensure abundance. We're fortunate to have two amazing advocates who spend their lives making sure that this global goal number one can be achieved here in Hawaii. Aloha and welcome to Ending Poverty and Empowering People, Hawaii's approaches to ensure abundance. Aina Mamona, looking at UN Global Goal Number One. We're two amazing advocates and I'd like to welcome you both to coming to the show. Blanche, could you start off sharing the vision and what inspired you to begin your work to really end poverty here in Hawaii? Aloha, my name is Blanche McMillan. How I've been very loving and caring about what I'm doing today is because of my family, my mother and father. They were very strong people that took care of people besides me. When I was six years old, I always would watch them, bringing in people, feeding them, dressing them, giving them showers. And I say one day I would become that and about days, a month, years went by, then I started to work for the Catholic Church for 15 years as an outreach program coordinator. And so that's what I did. I kept on going and said one day I would be taking care of those, the homeless and the on the internet. And that's what I did today. So when the COVID started, that's the first thing I did was to bring home the people. And actually the land that I have here today, it is a deal in our land. It was supposed to be an agriculture land, but today it is both housing and agriculture. And today we have 72 people, 22 children and 15 seniors, not only homeless, I even have sick people that has cancer, stage four cancer. And this place where we have them is supposed to be in the hospice, but it's not a hospice, it's their own home. They want to be home with the belong on the island. So today we have, we continue to work together. How I first started it was to love them, to care for them and make them as my own family, as my ohana. So today I still carry that and still work with them in that position. Today we have five leaders, five leaders that run the back when I'm not there. If they have any problems, then they come to me. Today there are, we're growing vegetables. We have a garden, a huge garden. We take care of, we built 43 homes today. And each and every one of them lives in a home. They have a roof over the head, they have food in the stomach, and they have clothing on the body. Each and every one of them that comes to me, whatever, if they come from the beach, I normally dump the clothes and I want them to start a new life. A life that they never had in the, for 25 years, some of them been on the street for 25 years, 15 and 10. So today I make them find themselves today to make their self better. And we are non-drug, we don't have drug, it's a drug-free facility that we have here. And so we continue to do good things besides doing, taking care of the people. I have even worked with the courthouses, the community service. So we do that. Plus I do the ones that people lost was losing their home and their mortgage and the utilities. I have that on the property. And that's exactly what, and the most important thing, the most important thing that I really wanted my people to find was God. So I brought the church in to make them believe in God. So before I spring them in, I always tell them, God gave us seven days, but in the seven days, He gave us one day to serve Him. So that's what I teach them. Today we have all of them going to church, all of them believing back to God again. And actually this whole property that's here today is run by God and the love of the people. We are not run by the city, state, or federal. It is run by my nonprofit 501c3. That's why we were run by. Yes. Mahalo, Blanche. Thank you so much. And you really do weave everything together. Of course, it's rooted in love and kindness and care for one another, and that kuleana for each other, and for our island birth. But then also you link all the issues, first, the right to housing, the right to healthcare, the right to make sure that the only way, of course, we could end poverty and assure abundance, yes, by really bringing aloha into action. And so we really thank you for sharing your example. I'll move over to the Lima now. Lima, what inspired you in your important work? What inspired me? I think what happened for me was that after 9-11, basically I lost the footing under me with my corporate job that I had for 15 years, and I was about 35. And then I had to reinvent myself. And one of my girlfriend said, you can do it. And I said, well, where's the manual? And she said, there is no manual. You make your own manual. And that was really scary for me as a person who was brought up as an employee. So starting all over again and designing my own life plan was really empowering. And that's what we bring to Kekula Nui o Waimanalo and all of our programs is that we need to be independent and free and be able to teach our young people how to do the same. So we want to focus on entrepreneurship, business ownership, youth leadership, and succession planning. That has always been the goal for us at Kekula Nui o Waimanalo. And currently we focus on aquaponics, hui hua mo, which is a backyard chicken husbandry. And with the price of eggs, it's a gold. It's gold. And we also have ulu pono mahi aina, which is a agroforestry program growing food in your backyard. So all of those programs are backyard centered. So Malama Aquaponics started in 2009. It has since become a clinical program. It is currently funded by NIH and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. Hui hua mo, we're just wrapping up our pilot program, which is currently funded by CASA Foundations, Pelina Fund. And then ulu pono mahi aina just wrapped up. We had previous funding from Kauulu Nani with DLNR, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kamehameha Schools, and numerous others. Like Tumahalo, all of our funders. And going forward, we're about to submit a grant called Compass from NIH, which will incorporate all of our programs with youth leadership, as well as entrepreneurship, business ownership, using all of the subject matter experts within our community as kanaka, to be the people that train and teach. And we hope to be funded. We're starting by Manalo and we'll go out throughout the Pai Aina on different islands to cook each community that we are currently engaged with. Mahalo for the question. Mahalo, Lima. And that really sets up a couple of the other aspects. SCG number eight is looking at good business practices, and you're really focusing on entrepreneurship, but also equality, but also equity. And you bring that in the program, then really through your own example that you shared, where you were able to come forward and be able to make an example by figuring out what your passion was, what your skills were, and realizing for everyone, there is no one way that everyone has to find their way. And these 17 global goals of the UN Sustainable Development Goals really does provide a framework that we can work with to look at no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being. And I think when we look at your program, plus anti-blanches, it really does combine all of those to ensure dignity for everyone. Anti-blanch, coming back to you, I always enjoy visiting you in Waimanalo and seeing what you're able to do. How were you able to set up homes, then also focus on growing food, and then also even making sure gaining skills to lead towards employment and empowerment. Could you share some of those aspects of some of the work that happens every day there in Waimanalo with your Ohana, and how you've been able to make those gains, and how that's in doing a ripple effect in public policy as well. Today, mostly we have people that loves us, that cares for us, that brings in the materials, and even the gardening materials to grow things. Everything is all giving, and it's all gifted to us by the love, how it's around all of us. And that's what really keeps us going. And so today we have the homes, it's not only, we have military, we have churches, we have 15 different churches that help us build homes, including our people here that helps build the homes too. You see, everybody here that works together and do everything together. And then when the material, I mean, when we have the gardening seeds, machines, and tools, all of us, all 72 of us, goes out into the garden. And I believe when you take in the Aina, the Aina takes care of you. So we have sickly people, we put the people into the garden, we believe that if you put your hands into the Aina, it will heal you from the in and out. So this is what I teach them, because the more strength they get, the more faith they have, they're better. So that's the kind of funding we have. It's all by friends and the love of the people. That's excellent. It really talks about self-determination, but also sustainable development. And really, you can tell us from the host culture to share that skill and more importantly, that love, because too many people are caught up with just commercialization and forgetting the connection to the Aina. And I think your model really shows sustainability, spirituality, but linking all together to know that our relationship with nature has got to be one that's a deep one, one of love and admiration, but also taking care of it and not just meeting once a week or visiting, but living it on a daily basis. Yes. And one more thing I want to say that, you know, Eliwa and I, we stayed together in Wamanalo. We have done a lot for our people, because we care. We're there for them. And we want to make sure that God's country will always be protected by good people in the community. And that's what we always do. And so, you know, and besides that, I've been on some of them been on social media. They had interviewed me about the people here and how we do it. So it's good to let people know that what I do, because that way they will. I want people to realize that when you go out, it's not for money. It's for the people that you care for, that you want to do it. It's for them. So that's why I want to carry on this project into other islands so that we can do better in the Hawaiian islands. Yes. So that we can share. Yeah. It really does bring it up that it's life should be of service and sharing, not just pursuing profit and forgetting really where we're from. And I think that's what's important too is both who are rooted in the community in Wamanalo, which is actually not if you're aware of, but was potentially one of the seats of the United Nations in 1945 when they were deciding where to put the world body. Wamanalo was one of the places I was being promoted. Exactly. You guys are ahead of the game. And so, Elima, maybe you could share with us some of the exciting aspects. And I can say from actually attending your program, I remember going in there and I'm not a great builder. And when you think about that, you're then going to grow your own food. I was like, oh, my poor grandma, it's almost a genocide with plants, everything we were growing up. And why am I, everything that we made just would be such a struggle. But it was so cool that by the end of the first night, you actually had an entire system set up and we could see it getting done. And I think it's that Makaha Nikaike that in the action, that is where the knowledge is. And after the first weekend, you already see one being set up in someone else's home and it shows that anything is possible. So maybe you can share and give a description to folks about what the work that you do and how valuable it is, because it really does focus on ending poverty holistically, but also good health well-being and also growing food as well. Very mahalo. Mahalo just for sharing our vision of how we like to teach Makaha Nikaike with holistic health at the center because health is generational. It's not only about the physical, but it's the spiritual, it's the financial, it's equity, it's all of it that keeps one healthy mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally. And that's what we're really focusing on without telling anybody that. And so all of our programs are really centered around the individual's own home. So we teach people skills at the Wamanala Learning Center that we want them to do at home because really, people coming home at midnight because they got to go to work. And so maybe at midnight, they got to feed their chickens or their fish or gather their eggs or what have you on their plants. We have to give people the opportunity to do things that are home-centered, generational. Kupuna keiki, everybody involved together. That has always been the goal. And then also teaching them how to use the things that they grow to make medicine, to cook, to make food, because we all got to eat, but it's a very Kanaka practice to be able to feed each other, to feed the community, and also to perpetuate the way we live. So we're not telling them what we're doing, but really we're just teaching our culture in a manner that fits people's way of living today because we are Americanized and we got to go to work. You know, not too many people have a business that they can, you know, run away from and what have you. They got to punch the time clock and be there for those many hours. And then you only get limited time with your family. So it's opportunity to do things together, to build Ohana, to build community, to build Pilina, and then, you know, to be healthy at the same time. That's the ultimate goal. If we're doing it great, if we're still trying, it's okay too, but we're doing the best we can with the opportunities and the available resources. We only can do so much, but we're trying our best. Maalo. No, it really is a human rights-based approach centered around the individual, but recognizing the collective will and what's possible when we do come together. And as you did share, it's absolutely true by seeing and working with one another. You also have a sense that you said it's around the Ohana, but that everyone becomes Ohana in your training. That I remember people, you know, started out like, oh, I know you or maybe I heard of you, but by the end, everyone really helps each other. And I think that's something that you create this network of people caring for each other who all might have some insights to one aspect to make sure the aquaponics works. Or as you were talking about the other programs as well with the chicken, especially as we see eggs costing more than caviar these days, you're like a visionary that you're actually ahead of the game in that way to make sure that there's no poverty, zero hunger, but that you also talked about, I'll never forget, and we can get into the next part about the health and the traditional medicines that's also being grown as well. So we can look at that as we go into the vision in the future. Blanche, coming back to you and sharing, you were talking at the end that you really wanted to use this model that you created in Waimanalo there on the shores, but then sort of scale it up and go to many islands. How do you see the vision evolving and can you share with us your aspiration of what's possible for Aina-Mamona and what can be done to make sure that everyone is able to have a roof over their head, that they'll be able to know how to grow their own food and have that, especially when so much is still imported even after COVID? Can you share with us that vision of what you've been able to do in Waimanalo and what that can do for the world as well? Well, actually, before Josh got in, I had told him my dream, what I really want if he got in for governor, and I told him I want to walk on every island to go into every community to see where is the homeless are and what can we do, but we need to find good people with good heart, and that's what my vision is, and we will find good people to put homes, what they need to do, what I told governor that we need to have the people on the island to find a land that will hold maybe 100 homeless because I'm pretty sure everywhere. In Oahu today, we have 4,000 homeless right now, but we already did the survey on it, so we don't know on the outside island how much more do we have, so I have put in a request that I'm going to go to Molokai next month, and I'm going to see how many homeless that they have there, and we want to see if there is land five acres, seven acres that we can put homes there, and then we see what they can do, Molokai people, good people. I want good people with good heart that will love their people and will care for their people. That's the kind of dream I have, and I want to make it work and talk, and so that's what I'm doing right now, and then I'll be flying for different islands, looking for areas that we will continue on to take care of the homeless people, yes? No, that's a perfect thing. Thank you. No, no, thank you, and that's really described then in a way, also leads to a Aho Pao vision as well, from Ridge to Reef and seeing that connection with the land and working in the mountains, but also on the ocean, and I know you bring all that to get what you're doing. And besides that, my dream too, you see, before I got this property here, I was supposed to start at the beach area. I wanted to bring back the old Hawaiian tradition, Molokai to Makai. I want our people to become, they take care of the ocean, so they can put a fishing village there, but it's not for the adults, it's for the kekis. The kekis are the ones supposed to be learning how to go fish, bring the fish in, put it in a pond, and feed the village. This is how my dream is, and I want to fulfill that. And then right now I'm working on the aina. The aina is to bring fruits, vegetables, so that we can feed the village. This is exactly how the old Hawaiian used to do, take care of their village, take care of the community, and that's what I want to carry on. And that's why Ilima, what she's doing right now, that is an answer right there. That's a perfect answer, both her and I, that we work together, and then we can do this. Yes. It really is connecting the dots of what existed. If not looking at who we hope we can do it, you know it did exist historically, so as we decarbonize the mind, we also decarbonize the economy, but then create a vision that's more rooted in the values and the voice of the people that has existed in these islands since millennia. Ilima, can you share with us your vision of next steps and how you plan to grow? Because I know you're already on many islands, and I know it's exciting. I know it's exciting when you're like, who can our fish live at this temperature because we're upcountry. You've taken care of so many different aspects of that. Can you maybe share a bit with how we come to a class and then the next steps that they take and then what they then produce and then just a vision of what has happened so far and where you're headed? Sure, thank you. I'd like to say that we just started our new cohort in Waimanalo. I'd like to mahalo the NIH, Olahawai for funding us, and so this time we'll go to Waimanalo first, then we'll go to Hilo and then Maui. I'd also like to say that the Department of Hawaiian Homeland, we have been confirmed and we're just waiting on contract, but we're also going to Molokai, so it might be a good melt of what Antiblanche is trying to do and we're going to be on island anyway, so let's try to do it together, teaching both aspects. Also wanted to feature like the Waimanalo-Li-Mohoi that we started in 2017 has been very successful in the ocean, so again you're talking about Ahupo'a Living Mountain to Ocean. The aquaponics program in Backyard is actually what we do is a mini Ahupo'a for everybody. So next steps is just bringing it all together, really working with the communities in communities such as Hilo or Kona and really getting community leaders to do the same thing what we're doing so that we don't have to travel. We have Lima Cocoa in our different programs that we teach so that every community, that was a dream from way back when that we wanted to go into every Hawaiian community in Homestead. It's a long time coming, it's getting there slowly, but surely we're trying our best, the best we can, but we do need the community leaders, especially the young ones, to step forward and really be the leaders in their own communities because they know the people and it's better rather than getting the outsider like me going into another community, of course we're going to build Pelina and Ohana, but that takes time too, so we're just working slow, slow, slow. It is a slow process, but we're doing what we can and we're just going to hold on more and teach what we can, teach what we know and learn from all the people that's in those communities as well. Mahalo. I notice in both of your programs when participating and visiting is your role of youth, that you really have that beyond seven generations perspective of making sure that next generation will be better off and be able to then really be high tech, but also high touch and not lose that. You really are combining the head, the heart, and the hands all coming together to do positive aspects. As we look in the final moments, Auntie Blanche, what's some final words that you'd like to share as we look at how goal one that calls for an end to poverty in all of this manifestations by 2030, how you're able to serve the people to aspire to see no poverty in Hawaii and sharing how you're as strong women have provided paths to end the poverty, looking at providing housing, food security through these progressive programs? You know, for me, I believe because I love my people, I care for many people, and we work as one big family, and we're always Ohana. Wherever we go, whatever we do, and whatever we touch, it's always love and Ohana. And I want to bring, you know, we can do it. We can solve it. If we just put our mind together and work together, it would be unbelievable because right now, we are already showing the beginning of life today and the way we live and what we can take care of. So that's why I want to make sure that my dream come true before I leave this earth so that we can always continue to be there, even for the KK's. The KK's are going to be the next generation that they can do what we can do because if not, the KK will not be able to handle all the things that we do because there's too many computers, there's too many games in the brains. So today here, my KK's here, I put them in the farm. I make them watch how they bill. That's what I want them to do when time comes, they will be there for others. And this is what I want them to learn today and make sure that we continue to do our job. Thank you. Really great model of listening, learning and then leading. Yelima, your final thoughts. Well, I like what you said about seven generations, but really looking at the next thousand generations and everything you do is always with Aloha. So Mahalo for the opportunity to be here. I look forward to what the future holds. Aloha. Mahalo to you both. Really, the UN Sustainable Development Goals provides 17 global goals to accomplish and actualize the 2030 agenda. And we know UN SDG number one aspires to end poverty. But what I really think is most powerful, the story that both of you shared is eradicating poverty from just around an act of justice that unlocks huge human potential. So thank you both for all that you do. And we look forward to make sure that we create China Mamona and abundance for all. Aloha. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and donate to us at thinktechawaii.com. Mahalo.