Kahiau Wallace

NAME Kahiau Wallace

AGE 38

TOWN/MOKU Kahana, Koʻolauloa

ISLAND Oʻahu

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLE @hoalaainakupono

NOMINATED BY Kinohi Pizarro

Leadership Category Mālama ʻĀina - ENvironmental Sustainability

Share with us a little about yourself and what you do. 

As an occupation I am currently the education specialist at Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi. I lead visitors to our farm in the ʻōpū of Heʻeia ahupuaʻa and share with them our aloha ʻāina through the practice of mahi ʻai kalo.

At home, in our little corner of heaven, I help alakaʻi our non-profit Hoʻāla ʻĀina Kūpono. Our vision is to "Hoʻāla kanaka e mālama ʻāina momona." We want to reawaken the desire in our community to love our earth, learn from our honua, and cultivate and care for the ʻāina that feeds us.

Why is the work that you do important to you? The community? 

The work we all do is a lifestyle. We need to share knowledge of mālama ʻāina with one another so we can properly take care of the land that cares for us. It is evident that when we choose not to share simple and small acts of aloha ʻāina and respect for our home within our ʻohana and kaiāulu, individually we forget how to properly respect and aloha ourselves and our kuleana as part of the life cycle of living species.

What we all do in the ʻāina work we choose to practice is a constant refinement of our ability to respect all the processes that promote life.

Share with us the qualities of leadership you admire and how you express those in your life. 

I appreciate all the movers and shakers in our communities. The guys who make decisions and call the shots, and the kākoʻo in the background that get things done. I admire the same leadership qualities of the head of the kitchen at the ʻaha ʻāina who organizes and executes the preparation of meaʻai, working along side the kitchen crew to make the most ʻono food to share and feed ʻohana. I love that! And I love supporting that growth in others by helping to kākoʻo in the background to wipe tables and wash dishes, and support the overall goal to feed ʻohana and kaiāulu.

Who has inspired you to do the work that you are doing? 

I can't say one individual has inspired me to do the work we do, but the dream of a functional and balanced kaiāulu living and thriving on all the resources found in their immediate home is my inspiration to try.

What is one word that describes something you are excited about for the lāhui? 

Mauli hiwa.

What is one word that describes a pressing issue that is facing our lāhui? 

Hoʻomaʻamaʻa.