HIKI NŌ, Hawai‘i's New Wave of Storytellers.

Hi and welcome to this episode of HIKI NŌ on PBS  Hawai‘i.

My name is Natasha Maafala, and I am a   senior at Wai‘anae High School on O‘ahu.

I'm delighted to be here to host another   episode featuring the work of Hawai‘i's  New Wave of Storytellers.

In this episode,   we'll learn the story of a jewelry market with  a purpose to employ people with disabilities.

We'll listen to original poetry  by HIKI NŌ students who shared   their passion for the written word.

We'll watch a touching reflection from   a young student who bonded over  lei making with his grandmother,   and we’ll learn a powerful lesson in gratitude  and self-reflection from a student who has taken   a closer look at the privileges in her life.

Let's begin our show with an excellent story   from H.P.

Baldwin High School students  on Maui.

They interviewed the owner of a   local jewelry shop that aims to empower  and employ people with disabilities.

For Tiffany Chou, starting a business  in Wailuku, Maui was personal.

In fact,   it was inspired by her brother.

My name is Tiffany Chou, and I started   Depo Market, a retail store that employs adults  with disabilities, and we provide social and   creative employment to adults with disabilities.

I started Depo Market because I moved home in 2019   to take over Chris's care.

And Chris and I, we  both make jewelry, and because we know so many   other people in the community that are basically  in the same situation as Chris, we figured Chris   would make his wage, but with extra money, we  would start a business to give other adults like   Chris in our community the same opportunity.

So, I decided to name our business Depo Market,   because Chris, my brother, was adopted from  Cambodia, and he was found in a market called   Depo Market, and his middle name is Depo, so it  has a very special meaning to us.

So, for example,   Chris, he, I would say, has moderate support  needs.

And on the autism spectrum, he can't drive,   but he can do quite a lot of things, but  Chris being having moderate support needs,   I know people that have Ivy League degrees  that have a disability and have just as   hard of a time getting employment as Chris.

According to the National Disability Navigator   Resource Collaborative, more than 7 million people  in the U.S. have an intellectual disability,   and they are more than twice as likely to be  unemployed compared to the general population,   according to a survey by the center of  Social Development and Education at the   University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Every purchase supports our employees,   and it supports the people that don't make  jewelry, and it's okay if you don't make   jewelry.

And the people that don't make jewelry,  they're, you know, they work the counter, they are   customer service, they bring up the orders.

And so, I really try to emphasize to people   that say they only want to buy something made by  someone here, that every purchase is supporting   people because they're just as important.

Chou says sharing this family business has   led them to meet more people in the community  and those they may not have met otherwise.

We do have some people that come in that have  no idea who we are and meet Chris and are like,   wow, this is so cool.

So, I just hope  people come in and like, leave knowing   that someone like Chris can contribute  to society just like everybody else.

This is Ally Benigno from H.P.

Baldwin  High School for HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.

[ocean wave] That was some cool jewelry.

Why don't we learn how to make some of our own  from students at Lahaina Intermediate School on   Maui in this next How-to video from our archives.

The beach: a beautiful place to find shells.

Today, we are going to show you  how to make seashell bangles.

First walk the beach to find  scattered puka shells, then take   them home and clean them with bleach and water.

Using your wire roll, cut a piece of wire that   will fit your wrist.

Bend the wire into an oval or  circle.

Then, using your wire tool, then one end   of the wire to make a stop.

After being cleaned,  put as many puka shells as you wish to the wire.

Put a wire ball, available at craft  stores, at the straight end of the wire.

Then attach the end with the ball behind  the curved stop.

Now you have your beautiful   puka shell bracelet.

Enjoy.

This is Keana Bell  reporting for HIKI NŌ from Lahaina Intermediate.

[ocean wave] A Kaua‘i family has stewarded   a market for decades, and they are completely  dedicated to their community and generations   of customers.

They are highlighted in this  next story from Kapa‘a High School on Kaua‘i.

So, my parents actually start the day off at  2:45 in the morning.

We go through about 360   cups of rice before six o'clock.

And you know,  because we have a lot of musubis, on average,   we make about three to 400 musubis.

Then we got  sushis, rice bowls, and all that good stuff.

While being open for more than 50 years, Pono  Market has spanned over three generations,   becoming a lasting destination  on the east side of Kaua‘i.

Back in '68 my grandparents was actually  pig farmers, and they sold their pork here.

Believe it or not, Pono Market was a meat  market, and in the 90s, my parents actually   took that over from the family and started to  do more of the Hawaiian local setting here.

With their Hawaiian style food and spirit  of aloha, Pono Market always draws their   customers, new and old, back to the shop.

So, why we start the day so early is because   of the people.

The local workers themselves,  they start work early.

The school kids,   they start early in school.

So, we want to  make sure we're able to feed these people and   give them a good, you know, grab and go meal.

With the local community in mind, Pono Market   also caters to students of all ages.

We have the preschool in the back.

We   have the middle school, the elementary school,  the high school right up the road.

We're so   conveniently close, you know.

We like to see  the preschool kids growing up into elementary,   they turn middle school, then high school, they  go off to college.

And you know, when they come   back to from college, this is the first place they  stop.

That's the feeling we want to keep going.

We usually shut down for vacations during the  school vacations, because my dad feels like,   if we're not here, some of the school kids might  go to school without their musubi.

And you know,   they need their musubis.

As their customers grow,   maintaining a family-owned business  with a strong sense of Hawaiian   values at the core is an ongoing challenge.

Workers are really hard to come by.

When you   want to try and train somebody up and it's just  not their cup of tea, you know, because it is a   hard job to be, you know, really having the aloha  spirit.

You know, you gotta be happy.

You gotta   make it look good, taste good, feel good.

Pono Market hopes to sustain as a local   favorite that serves the community  with pride for generations to come.

It's a blessing for us because we  have the community support.

So,   it's really just keeping it going and,  you know, feeding the island of Kaua‘i.

This is Gavin Perez from Kapa‘a  High School for HIKI NŌ.

[ocean wave] A young Native   Hawaiian student on the Big Island found a  greater connection, not only to his heritage,   but to his beloved granny by learning the art of  making lei.

This next piece is from Riley Taga,   an eighth grader at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy.

When I was young, I knew a little bit   about lei making from my granny, but at the  time, I never saw myself doing lei making.

To me,   it just seemed it took up time I could have spent  playing outside.

I come from a family where some   of my ancestors only spoke Hawaiian.

However, in  our family, the Hawaiian culture isn't practiced   as much.

My parents thought it was important to go  to a Hawaiian charter school to get some exposure,   but otherwise, I don't have that much connection.

Making lei allowed me to develop a connection with   my Hawaiian roots.

I made my very first lei in  the fourth grade.

To my surprise, I enjoyed the   process of making that lei and the final result.

The only problem was that I only knew how to make   that one type of lei, and didn't know how to make  any other kind of lei.

I asked my grandma when   I was at home, and my kumu sometimes at recess,  if they could teach me other ways to make lei.

These leis were made by poking a needle through  the center of these flowers.

I poked my fingers   multiple times because it was my first time  making these leis.

It frustrated me at first,   but I soon got used to making flower leis  and didn't poke my fingers as often.

The leis I learned how to make out of lau  from my Kumu were made out of the hāpu‘u   and ti leaf.

The hāpuʻu lei was created by  doing a Maile style three-way braid.

The ti   leaf was made by twisting the ironed ti leaves  together while braiding in a two-way braid.

Using my newfound knowledge from my grandma  and my kumu, I was able to create lei for my   sixth grade May Day.

Making these lei made  me feel proud.

During this time I feel like   I was able to bond a lot more with my  granny and make her feel proud too.

Through lei making, I can connect  with my Hawaiian ancestry and culture   and keep the art of lei making alive.

This is Riley Taga from Hawai‘i Preparatory   Academy for HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.

[ocean wave]   Sharing cultural practices with the next  generation is one of the greatest gifts to give.

In this next piece from our archives, students  at Ke Kula Niihau O Kekaha Public Charter School   feature an alumna who was raised on the island  of Ni‘ihau and is teaching the next generation   of Hawaiian language singers.

[Hawaiian singing]   [speaks   Niʻihau dialect of Hawaiian] [ocean wave]   Sometimes expressing ourselves through  creative writing is just the outlet one   needs.

Jazalle Amps, a student at Ka‘ū High  and Pāhala Elementary School on Hawai‘i Island,   shares her story of discovering a love of  poetry in this next Student reflection.

Hi, I'm Jazalle Amps, a student at  Ka‘ū High School on Hawai‘i Island,   and poetry is my passion.

Middle school  was a particularly hard time in my life.

I was never able to really connect with my  classmates, and I felt so unhappy and alone.

Then in eighth grade, we analyzed poetry  in English class, and everything changed.

I discovered poets like Nikita Gill and I  found that poetry was something I loved.

Nikita’s poetry talked of struggles  with power and self-love.

One of my   favorites is called Hearts Like Wildflowers.

I hope you are blessed with a heart like a   wildflower, strong enough to rise again after  being trampled upon, tough enough to weather   the worst of the summer storms and able to grow  and flourish even in the most broken places.

I knew then that I wanted to take a similar  route and talk about experiences I've had   in my own life.

I found that poetry  helps me navigate through my feelings,   whether it be sadness, anger or loneliness.

For  example, when I found myself struggling with a   complicated relationship, I wrote Moon Cycle.

She'll drown in his light and fall for him all   over again, wiping herself of a light that  was never fully his, but she'll come back as   she always did.

Writing this helped me  realize I was caught in a cycle, and I   can't keep making the same mistakes over again.

Poetry lets me express my feelings in a way that   is meaningful to me, a way that brings me joy  and lets my creativity turn a whim into art.

Poetry also allows me to look back at a situation  and see how much I've grown.

I've realized I need   to speak up for myself more, voicing my feelings,  not just in the written word, but in my own life.

Poetry will always act as a best friend of mine.

Though she's not there all of the time, she will   always be there for me when I need her most.

[ocean wave]   There's another young poet who was highlighted in  one of our first seasons of HIKI NŌ.

This story,   called Passionate Poet, was produced by Chiefess  Kamakahelei Middle School students on Kaua‘i.

Well, the first thing I hear when I think  of passion is something, a goal trying to   be set, like a goal trying to be reached.

Somebody's passion might be a sport or music,   but some people's passions and the way  they started is a little more unique.

My greatest passion is I write poems.

It started  out as only a dream, basically, there was this   demon coming at me, and I was, like, super scared.

So then all of a sudden, I just thought of a poem,   and then I said it, and then an angel  came, and then it shooed away the demons.

A lot of people are passionate about at least  one thing, but what people are passionate about   and why they continue to do what they love  is usually because it means a lot to them.

I believe that it came from God, because  I saw angels, and angels are basically   the messengers or other servants of God,  and so I believe that he gave that to me,   and I should be passionate about it.

Just because you like something doesn't   necessarily mean that you're passionate  about it.

To be passionate about something   means that you truly love what you do.

You gotta like, realize what you have,   and then you gotta express it.

Take advantage of  it; take advantage of the situation.

It starts out   as like a thick wire, and then the more you try  and pull away from it, the more strands are coming   out.

And then eventually the last strand will pull  away and you don't have that passion anymore.

To have a passion means that you truly love what  you do, and it plays a part of who you are.

When   you're passionate about something, however, you  should continue to do what you love, because once   you let it go, you'll never get it back.

[ocean wave]   This next story features a Hawaiian immersion  school teacher who shares positivity through   her hobby of painting inspirational signs,  local style.

This story comes from students   at Kalama Intermediate School on Maui.

This is the dining room table where all of my   signs are made and where all the magic happens.

On slopes of Haleakalā on Maui, Hawaiian   language immersion teacher Kiani Yasak  makes signs as a way to share Hawaiian   culture and values with other people.

Started the business as just, you know, a   hobby because I like to do arts and crafts.

It was  never about making the money.

It was always about,   you know, doing something that I enjoy.

What started as a passion and hobby   ended up becoming a business.

My purpose with my business is   to promote ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i and the culture  and the values.

I feel really connected to   my Hawaiian culture and language.

I am a  Hawaiian immersion graduate here on Maui,   and thought that, you know, it was my kuleana, or  my responsibility to give back to my community and   the immersion program that I grew up in.

She customizes the signs for any occasion,   and you will often find the word aloha  along with other Hawaiian words.

And the sign that I'm doing right now  is one of my popular prints.

This is   the ‘e komo mai’ pineapple, pineapple  being very inviting and tropical with   that local lifestyle kind of feel to it.

It's also, you know, the values that we   learn and the Hawaiian perspective through  the language that I feel really connected   to and care about through these values  that we learn and foster in our program   and live outside of school in our families.

That sense of place and belonging and purpose   that I learned and lived growing up gave me  that sense of responsibility and kuleana,   something that you can't really explain.

You  just have to know.

And I feel that it's really   important for me to know that, and I feel  fortunate that I had that opportunity so I   can share that experience with my students,  you know, being an emerging teacher today.

You know, I want my students to know that it's  also their kuleana, and it's something important   to us, and that it's okay if you don't know how to  explain it, because it's actually who we are.

And   in order to really understand that, and know that,  you just kind of have to be in it, you have to   live it.

You can teach it, and you can learn how  to be Hawaiian and these values, but until you're   actually living it, and through the ‘ōlelo and the  perspective, does it really make that connection?

So for Kumu Kiani, her love for Hawaiian language  permeates her signs and her commitment to teaching   and passing language to the next generation of  Hawaiian language speakers.

This is Tiare Lucas   from Kalama Intermediate for HIKI NŌ.

[ocean wave]   Let's finish off this episode with the proper  dose of gratitude.

This next piece was produced   by Kylie Cardenas, a student at H.P.

Baldwin High  School on Maui.

She's sure to leave you thinking   about your own life and its blessings.

[alarm chimes]   I live the same repetitive life every day.

My  daily morning routine consists of getting up,   brushing my teeth, putting on makeup, brushing my  hair, struggling to pick out an outfit, and then   rushing out of the house to get to school on time.

On the way to school, I complain about the traffic   and how people shouldn't be able to drive in  the morning, the treacherous school parking lot,   and the unnecessarily loud sounds at seven in  the morning.

During school, I protest against   the 70 minute long periods, the school workload  that is getting too much to handle, and the fast   approaching upcoming deadlines creeping up on  me.

But wait, let's start my day over again.

[tape rewinds] I spend so much of my time grumbling   about all the burdens in my life, when in reality,  I should be appreciating them instead.

I mean,   if you really think about it, what a privilege  it is to get up at 7 in the morning daily.

What a   privilege it is to not know what to wear.

What  a privilege it is to have transportation that   gets me from point A to point B.

What a privilege it is to have   assignments to complain about.

What a privilege it is to be stressed   about upcoming exams and deadlines.

What  a privilege it is to be overwhelmed by the   future and the endless possibilities it holds.

What a privilege it is to have so much to be   grateful for.

Overall, what a privilege it is  to live another day and just simply exist.

[ocean wave] That's it for our show.

Thanks for joining   us to watch the impressive work of Hawai‘i's  New Wave of Storytellers.

Don't forget to follow   HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i on YouTube, Instagram and  TikTok.

You can find this HIKI NŌ episode and more   at pbsHawai‘i.org.

Tune in next week for more  proof that Hawai‘i students HIKI NŌ – can do.