So upon getting back from my vacation at home, I immediately went straight into my Kupu service trip. What's Kupu you ask? Well, Kupu is a non profit based here in Hawaii that manages the environmental Americorp interns for the state. There are about 60 of us across the state, some working for the State such as myself, others working for other non profits. Kupu requires us to do things such as journal updates occasionally, two conferences with all the interns, and hosts a couple of service project. Unfortunately I missed getting on one of the two trips that went to Kalapapa on Molokai (where the lepers used to reside). So I got stuck going on the Oahu trip, which meant no island hopping for me.
To say I was dreading this trip would be an understatement. As I've gotten older, I have started to loathe these internship requirement things. They are almost always boring, and I find that most of the time I end up being treated like a child, something I absolutely despise. It wasn't starting out well either. We had to be dropped off at the office since our cars could be towed, I missed my first bus, caught a 2nd one that got me there a bit late, and then spent the next 20 minutes walking in the pouring rain and fussing about how late I was. Once I got there, looking like I had just dove into the ocean with my backpacking backpack on, we ended up waiting another hour and half waiting for the outer island people to get there. I was not looking forward to 4 more days of this.
But everything changed once we actually got to the location we were staying. HELLO BEACH HOUSE! We were literally staying right on the ocean. Us girls ran up the stairs, snagged the room with an ocean view and then we were all off to go work in a loi at Ka Papa Lo'i O Punalu'u. A loi is where you grow taro, which is a plant in which the root is beaten to make poi. This involved us getting down and muddy as we waded around knee deep water and built up mud mounds near the plants and planting hull. It was surprisingly fun getting to see the entire process of how you plant them, weed, and harvest, and how the water moves through the system.
The next day we went to Moku'auia or Goat island, off shore of Malaekahana beach park. To get to the island, did we take the dingy you see in the picture, why no, no we did not. What we did do is put our belongings in the dingy and then all 15 of us walked across the reef holding on to the dingy. Getting there wasn't too difficult, but on the return trip we almost got swept away. Once we got to the island we were rewarded with beautiful views and then began removing ironwoods. This island is a bird sanctuary and too many birds were flying into these invasive trees. While I wish I had been the one using the chainsaw, my role was mostly just passing wood all day.
Next up was James Campbell Wildlife refuge. This place was incredibly awesome. Its a huge property that is currently not open to the public but has a great wetland system for birds, a beautiful beach that is known to have monk seals, a great dune system, and a large amount of open land that they can manage to make a better place for native species. However after 2 days of field work and early mornings with no coffee, I was running a bit low on energy. We were assigned to pull fence and while most of us girls got to work cutting the saplings growing through the fence, the boys decided they didn't really need us. Most of my job that day was getting out of the way in time for the guys to go "MOVE" and rip the whole fence out. Later I recommitted to my work by using a hand saw to cut some large invasive haole koa, until my wrist started hurting. Then we all turned to having tree fights with whatever we cut down. Who said field work couldn't be fun?
Overall, it was a really fun trip. I got to know a lot of the girls a lot better, and the young guys that I expected to be a pain were either at the other house and were not nearly as annoying as expected. I pretty much spent the entire weekend in my swim suit so all free time was spent laying out and swimming in the ocean, and the evening resulted in hawaiian music jam sessions. I also had the opportunity to hear what everyone was doing for their internships and it was great to know that all of us had the same goal in mind; to protect this incredible ecosystem this beautiful island has provided us.
To say I was dreading this trip would be an understatement. As I've gotten older, I have started to loathe these internship requirement things. They are almost always boring, and I find that most of the time I end up being treated like a child, something I absolutely despise. It wasn't starting out well either. We had to be dropped off at the office since our cars could be towed, I missed my first bus, caught a 2nd one that got me there a bit late, and then spent the next 20 minutes walking in the pouring rain and fussing about how late I was. Once I got there, looking like I had just dove into the ocean with my backpacking backpack on, we ended up waiting another hour and half waiting for the outer island people to get there. I was not looking forward to 4 more days of this.
But everything changed once we actually got to the location we were staying. HELLO BEACH HOUSE! We were literally staying right on the ocean. Us girls ran up the stairs, snagged the room with an ocean view and then we were all off to go work in a loi at Ka Papa Lo'i O Punalu'u. A loi is where you grow taro, which is a plant in which the root is beaten to make poi. This involved us getting down and muddy as we waded around knee deep water and built up mud mounds near the plants and planting hull. It was surprisingly fun getting to see the entire process of how you plant them, weed, and harvest, and how the water moves through the system.
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